Three out of five members of One Direction are now dads with Zayn and long-term girlfriend Gigi Hadid welcoming their daughter into the world the weekend of September 19th.
The couple shared photos on their social media accounts showing Zayn holding the baby girl’s hand.
“Our girl joined us earth-side this weekend and she’s already changed our world. So in love,” Gigi shared on Instagram.
Zayn wrote, “Our baby girl is here, healthy and beautiful.”
He continued his Instagram caption by writing, “To try put into words how i am feeling right now would be an impossible task. The love I feel for this tiny human is beyond my understanding. Grateful to know her, proud to call her mine, and thankful for the life we will have together x."
Fellow bandmates Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne are fathers to sons born one year apart. Tomlinson’s son Freddie turned four in January and Payne’s son Bear turned three in March.
To welcome Malik into the One Directions dad’s club, we’ve compiled an in-depth breakdown of the One Direction member's children, from pregnancy announcements to where they are now.
Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson was the first member of One Direction to become a father. His son Freddie Reign Tomlinson was born in January 2016 with former flame Briana Jungwirth.
He was first photographed with his son’s mother in May of 2015 at an album release party for Snoop Dogg.
The pair met through a mutual friend, four months after Louis and girlfriend Eleanor Calder had broken up for the first time after a three and a half year-long relationship.
Jungwirth is a Los Angeles based stylist, and it was reported at the time that the pair had been on three dates prior to being photographed together at the Snoop Dogg party.
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In July 2015, two months after the pair were first photographed together, it was announced that Jungwirth was pregnant with Louis’s baby.
During an interview with Good Morning America in August 2015, Louis spoke for the first time spoke about his sudden entry into the world of fatherhood, telling host Michael Strahan he was "buzzing."
On January 21st the following year Freddie Reign Tomlinson was born in Los Angeles California. Louis announced the birth of his son to his millions of Twitter followers with a post saying, “I'm pleased to say my baby son was born yesterday. He is healthy and pretty amazing. I'm very happy!!”
The first photo of Freddie was shared by Jungwirth six days after his birth on her Instagram. The photo shows her in a hospital bed holding Freddie who was wrapped tight in a blanket and wearing a hat.
One day later, Louis posted photos of himself holding his newborn son as well as a thank you message to his fans for all the well wishes on his personal Twitter and Instagram pages.
Louis would share a few photos with Freddie following his birth, but in recent years photos of Louis with Freddie are few and far between.
It was reported at the time by TMZ that Louis and Jungwirth were in a legal battle in family court for custody over Freddie, which Jungwirth was winning, with Louis only allowed to see Freddie for a few hours a week and no overnight visits.
The ex-couple seemed to have come to some amicable decision on how Freddie would spend his time, and Louis joined Jungwirth at her home to celebrate their son's first birthday in 2017.
.They celebrated Freddie's birthday with friends and family and even had two cakes, one with a photo of Freddie on it and another that read "Happy Birthday Freddie."
At the time Jungwirth shared photos and video to her Instagram story and main grid of Freddie's first birthday.
A video surfaced of Briana holding one of Freddie's cakes with lit candles on it while Louis held Freddie up on his feet so their son could blow out his candles.
While Louis doesn’t post about Freddie much on his social channels, Jungwirth has a pretty active Instagram account where she shares Stories and grid posts of herself and Freddie enjoying life in Los Angeles.
Liam Payne
Liam Payne was the second member of One Direction to have a child. His son Bear Payne with ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole was born on 22nd March 2017.
Liam’s relationship and subsequent pregnancy with Cheryl was a much talked about topic, as the pair met for the first time when Liam first unsuccessfully auditioned for X-Factor at the age of fourteen. While he didn’t make it to live shows, his audition aired and he was seen giving Cole a cheeky wink and her calling Liam cute during her critique of his performance.
They met again two years later when Liam was sixteen and was subsequently placed into a group that would go on to become One Direction.
Relationship rumors began to circulate in December 2015 when One Direction performed during the X Factor finale and he and Cheryl were seen having an extended hug before the cut to a commercial break.
On February 27th, 2016, with relationship rumors already swirling, Liam made their relationship official by changing his Instagram avatar to a picture of himself and Cheryl.
Only five months after they went public with their relationship, rumors began to circulate that Cheryl was pregnant with Liam’s child.
The couple never did officially announce Cheryl’s pregnancy, though she appeared in a L’Oreal ad in early 2017 with a full baby bump.
Cheryl and Liam’s son, Bear Payne, was born on March 22nd 2017 in London. The couple shared the news just three days after their son’s birth with posts on their Instagram accounts.
Cheryl shared a photo of Liam holding Bear and a caption sharing that “On Wednesday 22nd March Liam and I became parents to an incredibly beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing 7lb 9 and looking like a dream.”
Liam later shared the same photo on his Instagram and wrote, "I'm incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it's a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favorite memory I have so far.”
The couple stayed together for another year following the birth of Bear.
On Bear’s first birthday in 2018, Liam shared a photo of himself holding his young son’s hand; he and Cheryl had agreed to keep him out of the public eye as much as possible.
On July 2nd 2018, The Sun first reported Cheryl and Liam were calling it quits.
While the pair is no longer together, and photos of Bear are rarely seen, they have both discussed parenthood in interviews and continue to co-parent their son.
Zayn Malik
In the last week of April this year, TMZ broke the news that Zayn and his supermodel girlfriend Gigi Hadid were expecting their first child.
The pair have been in isolation together along with Gigi’s sister Bella, her mother Yolanda and a few other family members at the Hadid ranch in rural Pennsylvania.
Gigi and Zayn officially started dating in December 2015 after initially meeting at a Victoria’s Secret party in November of the same year and being photographed shortly after on a date at Los Angeles’ famous Nice Guy restaurant on November 25th.
Gigi starred in Zayn’s first solo music video for his single ‘Pillowtalk’ where the pair had a steamy make-out session - a public confirmation of their relationship.
The pair went on to do a fashion shoot together for Vogue, show up in matching outfits for the 2016 Met Gala, don couples costumes for Halloween and buy an apartment together in New York City.
Then in February 2018 the pair broke up for the first time, both making public statements on their social media accounts.
After this split they were on and off for a while, being spotted together just two months after their public breakup announcement. The pair broke up again in 2019.
On January 12th of 2020 Gigi and Zayn were spotted together in NYC, having a night out on the town with Bella Hadid and British singer Dua Lipa.
Since January the pair have been back together, and Zayn has been isolating with Gigi in Pennsylvania.
On April 30th 2020 Gigi Hadid publicly announced that she and Zayn were expecting their first child together, giving the baby a potential due date in September or October of 2020.