Josh Duhamel & Wife Audra Mari Welcome Their First Baby Together

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Baby makes three! Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari announced the birth of their first child together, son Shepherd Lawrence Duhamel, via Instagram on January 16. The married couple shared a black-and-white photo of the infant’s feet and revealed in the caption that he was born on January 11. This is the first child for Audra, 30, and second for Josh, 51, who has a 10-year-old son, Axl, with his ex-wife, Fergie.

Josh and Audra confirmed they were expecting a child back in September 2023. They shared an ultrasound snapshot of their baby and wrote, “Baby Duhamel coming soon.” Over the next few months, Audra shared multiple pregnancy photos where she proudly flaunted her baby bump. On January 6, she posted a photo of herself touching her bump while in a black dress, with the caption, “Just waitin’ on you sweet baby.”

Fergie, who was married to the Transformers: The Last Knight actor from 2009 to 2017, congratulated the couple on their baby news when it was announced. “I am truly happy for you guys,” she commented on Josh and Audra’s Instagram post from last year. “Axl can’t wait to be a big brother,” she added.

Josh and his wife were married on Sept. 10, 2022, about three years after he finalized his divorce from Fergie. Over one year prior to the pregnancy news, a source close to the couple told PEOPLE that Audra would “love to have kids with Josh,” and that she was also “getting to know” Josh and Fergie’s son. “Josh spends a lot of time with his son,” the source told the outlet at the time. They added that Josh is “very protective of Axl” and that it “took a while before Audra met him.”

While Audra was pregnant, Josh revealed his son’s reaction to learning that he was going to be a big brother. “He’s like, ‘Wait, now, am I going to be — You’re still going to love me, though, too, right?’ ” the Shotgun Wedding star told Parade. “I was like, ‘Of course, I’m going to still love you.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m still going to be your firstborn son, though, right?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re still the firstborn son!’ ”

“He’s a really sweet kid,” Josh added about his eldest son. “And he loves babies! I was the same way at his age. I just have always loved babies. There’s something about them. And he’s really good with younger kids. So I think he’s going to be a great older brother.”