Girls star Lena Dunham welcomes first baby by surrogate after 12 year struggle to be a mother

GIRLS star Lena Dunham has welcomed her first child by surrogate after a 12 year struggle to be a mother. The actress, 40, who plays Hannah Horvath in the HBO show, revealed the happy news that she and husband Luis Felber, also 40, are now proud parents of a baby girl. Girls star Lena Dunham has welcomed her first baby by surrogate after a 12 year struggle to be a mother Credit: Getty The actress pictured with her husband Luis got married in 2021 Credit: Getty Revealing how she felt in the lead up to her arrival, Lena wrote in an op-ed in Vogue on Wednesday: “She was preparing herself, inside our surrogate’s strong and healthy body, and as the clothes stacked up in the box, so did some sense that she was becoming real.” And recalling the moment that her daughter entered the world, she said: “And then, 13 days late, in the face of a solar eclipse and a meteor shower, she announced herself. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! “I sat on a hospital bed, between the legs of a woman I hadn’t known a year ago, waiting for a glimpse of this person who I had been waiting for with something related to patience, but also none at all. “I was so focused on our surrogate—in awe at her concentration, her period of quiet followed by what sounded like a roar—I forgot to look down until I heard our baby’s cry. Lena has kept her fans up to date with her health battle over the years Credit: Instagram/@lenadunham Lena pictured with Adam Driver in Girls Credit: Alamy “I saw her face, gasping just as she did. “Her eyes, wide and unfocused, taking in the light and shadow, blinking rapidly.” Back in February 2018 the star had a hysterectomy aged 31 to relieve her symptoms of endometriosis – which is where “cells similar to those in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other parts of the body,” according to the NHS website. The NHS website also states that a “hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the womb (uterus). You’ll no longer be able to get pregnant after the operation.” Most read in TV Lena explained at the time in Vogue: “I may have felt choiceless before, but I know I have choices now. “Soon I’ll start exploring whether my ovaries, which remain someplace inside me in that vast cavern of organs and scar tissue, have eggs. “Adoption is a thrilling truth I’ll pursue with all my might.” She later revealed in October that she had to have her left ovary removed. “Yesterday I had a two hour surgery to remove my left ovary, which was encased in scar tissue & fibrosis, attached to my bowel and pressing on nerves that made it kinda hard to walk/pee/vamp,” Lena told fans. During an appearance on TODAY last year, Lena spoke about starting a family and her decision to have the operation. She said: “In the moment, my pain was so overriding that I put those other thoughts aside and it was only in the aftermath of the surgery that I started to feel the weight of what had happened. “Some people don’t dream about being mothers, but I had. “And a big part of my identity was that I was going to do that someday and in this way.” She added: “The amazing thing is since then I have met so many people who have built their families in so many different ways, and I’ve really come to a place where I feel really excited. “Whatever way it happens, I will be so grateful.” Lena and Luis tied the knot in 2021 just eight months after they started dating. Comment now