Brazilian Actress Claudia Raia Welcomes Baby at 56 After Surprise Pregnancy: 'We Made It Through'

Claudia Raia Instagram (2) Claudia Raia

Claudia Raia is a mom again.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Brazilian telenovela star, 56, and husband Jarbas Homem de Mello welcomed their first baby together, a son named Luca.

"Luca arrived lighting up Saturday night! He arrived here on February 11th, already claiming his space. We made it through," the proud mom shared on Instagram, announcing the birth.

The journey to the family's new addition — who joins the actress' older children, daughter Sophia, 19, and son Enzo, 25, whom she shares with actor Edson Celulari — came after a whirlwind fertility journey.

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After one unsuccessful round of in vitro fertilization with Homem de Mello in her early 50s, the Brazilian actress decided a third baby wasn't in the cards for her family.

"I had a very serious conversation with God. I said, 'I'm not going to try more than once. I'm not going to challenge fate. I'm going to try once, and if it works, it's okay, and if it doesn't, I'll understand,'" she shared of her story in a Brazilian TV interview in September, as translated from Portuguese.

Life had other plans because at 55, Raia naturally got pregnant with her third baby, three years after doctors told her she had begun menopause, surprising both her medical team and her family.

Before getting pregnant, Raia was told during a medical exam that she appeared to be ovulating again, but the actress believed it was a mistake or an anomaly and never thought it could result in pregnancy.

"I had given up. I went traveling with my children," she recalled of the time. "I worked out, took classes, dyed my hair. Everything was fine."

When she felt off months later, and all her other tests came back as expected, doctors gave Raia a pregnancy test. Not only did it come back positive, but Raia would quickly learn she was just shy of clearing her first trimester.

The family was thrilled to announce their baby news in September.

"Our dream to be parents is nothing new! And didn't it come true? Me and @jarbashomemdemello are pregnant! And @clearblue was part of this beautiful and exciting moment, confirming to us with 99.9% accuracy that the family will grow!" she wrote.