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Celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin kept her surrogacy journey private. Until now.

Jen Atkin's workplace is in the households of the world's most famous names.

You've likely seen glimpses of the celebrity hairstylist tending the tresses of the Kardashian sisters in Keeping Up With The Kardashians, or in photos with her best friend Chrissy Teigen as they vacation in Europe together.

For years, Jen Atkin has been not just the hairstylist of several A-listers, but also a close confidante in their circles.

Atkin has built an empire thanks to her undeniable talent, matched with her ability to build a loyal following on social media. 

In 2015, the New York Times profiled Atkins with the headline: Is This the Most Influential Hairstylist in the World?

“I’m very good at marketing myself,” Atkin explained. “I do what I do, and I’m good for what I do, but I’m not the best hairstylist.”

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She's also earned the trust of her clients - part of the key to her success, she says. 

“I genuinely love Jen’s personality.” Kim Kardashian told The New York Times about Atkin. “She’s snarky and witty and has phenomenal one-liners. She’s become one of my best friends.

“It’s knowing that I could hang out and get drunk with you and you’ll never take advantage,” Kardashian added. “Some people, you give them an inch and they take a mile. Jen is always on time in the morning.”

As her career has flourished, Atkin has been open about the fact that she wanted to wait to have children.

In November 2015, when Atkin was 35, she made the decision to freeze her eggs so that she and her husband, photographer Mike Rosenthal, could hopefully one day have kids. 

Watch: What you're like as a new mum, according to your star sign. Post continues below. 


Video via Mamamia

Atkin spoke about her choice to Forbes in 2017, explaining: "I think a lot of women feel ashamed that they’re not having children, or that they’re waiting longer, and nobody talks about it. I sacrifice quite a bit to run three businesses, and my husband and I made a joint decision to freeze embryos...

"I do want children one day, but I’m not quite ready, and the minute we did it, the weight of the world was off my shoulders."

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Now, just over five years after she underwent that process, Atkin has announced the birth of her first child, a son called River Julién, who was born in March via surrogacy. 

Atkin and Rosenthal, 44, documented their journey and shared it to Instagram this week, where the hairstylist has more than three million followers. Atkin had not posted about any part of the process previously, but now, she explained, she feels ready to open up.

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"I wanted to talk openly about it [because] it felt very lonely at the time," she explained. "I also got upset at how costly it is, and I don’t understand how most employers don’t help cover this cost for women."

Last year, they decided surrogacy was their best option. 

"I know a lot of people have been asking for details about miscarriages, failed IVFs, etc but I’m not sharing any of that [because] I don’t think anyone has to explain why they chose surrogacy, period."

The 41-year-old continued: "Our society doesn’t normalise surrogacy, adoption, or fostering. Being adopted myself I have always known the importance of celebrating, without judgement, every family’s unique journey."

Atkin added, "It doesn’t matter how you decide to become a parent, or if being a parent to a little human lasted a million days shorter than it should have, you are still a parent and it deserves massive celebration."

In the video, the entrepreneur said the process was particularly difficult due to the pandemic.

"Because of coronavirus, obviously it was really hard for us not going to appointments. But our surrogate was so incredible, she took photos and videos - really made us feel like we were a part of every single part of this pregnancy and we're so grateful to her for that."

 Atkin and Rosenthal have been together for ten years and married in 2016.

Feature image: Instagram/@jenatkinhair.

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