Hailey Bieber Shares Why She Waited Until She Was Six Months Along to Announce Her Pregnancy—and Why She Almost Waited “Until the End”

Hailey and her husband of nearly six years, Justin Bieber, are set to become parents likely as soon as next month.

Hailey Bieber 2024
(Image credit: Backgrid)

Back in May—when Hailey Bieber announced her first pregnancy with her husband of nearly six years, Justin Bieber—she was six months along, and considered keeping her pregnancy a secret until the very end, she told W Magazine in a new cover story interview published today.

“I was honestly able to keep it quiet because I stayed small for a long time,” Hailey said. “I didn’t have a belly, really, until I was six months pregnant, which was when I announced it. I was able to wear big jackets and stuff.” 

Hailey Bieber on the cover of W magazine

Hailey is on the cover of the latest edition of "W" magazine.

(Image credit: W Magazine)

She added “I probably could have hid it until the end, but I didn’t enjoy the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy outwardly,” Hailey said. “I felt like I was hiding this big secret, and it didn’t feel good. I wanted the freedom to go out and live my life.”

Hailey told the magazine of her early days of pregnancy alongside husband Justin that “In the beginning, it was super emotional for me,” she said. “Like, ‘I love this human so much. How can I possibly bring someone else into this?’ I’m trying to soak in these days of it being Justin and me, just the two of us.”

Of her clearly rock solid marriage, she added, “People have made me feel so bad about my relationship since day one,” Hailey said. “‘Oh, they’re falling apart. They hate each other. They’re getting divorced.’ It’s like people don’t want to believe that we’re happy.”

Hailey and Justin Bieber in Tokyo May 2024

The Biebers, seen here in Tokyo in May, will celebrate six years of marriage in September.

(Image credit: Instagram/@justinbieber)

She continued “I used to try to act like it hurts less and less. I’ve tried to think that you get used to it at a certain point—that this is what’s going to be said, and this is how people are going to be. But I realize that it doesn’t actually ever hurt any less.”

Hailey and Justin have been married since September 2018, and while Hailey said initially she “didn’t want to talk about” her engagement ring—which she confirmed got an upgrade thanks to Justin and is “one carat bigger”—she ultimately decided to squash rumors about it. “Actually, this is only one carat bigger,” she said. “It’s just elongated. They’re going off with their own stories about it. I don’t like it. I didn’t want to talk about it.” 

She and Justin are spending the final days of her pregnancy in Idaho, where they live part-time. “He’s already there, waiting for me,” Hailey told W of Justin. 

hailey bieber in nyc

Though she waited a bit to announce it, Hailey has been proudly showing off her bump, like here in New York City.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

They are creating their own family, she added, and told the publication that “I’m not super close with my family [the famous Baldwin family] at this point in my life because I feel like I’m very independent,” she said. “I’m my own individual now, and I’ve built my own family.”

But, she added of growing up as a Baldwin, “when I look back on my childhood and how I grew up, I have very fond, beautiful memories,” Hailey said.

Now it’s time to make some new ones as a Bieber family of three.

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.