Higgins and Clarke announced their baby girl’s name — Winona “Winnie” Elane — via Instagram on Thursday, February 13. The couple also shared the first photos of the newborn, gushing, “She is everything that we have prayed for and then some.”
Winnie was born one day prior at 2:53 a.m. local time, according to her mom and dad.
From the moment she entered this world, Higgins said his life changed for the better. “For the last 2 mornings I wake up feeling like it was a dream,” he wrote via Instagram on Thursday. “Reminding myself of the blessings of Jesus, then looking over to see Jessica and Winona and being mentally reunited with the truth that I am a dad and a husband and that we are a family.”
The Bachelor Nation star added: “Life starts again for us, a new chapter we enter into, and so many moments of lacking the words but feeling God inspired love.”
He also praised his wife, writing, “I did not realize I could be more in love and more impressed with @jessclarke_ but after the last 48 hours my heart has exploded for her and our new baby girl.”
Original story below:
Former Bachelor Ben Higgins is a new dad after his wife, Jessica Clarke, gave birth to their first baby.
“Update and more to come but baby girl Higgins has entered the world,” Higgins, 35, revealed via Instagram on Wednesday, February 12, posting a photo of an emotional moment between him and Clarke following the birth of their child.
“She is healthy. @jessclarke_ is doing so well,” he said. “I don’t yet have words for what just happened but the update right now is we have a daughter and Jess is recovering so well. The nurses and doctors who cared for us should be lifted high. Also I am biased but God spent a little more time on our baby girl because she’s real beautiful! This beauty will be revealed soon but first she needs a bath.”
The couple announced Clarke’s pregnancy in August 2024. “The next chapter of our love story!” they captioned a joint Instagram post that featured special moments from their relationship and ended with a sonogram image. “Baby girl coming in February ❤️.”
Higgins and Clarke began dating in late 2018 and got engaged in March 2020. They tied the knot in November 2021.
Shortly after sharing their pregnancy news with the world, Higgins confirmed that he and Clarke conceived their baby through intrauterine insemination (IUI).
“We planned this, and we didn’t know how many steps we’d have to take. We didn’t know how much help we’d have to get,” Higgins exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2024. “We have a lot of friends who struggle with infertility and who struggled through the process and just hearing from them and learning from them, we knew we wanted to plan and be ready. … We set that date and we started trying, and it happened for us easier than we expected.”
He added that the pair felt “really fortunate” and were “really excited” to start their family.
Despite his gratitude for their impending arrival, Higgins confessed at the time that he was “terrified” to become a girl dad.
“With a girl, there’s 1,000 worst case scenarios in my mind and I know she’s gonna break my heart,” he explained. “She’s gonna break [my heart] because it’s so full.”
Higgins feared that he would become “a pile of tears and mush forever” as a dad.
“It’s literally been a joke in my family,” he said. “I’ve always been really sensitive and not in a good way. Always. I’m very emotional. I’m a crier.”
As for Clarke’s approach to her pregnancy, Higgins applauded her positive attitude even when she didn’t feel well.
“She is still in a good mood and looks at it as a gift and a blessing that she’s pregnant,” he noted. “It’s such a crazy thing because if I was pregnant, I would never be able to do it. So, to see her just have this spirit of gratefulness through the whole thing has been really educational for me. I’ve learned a lot from her.”
