Michelle Kwan announces birth of first child as she reflects on reasons for keeping pregnancy private

Olympic medallist Michelle Kwan has announced the arrival of her first child while opening up about her reasons for keeping her pregnancy private.

On Wednesday, the figure skater, 41, shared a photo of the newborn on Instagram, where she wrote that she was “overjoyed” to announce the arrival of her daughter Kalista Belle Kwan.

“I’m overjoyed and tears of happiness are streaming down my face as I share the news of the arrival of Kalista Belle Kwan!” Kwan wrote. “I’ve always wanted to be a mom and, to me, she’s a perfect miracle. I had a hard time picturing what she might look like yet it seems like she’s been in my life forever.”

In the lengthy caption, Kwan then reflected on her “challenging” journey to motherhood, which included a “very long labour”. However, according to the athlete, she is glad she “never gave up”.

“I feel so grateful to have had the support of so many during this time, including my fertility doctor, doctors and nurses who looked after me, friends that shared their stories, and of course, my family & my [heart emoji] who I could not live without,” Kwan continued.

In the post, Kwan also shared her reasons for keeping the pregnancy private, explaining that those close to her know that she tends to keep her “personal life private”.

However, she did note that she’s wanted to share the “happy news” for some time now, writing: “I’ve wanted to share this happy news for many months but each milestone seemed to be exciting and daunting at the same time.

“Each step of the way, I knew that there was still more time needed until I could hold her in my arms. Here’s a quick montage of the last nine months to catch you all up.”

In addition to the photo of the newborn, Kwan shared a time-lapse video composed of photos taken during her pregnancy, in which she shows off her growing stomach.

Kwan concluded the heartfelt post by sharing her well-wishes to other mothers, as she noted that “moms rule the world”. The Olympian also took the opportunity to share her support for women trying to conceive, writing: “And, I wish anyone trying to conceive in any which way (ivf, iui, surrogacy, adoption and naturally) all the success and love.”

“You’re not alone on this path and I’m pulling for you,” she added.

The birth announcement has since been liked more than 62,000 times, with hundreds of fans and friends sharing congratulatory messages.

“OMG Michelle!!!!!! Congratulations!!!! Mama she’s beautiful!!!!!!!” Debra Messing wrote, while Jonathan Van Ness added: “She is so cute I can not even. So happy for you queen omgoshhh are we all cryin??”

Michelle Trachtenberg also shared her well-wishes, with the actor writing: “Champion mama! What a wonderful gift, congrats my friend!”

The Olympian, who won a silver medal at the 1998 Olympic Games and a bronze at the 2002 Olympics before retiring in 2006, was previously married to Coast Guard Lieutenant Clay Pell. The former couple divorced in 2017 after four years of marriage.