Lily Collins Shares First Glimpse of Motherhood After Welcoming Baby Girl via Surrogate

Lily Collins is offering fans a peek into her early days of being a mother. 

On Monday, February 3rd, 2025, just a few days after the 35-year-old actress revealed that she, and her husband, filmmaker, Charlie McDowell, 41, had welcomed their first child, Collins posted a stylish photo of herself with her baby daughter.

In a picture shared on McDowell’s Instagram Stories, the new mother is seen pushing her daughter, Tove Jane McDowell, in a stroller down a sunny street lined with trees. When reposting the image to her own Stories, the actress wrote in the caption: “Utter bliss.”

The couple first announced Tove’s birth via surrogate on Instagram, and captioned “Welcome to the center of our world Tove Jane McDowell.” 

“Words will never express our endless gratitude for our incredible surrogate, and everyone who helped us along the way. We love you to the moon and back again,” the caption continued. 

The new mom also shared a photo of the baby girl, lying bundled in a bassinet. A monogrammed blanket with her name written in gold was draped over the cradle. 

McDowell was quick to respond to the critics. He wrote, “Thank you for all the kind messages and love. We are overjoyed and very grateful.” The negative comments were also in line with the surrogacy topic. 

He replied stating, “In regards to the unkind messages about surrogacy and our path to having a baby — it’s ok to not be an expert on surrogacy,” he continued. “It’s ok to not know why someone might need a surrogate to have a child. It’s ok to not know the motivations of a surrogate regardless of what you assume. 

And it’s ok to spend less time spewing hateful words into the world, especially in regards to a beautiful baby girl who has brought a lot of love into people’s lives.”

“That’s all for now because she just pooped and I need to change her diaper,” he joked at the end of the comment.