The ‘Days of Our Lives’ Star Didn’t Find Love in 4 Marriages but Became a Mother at 44 Thanks to Surrogacy — Meet Her 2 Sons

After four marriages and years of infertility, this Hollywood actress experienced grief in her personal life. But having two sons through surrogacy brought her the most happiness. Learn about the family she created and her emotional road to parenthood.

Even the most famous celebrities have personal struggles behind the glamor and sparkle of Hollywood. This well-known actress, who starred in “Days of Our Lives” for decades, experienced heartbreak while trying to start a family.

She had four marriages before struggling with infertility after years of trying to conceive. However, she never abandoned her desire to have children. She decided to use surrogacy in her 40s in order to finally have the family she had always desired.

A Journey to Fame and Through Marriages

Her depiction of Marlena Evans, a psychiatrist on the enduring soap opera, made this cherished star of “Days of Our Lives” a household name. But her career started in a very surprising way before she became well-known.

Her part-time job quickly developed into a full-time acting career. ‘Well, I’ll just do this acting thing till I have a career,’ I continued thinking. Then one day I asked myself, “What am I doing?” She thought, “I seem to have a career, and it’s not in psychiatry.”

The actress’s personal life was somewhat more turbulent, despite the fact that her profession was thriving. She married four times, but none of those unions continued to last.

The actress married singer-songwriter Keith Barbour during the height of her soap opera stardom after her first marriage, which was more discreet, did not work out. However, their marriage dissolved after six years of being together.

They also didn’t last when she said “I do” to writer and producer Michael Dubelko. Steve Sohmer, a writer, actor, and producer, was the subject of her fourth marriage.

The actress never apologized for her love affairs, even though her marriages did not endure. One of my friends says, ‘You’ve got a lousy picker,’ and I don’t think that’s totally false,” she revealed. However, when I consider my life’s development, everything has led me to this point.

“A marriage brought me to California when I was attending school in Florida, which opened up a lot of opportunities! The actress went on, “I’ve learned from them and still have [some] wonderful friendships.” By 2019, though, she had made it apparent that she had no intention of getting married again.

Surrogacy Brought Her Dream of Motherhood to Life

This well-known actress is actually Deidre Hall, who tried her hardest to conceive but failed after two marriages and twenty years.

She had multiple rounds of in-vitro fertilization, surgeries, and artificial insemination. She was emotionally and physically spent after every effort, but the baby never came. Her life changed when she and her fourth husband finally decided to use surrogacy after fighting infertility for so long.

“There is enormous power in women working together,” Deidre said, describing her attraction to surrogacy after experiencing the emotional toll of infertility at the age of 44. and I was not surprised that surrogacy would have been successful for me.

Through a Beverly Hills surrogacy center, she and Steve were able to find a young mother named Robin as a surrogate. But that was only the start of the emotional journey.

“It took about a year to find Robin, and like everything else in this process that has happened, when I saw her, I knew it,” Deidre said, recalling her first encounter with Robin. She was my surrogate, and I knew it. I was aware. I was aware. I was aware of it.

On August 23, 1992, Robin gave birth to their first son, David Atticus. Three years later, on January 19, 1995, Robin gave birth to their second son, Tully Chapin. It is impossible to describe the happiness Deidre experienced upon the birth of her sons. “In the moment that baby is placed in your arms, it doesn’t matter how they got there,” Deidre thought.

“When David was born, the doctor cut the cord and handed him to me, and I remember saying, ‘If anybody ever tries to hurt you, I will kill them’ … at a rational moment,” laughed the actress.

Deidre and Steve wanted to tell the world about their surrogacy journey because it was so important. Deidre played herself in Steve’s 1995 made-for-TV film “Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story,” which reenacted her own surrogacy experience.

Setting the record straight and demonstrating the potential benefits and success of surrogacy when done correctly were major goals for Deidre. She felt especially driven to remove the unfavorable opinions that persisted following the infamous Baby M custody case, which had tarnished surrogacy in the United States.

“This is something I really believe in,” I thought. I’m really appreciative of Robin’s gift to us. And all I wanted was for everyone to know what it was. Deidre stated, “I had really wanted people to understand that women are extraordinary and they can do things together. Mary Beth Whitehead [of Baby M] was not the story, that was not how it worked.”

Over the years, Deidre and her surrogate, Robin, maintained a close relationship. “We’re still close,” the actress talked about. When they first met, Robin and her kids had been quite little, but she remained friendly with them.

Robin’s kids had been told that their mother was “helping [a] lady with a broken tummy” and they all came to visit her house to make sure the baby had a bedroom, Deidre recounted with affection. “It was a terribly sweet relationship,” she was saying.

Despite her fame, Deidre’s sons have generally remained out of the spotlight. They are now all grown up. In 2019, the “Days of Our Lives” star revealed, “David has been attending college in Paris, and Tully took a brief break before returning to school. In May, he will graduate. David moved on to work in real estate, based on his Instagram bio.

An adorable snapshot of the actress and David was included in a 2021 social media photo dump. One commenter wrote, “He is so handsome.”

“That’s a proud and loving Mom smile,” someone else typed. Very lovely. Another said, “Love you always Deirdre and your son very handsome beautiful like mom [sic].”

Deidre, who is now well into her seventies, has said, “I’m so sublimely happy,” after reflecting on her life over the years. I’m healthy, and my family and children are doing well. I work at a job I enjoy. I have folks, a house I love, and a garden I like tending to. I’m incredibly thankful, but it doesn’t get any better.”

Although becoming a mother was not an easy path for Deidre Hall, she eventually realized her ambition through surrogacy. The actress, who is now a proud mother of two sons, looks back on her life with gratitude, demonstrating that happiness and love may come in many forms, even outside of the conventional avenues.