Originally appeared on E! Online
"The Bachelor"'s Ben Higgins is going to be a dad.
The Bachelor Nation alum's wife Jessica Clarke is pregnant with their first baby. The Colorado-based couple announced the news on social media Aug. 18 — and also took the opportunity to reveal the sex of their child.
"The next chapter of our love story!" Clarke, 29, wrote in an Instagram post shared on both of their pages. "Baby girl coming in February."
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She and Higgins, 35, shared a video of their road to baby. It includes footage of Clarke giving herself a hormone injection in her stomach area. She and Higgins also added a clip of one of her ultrasounds, which shows her to be 12 weeks pregnant at the time.
The Instagram video also contains footage of the couple celebrating their pregnancy news with family and sharing a group hug with their dog Waylon, as well as throwback clips of the dad-to-be proposing to his now-wife and the two appearing at their 2021 wedding in Tennessee.
In 2022, Higgins spoke about his and Clarke's plans to start a family.
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"We're excited for kids," he told E! News while promoting his appearance on E!'s "Celebrity Beef." "I believe that, God willing, we will have kids. But right now it's not a conversation we have often and it's not something I believe either of us are craving. You know, you hear the 'baby fever,' I don't know if either of us have baby fever right now."
Ben starred on "The Bachelor"'s 20th season in 2016 — a year after being eliminated by Kaitlyn Bristowe on "The Bachelorette" season 11 — and split from winner Lauren Bushnell the following year. He went on to compete on "The Bachelor Winter Games" in 2018.
Bristowe congratulated him and Jessica on her pregnancy, writing in the comments section of their joint Instagram post, "So happy for you guys."
Bristowe's ex, Jason Tartick, also wrote, "Congratulations," as did Amanda Stanton, who competed on Higgins' season of "The Bachelor."
