Fredrik Eklund's Emotional Road to Fatherhood: From Miscarriages to Preparing to Finally Welcome Twins

A timeline of the Million Dollar Listing New York star's journey to becoming a dad

By Elyse Dupre Nov 08, 2017 11:27 PMTags

Fredrik Eklund is weeks away from becoming a dad—and he's ready for the responsibility.

The real estate agent and star of Million Dollar Listing New York posted a picture of the crib he and husband Derek Kaplan set up for their new twins. The daddies-to-be are expecting a boy and a girl, and the pictured pillows confirm the babies' names. Fans of the Bravo show know Eklund has wanted a little girl named Milla for years, and Kaplan suggested the name "Freddie Jr." when he revealed the two were going to be parents on the MDLNY season six finale.

Still, the couple's road to fatherhood hasn't been an easy one.

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Million Dollar Listing's Fredrik Eklund Expecting Twins With Husband Derek Kaplan
Presley Ann Slack/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Eklund and Kaplan met in the summer of 2010 in Greece. It wasn't long before the couple decided to tie the knot in a televised beach wedding back in 2013. While Eklund seemed eager to start a family right away, Kaplan was a bit more hesitant.

"Yeah, we want to have a child but are we actually ready to have a child in nine months time?" Kaplan, an artist from Zimbabwe, said in a season three episode. "A baby, like, screaming and crying in our house….It's a beautiful thing but it's quite scary if I'm honest."

The baby timeline proved to be a point of contention throughout the show. At one point, Kaplan said having a baby was "on the back burner" for him. And during a reunion with Bravo host Andy Cohen, Kaplan expressed concern he would have to do most of the parenting and sacrifice his art due to Eklund's career.

"It would be a heavy load in our house, and I think it would be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Kaplan said during the reunion.

But in season four, Kaplan told Eklund he was ready to have kids. The two started planning, and Eklund even asked Emilia Bechrakis, who was dating (and is now married) to Eklund's co-star Ryan Serhant, if she would donate her eggs. While Bechrakis offered to think about it, she ultimately declined. However, Eklund's friend Lynn offered to carry the baby on the 11th episode of season four.    

In 2015, the Swedish broker revealed he and his artist hubby were expecting. Everything seemed to be going well for the couple.

"I have butterflies, I can't think, I can't sleep. I'm just so in love with her!" Eklund stated at the time.

But just a few months later, Eklund revealed the couple's surrogate had miscarried and that they lost twins.

"I'm sad to share we've had a failed pregnancy," he wrote in part of an Instagram post. "I have cried so much that I can't cry anymore."

Eklund opened up about the miscarriage on the first episode of MDLNY season five.

Sadly, this wasn't the couple's only miscarriage. During an interview with Bravo's site The Daily Dish, the author of The Sell said they experienced a second miscarriage. Eklund wasn't even sure he wanted to continue trying for a baby after he learned their surrogate wasn't pregnant again.

"I never thought I was going to say it but I'll say it: I think I'm done," he said during a tearful interview on the show.

Season five also shed light on Eklund's relationship with Kaplan's son Kai. According to The Daily Dish, Kaplan donated his sperm to a female couple when he lived in London. The couple got pregnant on the first try and welcomed Kai.

During a trip to London to visit Kai, Eklund initially ignored the child and tried to distract himself with work so he didn't think about the miscarriages. However, Kaplan convinced Eklund he already had a son in Kai, and the broker embraced the child as his own.

At the end of the season, Eklund and Kaplan bought a gorgeous house in Connecticut—one that came with a children's playroom. While Kaplan suggested turning the space into a workout room, Eklund wanted to keep the room as is, hinting the couple would try for a baby again.

"I've been dreaming about this for so long. I'm not going to give up now. I'm not," he said during the season five finale. "I mean the pain is there. It's always present, but I'm keeping it together….When it happens, when we do get her and him or both or one, that's going to be bigger then all of this real estate. I'm ready."

 

Fast forward to season six, Eklund and Kaplan decided to try for a baby once again. Eklund asked his husband if he'd be willing to take the lead in terms of being in communication with the doctors. In the season five finale, Kaplan told Eklund their surrogate was pregnant with twins.

"I felt like I've been running this marathon for 40 years and I finally reached the goal. We're finally going to be daddies. Finally," he said.

While the real estate star is used to sharing his personal life on TV, he has stayed relatively quiet on the topic of the twins' arrival.

"I think that I shared so much for so long, maybe too much, which is important, I feel like what's happening right now I won't talk about for a little longer," he said during an interview with The Daily Dish.

Still, Eklund couldn't help but share some of the happy news. He posted a picture of the couple's baby shower in October.

Congratulations to the soon-to-be-dads. We can't wait until Milla and Freddie Jr. arrive.

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