All About Paris Hilton's Son Phoenix Barron

Paris Hilton became a mom for the first time with the birth of her son at the start of the new year in 2023.

The media personality and her husband, Carter Reum, quietly welcomed their first child together, Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum, on Jan. 16, 2023, via surrogate.

"It's always been my dream to be a mother," Paris told PEOPLE, adding, "I'm so happy that Carter and I found each other."

Although the couple kept the news of their baby boy to themselves for over a week, with Paris announcing Phoenix's arrival on Instagram eight days after his birth, the new mom of two has been vocal about her little one ever since.

In March 2023, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Paris gushed about her baby. "He is such an angel, he's the best," she said. "I'm just so obsessed with him, I feel my heart is going to explode."

Less than one year after Phoenix was born, the pair — who married in late 2021 — revealed in November 2023 that they had welcomed their second child together, a daughter named London.

Here's everything to know about Paris Hilton and Carter Reum's son Phoenix.

Phoenix was born via surrogate

Phoenix was born via surrogate on Jan. 16, 2023. Paris had previously shared her excitement for starting a family during a 2022 episode of The Bellas Podcast with Nikki and Brie Bella.

"I love being married," she said, adding, "I finally have my home and I just can't wait to start a family and have kids." She went on to say that she and Carter started "talking about kids since the beginning," revealing that it came up within a few months of dating.

In an interview with Glamour UK, Paris opened up about why she chose surrogacy.

The former reality star shared that the decision was based on past trauma. When she was 16, she experienced sexual abuse at the Utah boarding school Provo Canyon, which left her afraid of the medical exams that go along with pregnancy.

"I'm just so scared. I think, again, leading back to Provo of even being in a doctor's office, just all of that. The shots, the IVs that they put in," she shared. "But I want a family so bad, it's just the physical part of doing it. I'm just so scared ... childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world."

When the time came for the surrogate to deliver Phoenix, Paris arrived at the hospital in disguise to avoid the media, she told Harper's Bazaar. She wore a brunette wig and used a different name at the hospital to ensure that his birth was kept private.

"My entire life has been so public," she explained. "I've never had anything for myself. We decided that we wanted to have this whole experience to ourselves."

Kathy Hilton didn't know about Phoenix's arrival until a week after his birth

To completely ensure privacy, only Paris, Carter and their surrogate knew when Phoenix would be born. Paris even kept the news from her mom and sister until he was over a week old.

"It was really nice to have that with Carter, be our own journey together," she said on her podcast.

She added, "When I introduced my mom to our baby boy, it was amazing to see the look on her face."

Speaking to PEOPLE, Kathy Hilton called him a "perfect addition to our ever-growing, beautiful family," and said she and her husband, Rick Hilton, were "over the moon" after his birth.

Since Phoenix's birth, Kathy has been spending a lot of quality time with her youngest grandchild. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Paris revealed that Kathy is "obsessed with showing up all the time, unannounced."

She added: "I'm like, 'Mom, when did you get here?' 'Oh, I've been here for hours!' "

Paris chose Phoenix's name "years ago"

Paris has had the name Phoenix Barron picked out for quite a while.

While reading an excerpt from her upcoming book, Paris: The Memoir, she opened up about the meaning of the name. "We plan to name him Phoenix, a name I decided on years ago when I was searching cities, countries and states on a map looking for something to go with Paris and London," she read.

She said that the name Phoenix was one of resilience. "It's the bird that flames out and then rises from the ashes to fly again," she read. "I want my son to grow up knowing that disaster and triumph go around and come around throughout our lives. And that this should give us great hope for the future."

Her son's middle name was then chosen as a tribute to her late grandfather, Barron Hilton. "He was always my mentor," she shared. "So, I really wanted to honor him by having his name in my first son's name."

One famous friend already guessed Phoenix's name before he was born. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in January 2022, Ellen DeGeneres asked Paris if she planned on using a geographical name for her future son. When she said she did, DeGeneres took a few guesses, and "Phoenix" was one of them.

Although Paris didn't admit to it at the time, DeGeneres posted a throwback clip on Instagram of the moment, writing, "I named @ParisHilton's baby! What do I win?!?! A hotel?!?!"

Paris sings "Stars Are Blind" to Phoenix

When Paris and Carter brought Phoenix home for the first time, they told their staff the house was being painted, thus giving them a full two days alone with their newborn.

