Lena Dunham has been seen in New York for the first time since announcing that she and her husband, Luis Felber, had welcomed a baby girl with the help of a surrogate.
The 40-year-old actor and creator of Girls was photographed wearing a silver collared minidress with a bright pink scarf, a charcoal herringbone blazer and a scarlet handbag. She later changed from white heels into shoes fading from orange to crimson.
Dunham revealed the arrival of her daughter last week in a birth announcement written for Vogue. Recalling the first words she spoke to the newborn, she said: “Hello. I’m your mama. You look nothing like I thought you would, but exactly right. We’ve been waiting for you, do you know that? It was so nice of you to come.”
She added: “I meant it. Like a kid who wasn’t sure if their schoolmates would arrive for the birthday party, I was bashful and dizzy with joy.”
Lena Dunham’s journey to motherhood
Dunham underwent a hysterectomy in 2018 after years of pain linked to endometriosis. The procedure removed her womb, cervix and an ovary, meaning she could not carry a child herself.
Speaking earlier this year, she said becoming a mother had always been part of her “dream” and a significant part of her identity. She said she had since met people who had built families in many different ways and had reached a point where she felt excited and grateful “whatever way it happens”.
In her account of the surrogacy journey, Dunham said she had not felt jealous of the woman who carried her daughter. Instead, she wrote, she had felt “a different kind of jealousy” towards the baby, who had the chance to be held by someone she felt radiated safety.
In June last year, Dunham described her hysterectomy as “a grief but it was also a relief”. She also said that she and Felber were expanding their family “in new ways”.
Two days before Dunham’s New York appearance, the couple marked their fifth wedding anniversary with affectionate posts about one another.
Dunham described Felber as “a wonderful husband, a beautiful father and an incredibly skilled curator of hair accessories”, adding: “Don’t quit before the miracle.”
Felber, a British musician, wrote a poem for the occasion, ending: “5 years. Here’s to 500 more.” Dunham replied in the comments: “Mi Esposito,” alongside heart-eyed emojis.
The couple met during the Covid-19 lockdown and went for their first date on a night-time walk along the River Thames. Dunham first spoke publicly about their relationship in 2021, saying she felt “really lucky” and describing Felber as “the greatest person I’ve ever met”.
