Beautiful cufflinks! Gabourey Sidibe and her husband Brandon Frankel are parents to a boy and a girl.
The couple, who got engaged in 2020 and married in 2021, welcomed son Cooper and daughter Maya in early April and made their debut Thursday as a family of four in a photo shoot posted by Shutterstock and Shade Room .
The quartet appears in a series of portraits in a garden and a nursery, absorbing the hugs of newborns and making the chaotic life of twin parents seem very simple. On Instagram Stories, Frankel wrote Thursday that the babies' arrival “wasn't a secret. It was SACRED! Surprise!”
“I've taken over 2,000 baby photos and videos in the span of two months and I don't feel bad about it at all,” she added.
Frankel and the Oscar-nominated “Precious” star, 41, revealed their twin pregnancy on Instagram in February. She told Shutterstock this week that her delivery was a surprise before her due date, something that is not unusual for twins.
“We were originally going for a routine appointment, only to be told that the twins would be coming later that day and not when originally scheduled,” Sidibe said.
And since then it's been a wild ride.
“They're both extremely strong and funny, although they've yet to really interact with each other,” the “American Horror Story” and “Empire” actor said. The biggest surprise since your birth? How “noisy and chaotic babies are when they sleep.”
“'Active sleep' is pretty wild,” he said. “Also, it was a surprise to see how little they recognized each other outside the womb when they seemed to interact so much inside.”
Having the duo on the same schedule is “a must,” he added, noting that what he hopes most is for his children to dress up to sing and travel and “raise them to be good people.”
As for their names, Sidibe explained that her husband always wanted a son named Cooper “so we can call him 'Coop,'” and Maya was named shortly before their honeymoon trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico. Each child also has a traditional West African middle name inspired by members of Sidibe's family.
In February, Sidibe joked that she and her husband “thought it was time to give our cats some responsibility, so we'll give them each a baby to take care of!”
“Double the babies, double the cats, double the fun!! Twin delivery coming soon! “Twinty Twinty Four!!,” she wrote at the time.
On the other hand, Frankel shared a snapshot of his wife and said at the time that he couldn't wait to be a twin father.
“I am so excited that the twins have such a loving, thoughtful, fun and beautiful mom. These two are already incredibly loved; We can't wait to meet you and give you the world. “I love you three more than words will do justice,” the tourism marketing agent wrote on Instagram.
In a post from late April, presumably shared after the babies arrived, Sidibe thanked the “village” of friends who gathered around her to throw her a baby shower.
“Late because I lack concentration, but weeks ago, my friends… the perfect baby shower!” she wrote. “It was perfect because it was so intimate and private and I didn't have to lift a finger because it was mostly a surprise! Brandon and I really appreciate the love for our little family, especially since we're so bad at throwing parties and being famous, but we have to work on it because we have two little lives that deserve celebration, so we'll get through it together. His first birthday of hers!…..Maybe her second birthday. Fifth birthday for sure! Either way, I know my people will jump on me and yell at me if I try to pass by without giving these babies a proper party, and I love that for them! Me too! We are very lucky to have friends like them.”
Representatives for Sidibe and Frankel did not immediately respond Friday to The Times' request for comment.