In an interview with Harpers Bazaar, Paris shared that they got used to his sleeping schedule. She also said that she enjoyed singing lullabies to her baby boy, including her 2006 hit, "Stars Are Blind" — specifically, "the acoustic version."

Paris plans on slowing down now that she's a mother

Welcoming Phoenix changed everything for Paris.

"I'm more interested in babies than billions," she told Harpers Bazaar, explaining that she has every intention of slowing down career-wise. "I want to protect him and to be with him every second."

Paris added: "You have this mother instinct that kicks in, which I've never had before. I feel so complete now."

In October 2023, Paris told PEOPLE that her love for Phoenix exceeds anything she's ever felt before.

"I thought I knew what love was with my husband, but as soon as I met my baby, it's just this love on another level. He has just changed my life in every way," she said.

She also added that she has learned the power of "saying no" and making sure she is prioritizing her son over her career.

"I'm constantly saying no to things, because I just want to spend as much time with him as possible, and I just don't want to miss any of these special moments in his life and all these milestones," she told PEOPLE.

Phoenix looks a lot like Paris

On the I Am Paris podcast, Carter and Paris talked about how much Phoenix resembles his mom.

"I think he looks like me," Paris said. To which Carter replied: "Thank God. I'm hoping he looks like you, he shares both of our brains, is tall like Dada, funny like Dada, and can dance like Mama."

The reality star noted that Phoenix's baby photos look "exactly" like hers.

"I saw his eyes the other day and having looked into your eyes so many times, I kind of got chills because that's Paris' eyes," Carter added.

Paris received negative comments about Phoenix's head size

After Phoenix's first visit to New York City, Paris posted some snaps on her Instagram of the trip, writing, "My precious angel baby Phoenix's first time in NYC. ✨👱🏼‍♀️👶🏼🗽✨."

Her comment section was soon full of people commenting criticism about the size of her son's head, implying he was unhealthy and needed to see a doctor. Paris addressed the hate in the comment section of a TikTok video discussing the issue where she wrote that he was "perfectly healthy" and just "has a large brain."

She later issued her own statement on her Instagram Story, saying that her "heart hurts" after seeing all the negativity surrounding her baby.

“Living life in the spotlight, comments are inevitable, but targeting my child, or anyone else's for that matter, is unacceptable," she began.

"This hurts my heart more deeply than words can describe. I’ve worked hard to cultivate an environment that is all about love, respect, and acceptance, and I expect the same in return," she continued.

She added that she felt no matter what she did, she received criticism, whether she posted photos of Phoenix or not.

“If I don't post my baby, people assume I'm not a great mother and if I do post him, there are some people who are cruel and hateful I'm a proud working mom and my baby is perfectly healthy, adorable and angelic,” Paris wrote, adding that her son has become the “biggest blessing” in her life.

She later thanked her fans for being "kind and thoughtful" when she posted a video of herself reacting to a Tiktok video compilation of sweet photos of herself and Phoenix.

"🥹 Thank you for making this beautiful video. Made me cry 🥲," Paris wrote across the stitched video. "So kind & thoughtful to make this & show me their [sic] is kindness in this world 🥰."

Phoenix is close to his cousins

Paris is close to her younger sister Nicky Hilton Rothschild and their babies are too. Nicky revealed that their children play together whenever Paris visits N.Y.C.

"My sister is in town with her son Phoenix and it's really cute," Nicky told PEOPLE in October 2023. "My kids are having playdates with her kids every day after school. They don't visit New York often so it's fun to have all the cousins together."

"They're also going to the park in Washington Square. It's been beautiful fall weather," she added.

He is a big brother

Phoenix became a big brother in November when Paris announced that she welcomed a second child with Reum, a baby girl named London, over Thanksgiving dinner with her family.

In addition to announcing London's arrival on Instagram, she shared the exciting news in a TikTokposted on Thanksgiving. In the video, the Paris in Love star can be seen asking her niece and nephew, “You guys excited for your new cousin?” 

“You have two babies?” asked her nephew in response.

“I have two babies,” confirmed Paris. 

In a separate video shared on her Instagram Story on Thanksgiving Day, Paris and Reum were seen dancing at the dinner table with Phoenix as Reum shouted, "Big brother, big brother!"