Lee Teng's Wife Gave Birth To Their Son A Month Ago; Here’s Why They Kept Her Pregnancy A Secret

Welcome to the world, Ellison Lee!

It's been a month since Lee Teng and his wife became parents, but Taiwan-born Singaporean host announced the good news only today (Aug 13).

"Please forgive me for keeping this joyful news a secret for so long," wrote the 41-year-old. "Yes, our baby is already born — both mum and baby are safe and healthy!"

In an interview with Chinese media 8world, Lee Teng shared that his wife, Gina Lin, 32, gave birth to their baby boy, Ellison, a month ago, just before this year's Star Awards (Jul 6).

8days.sg reached out to Lee Teng, who shared that he and Gina teared up when they heard their baby cry in the operating theatre. 

"That sound was such a relief. It was when we finally felt, 'He’s here, and he’s safe'," he said.

According to Lee Teng, his son looks so much like him, his wife could not help but joke: “I worked so hard. In the end, I gave birth to a mini version of you.”

How has fatherhood been for Lee Teng?

"I’ve been mentally preparing for fatherhood for the past five years, so things have been quite smooth so far," he said.

Lee Teng acknowledged that having a confinement nanny helps a lot.

"I can’t say for sure if it will stay this smooth after she leaves, but we’ll take it one step at a time," he said, adding that it's natural he and Gina fumble now and then since they are new to parenthood. 

"Our teamwork has been great. The only real challenge is the lack of sleep but that’s part of the package!" he said.

The couple, who got married in 2020, had planned to keep the pregnancy a secret and to announce it after the baby turned a month old. Only their immediate family and Michelle Chong, his boss at entertainment agency Left Profile, knew about it. 

Over the past year, Lee Teng turned down many job offers to be by Gina's side. When friends showed concern, he said he had to “make up all kinds of excuses.”

“The main reason was that we didn’t want too much pressure. We thought it would be better to announce everything after the baby was born," he said.

"Based on past experiences, we felt it was best to take things step by step. It's the right time to share, it’s good news after all.”

In his post, Lee Teng shared it's been five years since they "lost [their] little one."

In 2020, Gina suffered a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant. The couple had nicknamed their unborn son Xiao Dou Ya (Little Bean Sprout) before the tragedy happened. .

"Those years were anything but easy. My wife and I faced countless setbacks, and there were moments when I couldn’t bear to see her disappointment. At times, I even asked if we should give up, simply because I couldn’t stand watching her suffer," he said.

Though Gina conceived Ellison naturally, Lee Teng said they had employed a "very scientific and scheduled approach". 

Lee Teng also kept telling himself to stay calm during Gina’s pregnancy, an uphill task especially during the final trimester. 

They bought a home monitoring device so they could keep track of the baby’s condition.

“Hearing the baby’s heartbeat every day was the only way we could sleep peacefully at night," he said.

Lee Teng said Gina had a very rough pregnancy. She was on bed rest for most of the time and couldn’t go out much.

“She was basically lying down and vomiting all the way until she gave birth. It was really tough. Watching her go through the whole pregnancy made me truly understand the strength and resilience of women and mothers.”

Gina also broke down emotionally and had pangs of envy when she saw other pregnant women travelling freely.

All Lee Teng could do was comfort her and promise that he would make it up to her after the baby was born.

“She’s the queen now, and she has a long ‘postpartum wish list’,” she chuckled.

The first thing on the list? Eat Haidilao hotpot.