Ellen Pompeo is one of the most beloved actresses in Hollywood, best known for portraying the character Dr. Meredith Grey on the hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

The 52-year-old actress is also a dedicated mother to three children she shares with husband Chris Ivery, including a daughter via a surrogate. 

Pompeo and Ivery, a record producer and an occasional writer, have been together since 2003. The couple eventually got married in 2007, with the New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as the legal witness to the wedding ceremony.

Following the marriage, the two welcomed their first child, Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery, in 2009. Subsequently, they gave birth to their second child, Sienna May Pompeo Ivery, in 2014, and a third child, Eli Christopher Pompeo Ivery, in 2016.

Her Second Daughter Was Born 'via a Surrogate'

After the birth of her second daughter, Sienna, Pompeo took to her Twitter on October 3, 2014, to reveal that her daughter was born via surrogate.

In the tweet, she also thanked the Shondaland TV family for allowing her to enjoy her first few weeks "privately" with her family.

But now, the actress and her 7-year-old daughter are no longer keeping things private, with them regularly posting updates on Instagram.

"Someone send help," Pompeo jokingly wrote in one of her posts with Sienna. "I've created a monster….a very cute one but still."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Ellen Pompeo (@ellenpompeo)

Ellen Pompeo Initially Hid Her First Pregnancy

When the Grey's Anatomy actress was pregnant with her first baby, Stella, around 2009, she kept her pregnancy private for as long as she could. But when she finally needed to take time off from playing her character Meredith, the news of her pregnancy came out in the spotlight.

Speaking with Ellen DeGeneres in 2020, Pompeo shared she was proud of her eldest daughter, who has developed a love for the medical profession.

Yesterday I went in to find her [and] she was with Linda with a bone drill, drilling a fake femur bone with a real bone drill. She was supervised, but they have her doing advanced procedures!

She also expressed her concern, stating that she wanted her daughter to decide about her future.

"She needs to decide whether she wants to be an orthopedic surgeon or an emergency room doctor," the actress added while saying, "She needs to nail it down. I mean, seriously, she's confusing me."

Pompeo's parenthood journey continued as she welcomed her third child with her husband, Ivery. The pair's third child, Eli, is also their only son. 

Two years after the birth of her son, the actress spoke with InStyle and reflected on motherhood. She shared she made a lot of mistakes as a parent, but that helped her learn.

"I make a lot of mistakes. You just learn," she stated before adding,

Kids are just so open and honest, and you could get down on yourself a lot as a parent, like ‘Oh I’m not there enough.’ It’s easier to beat yourself up and feel guilty. But you can’t adopt a sort of victim’s attitude, you have to adopt an optimistic, can do, ‘how do I fix it?’ attitude with kids.

The mother-son duo is often spotted on the actress's social media, making many awe of their chemistry.