Paris Hilton Is a Mom! Star Reveals She and Husband Carter Reum Have Welcomed a Baby Boy

Paris Hilton is starting 2023 with a new title — mom!

The businesswoman and media personality, 41, and husband Carter Reum recently welcomed their first baby together, a son, via surrogate, PEOPLE can confirm.

"It's always been my dream to be a mother and I'm so happy that Carter and I found each other," the new mom tells PEOPLE exclusively. "We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy."

Sharing the exciting news on Instagram Tuesday, Hilton posted a close-up photo of the baby gripping her thumb. "You are already loved beyond words 💙," she wrote.

Hilton has previously been open about her desire to become a parent alongside Reum, 41.

During an interview with PEOPLE in December, the Love Rush fragrance founder discussed the couple's plan to have a baby after the pair tied the knot late last year, sharing that she and Reum began the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) process during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We started going and doing it like a few months in because the world was shut down," she told PEOPLE. "We knew we wanted to start a family, and I was like, 'This is perfect timing. Usually, I'm on a plane 250 days out of the year, and let's just get all of the eggs stocked and ready,' and we have tons of them just waiting."

Hilton and Reum got engaged in Feb. 2021 after more than a year of dating and tied the knot in a three-day wedding ceremony that November. A longtime friend of the Hilton family, Reum — a Chicago native — is an author, entrepreneur, and started venture capital firm M13.

"I have gotten the unique opportunity to get to know the real Paris on a daily basis, just the two of us during these past 15 months, and I couldn't be more excited and lucky to have her as my future wife and partner," Reum said in February 2021. "She shines with her kindness, work ethic, authenticity and her voice in making the world a better place, and she will do the same as a future mother and wife."

In an April episode of Nikki and Brie Bella's The Bellas Podcast, Hilton discussed the excitement she and Reum share about expanding their family.

"I love being married. I just feel like I finally found my perfect match and I just feel so safe," Hilton said of Reum. "I finally have my home and I just can't wait to start a family and have kids."

Explaining that she and Reum have "been talking about kids since the beginning — since the first couple, like, months of dating," Hilton said that the pair "would love to have twins."

"I think that would be amazing," the "Stars Are Blind" singer added, before noting that they would like "three or four" children overall.