Reality star Kailyn Lowry, who rose to fame following her appearance in MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, has been the subject of pregnancy rumors for several months. However, the Teen Mom star remained tight-lipped on whether these rumors had any truth to them. Finally, Kailyn has addressed the news and confirmed she welcomed her fifth baby.

Kailyn announced the news today in the latest episode of her podcast Barely Famous, sharing that she and her boyfriend Elijah Scott welcomed a son named Rio last year. The reality star shared the reason behind her choice to keep the news private exclusively with PEOPLE. “I wanted to be able to tell my own story on my own terms and kind of share what information I wanted to share instead of being within a contractual obligation or storyline.” While news of her pregnancy had been circulating for quite some time, Kailyn admitted that she didn’t feel quite ready to share the news yet. “I feel like it was ripped out from under me time and time again. I kind of feel like my hands are tied. People are announcing it for me and so, at this point, I might as well just talk about it. At this point, I can at least try to do it my way.”

kailyn lowry baby 5
via @kaillowry on Instagram

Rio is Kailyn and Elijah’s first baby together and the “Pride Over Pity” author has four other children – all boys – from previous relationships. Kailyn shares her first son named Isaac, 13, with Jo Rivera and a 9-year-old boy named Lincoln with Javi Marroquin. She shares two sons with her ex Chris Lopez: Lux, 6, and Creed, 3.

Congratulations to Kailyn and Elijah on the news of their first baby together! We hope they are enjoying becoming parents together.

Kate Fann (she/her) is the BabyNames.com celebrity blogger, as well as an established content writer, aspiring author, and social media expert. She has been featured in online publications such as Bolde, ManoByte, Medium, The Social Observer, and more. Kate has ghostwritten numerous romance novels and is currently working on publishing her own works in the Young Adult genre.

Kate lives in East Tennessee with her husband Casey and her two sons, Quinn and Noah. When she's not writing or scrolling Instagram, Kate can be found tasting delicious wines, playing with make-up, baking yummy treats, or hiking the beautiful Smoky Mountains.