Brian Dowling has revealed that his sister Aoife Dowling is the surrogate for his first child with husband Arthur Gourounlian.
On social media last week, the TV stars announced that they were "lucky and blessed" to be expecting their first child later this year.
Dowling has now updated his followers on their surrogacy journey, posting a picture to Instagram of the couple with his sister Aoife while he cradles her baby bump.
He wrote: "Not only is this my BEAUTIFUL sister Aoife, she is also our INCREDIBLE Surrogate.
"From our very first conversation about this back in 2019 to where we are now is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING @effidy_dowling_ you have gone above & beyond for us @gourounlian whether it is mentally or physically & you have stayed so POSITIVE & UPBEAT through it all.
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"From Ultra Sounds & Ovulation tests to numerous conversations about your Cycle to those 4 positive pregnancy tests we took where the 3 of us hugged & cried with happiness & excitement. We have been through every step of this together reassuring each other along the way that everything will be fine once we stick together."
He added: "Aoife you are an INSPIRATION to all of us. You are literally giving us THE GIFT OF LIFE. So to you Aoife & our wonderful Egg Donor none of this would be possible without you both.
"From the bottom of our hearts thank you. I'm so happy to confirm that both Aoife & baby are doing BRILLIANTLY."
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The TV stars announced the happy news in an Instagram reel that shows Dowling breaking the happy news to Dancing with the Stars judge Gourounlian, who screams with joy, before showing footage of the baby's ultrasound scan.
In the caption accompanying the video, Dowling wrote that it "completely fills our hearts" to reveal the news that their "beautiful bundle of joy" is due later in the year.
He wrote: "We actually never thought this day would be a reality for us. We fully realize & understand how lucky & blessed we are for this to be happening.
"For a lot of us out there & especially people from our community we have to fight harder & push harder for what others consider to be something that can be achieved easily.
"Myself & Arthur have been keeping the BIGGEST secret the past few months but it's put the BIGGEST SMILES in our HEARTS & on our FACES."
