In November 2021, Khloé Kardashian let some of her closest friends into a secret.
She and her on-off boyfriend, NBA player Tristan Thompson, were having a much-longed for little brother for their daughter True via surrogate.
The embryo was implanted into a surrogate that fall. But by Dec. 3, Kardashian was rocked by a bombshell: Thompson had just secretly fathered another son with trainer Maralee Nichols. The child, Theo, is now 8 months old.
Knowing that her boyfriend had cheated on her yet again, just as they were expecting a second child, was a painful situation that the reality star kept secret for months, although rumors first started swirling in June.
Finally, on July 13, she was blindsided when news of the surrogacy leaked.
A friend of the clan told Page Six: “It’s just sad sometimes when you really want something to work.
“Khloé’s very open about the fact that she knows her life is public and that’s a choice she made — but still, it’s just hard to have this all play out in public.”
One industry insider told Page Six that Kardashian had originally planned to announce her second child on Season 2 of “The Kardashians” on Hulu, “but that was before the news of Tristan cheating and the breakup happened.
“Once it was determined that they’d be going through the pregnancy somewhat separately, word got out to too many people and they realized it was likely going to leak and that it would be hard to keep things secret before the September premiere.”
As of Friday, the baby had not yet been born, despite rumors to the contrary, Kardashian sources confirmed. Though the Good American co-founder has not yet spoken about her upcoming arrival, a rep said she “is incredibly grateful to the extraordinary surrogate for such a beautiful blessing.”
Kardashian and Thompson were first spotted together in August 2016 when he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The following September, she was pregnant with his child.
Not long after, Kardashian was bombarded with rumors of his cheating, with TMZ reporting that Thompson was seen on video making out with two women at a hookah lounge outside Washington, DC, when she was three months pregnant. Just days before she was due to give birth, the same outlet reported that Thompson was seen taking another woman back to his NYC hotel.
At the time, Kardashian brushed off the allegations. She went on to have their daughter, True, in April 2018 in Cleveland with the NBA star by her side.
But by February 2019, she finally dumped Thompson after he was seen kissing Kylie Jenner’s former best friend, Jordyn Woods.
Even so, they rekindled the flame in August 2020 after spending time together during the coronavirus pandemic, and they were seeing each other on and off when they decided to have another child in 2021.
In January, Thompson finally confirmed via Instagram that he had fathered a baby boy with Nichols and posted a sincere apology to Kardashian.
“You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you,” he wrote. “You don’t deserve the way I have treated you over the years.”
Another source close to the family said: “Khloé always wanted True to have a little brother, that was her dream. When she and Tristan created the embryos together, they were very much in love, and Khloé was excited for the future.”
“Her friends were so upset about the Tristan drama, and then those who were really in the loop knew that it was even more complicated because they had a baby on the way.”
Sources said Kardashian is now looking forward to her son’s upcoming birth and has not spoken with Thompson, who is now signed with the Chicago Bulls and also has a 5-year-old son, Prince, with ex Jordan Craig, outside of co-parenting since December.
And yet, she has no plans to kick Thompson out of her life, sources added.
The industry insider said: “I’m told that Khloé still loves Tristan, she is fixed on redeeming him, and nothing would shock me if they got back together again. This is really why the family is not shunning Tristan. They’re standing by Khloé, of course. The Kardashians always stick together.”
