Millie Bobby Brown couldn't wait to have kids and, when the opportunity arose for her and husband Jake Bongiovi to become parents, she didn't have to count to 11 before making a decision.
"Jake knows how important it is to me,” the Stranger Things actress said on a March 2025 episode of SmartLess, noting that her spouse was the one who said marriage had to come before the baby carriage. “Of course I want to focus on really establishing myself as an actor and as a producer, but I also find it’s so important to start a family for me, personally.”
Then 21, Millie acknowledged she was “still really young.” But since her mom was 21 when she had her first child...
So came the news last August that Millie, now 22, and Jake, 24, had adopted a baby girl, the couple sharing that they were "beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy."
Just over a year later, things flipped upside down once again as the pair confirmed Sept. 17 that they've welcomed a baby boy.
And so they'll continue to nurture their family of now-four—not including the dozens of animals that also reside on their Georgia farm—on their own terms.
Even as she embarked on a big press tour last year, Millie deftly kept the excitement that swirled over the final season of Stranger Things (and what really happened to Eleven) separate from her own state of bliss.
"For me, it’s really important to protect her and her story until she’s old enough to potentially one day share it herself,” she told British Vogue in November of her daughter. “It’s not my place to purposefully put her in the spotlight unwillingly. If she chooses to share her personality one day with the world, like I did when I was young, that’s something we’d support. But right now, as she’s so little… As her parents, it’s our job to protect her from that."
Hence Millie only sharing fleeting glimpses of her daughter on Instagram in adorable but otherwise unidentifiable ways. Though, when she posted a pic featuring her "Ruth" necklace, fans were quick to assume she'd named her daughter after her late grandmother.
And while she hasn't confirmed that specific detail about her little baby Ruth, the Florence by Mills founder has plenty to share about how much life has changed for the better.
"Getting the call, I mean, I will never forget it," Millie detailed on a July episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty. "It was the most surreal feeling and yet we both knew in that moment that we had found each other. Like, oh my goodness, this is our girl, 100 percent, no doubt."
The process was lengthy, she noted, "and rightfully so," which gave her time to fully prep for her most crucial role.
Calling this her "most authentic era," Millie explained to Allure, "Being a mother expedited this version of me. Nothing could get in the way of me being who I need to be for my daughter.”
She wants her child to see her practicing self-care, she explained, though, “You have to do everything 10 times quicker, and you don’t really get to do your gua sha in the morning.”
Instead, she's been trying to spent more time nurturing her relationships with both her loved ones and herself.
"I have to talk to myself kindly,” Millie explained, noting how easy it is to “talk badly about yourself and your body” out of habit. “After becoming a parent, I couldn't imagine talking about myself like that anymore, because she's going to watch me do that.”
And, if life continues to go according to plan, Millie's audience is only going to get larger.
Speaking to Kylie Kelce on her Not Gonna Lie podcast in June, Millie noted she hoped to "one day" give birth to a child, "But for me, adoption was always a part of my future. Adoption is love. Adoption is forever."
And, admittedly, they may be just getting started.
"I really want a big family," she said on SmartLess. "I’m one of four, he’s one of four. So, it is definitely in our future. But for me, I don’t see having your own child, you know, as really any different as in adopting...My home is full of love for anyone and anything."
Which includes animals, Millie quipping that people in their community thought she was pregnant at one point because she was buying so many bottles and diapers for their rescues.
Though her dog Winnie was starting to accept the tiny human in their midst, Millie said on The Tonight Show in December that sharing her territory with a baby had been "a hit to the ego" for the pup.
As for Jake, whom she wed twice in 2024—once to make it legal and again in Tuscany to make it exquisite—he's shown up as advertised.
Getting married "is such an important decision," Millie told Vanity Fair last year, "and we wanted to make sure we were making the right one. I knew I was. It always felt right with him."
And sure enough, he turned out to be "the most amazing dad," according to his wife.
"We are 50-50 on everything," Millie told Vogue. "That’s why I’m so grateful to have partnered with him in this life."
Being parents together was "a beautiful, amazing journey," she said. “Perspective is a huge thing. The smaller things in life are so much more precious. Our days are filled with lots of cuddles and laughter and love. It’s just endless joy.”
And while they're holding on to what they've got, see Millie and Jake's love story in photos:
(Originally published May 19, 2026 at 7 a.m. PT)
June 2021: First Instagram Pic
Millie Bobby Brown sparked dating rumors with Jake Bongiovi after he posted this photo with the caption, "bff <3"
November 2021: Never Say Goodbye
The couple officially confirmed their romance with this PDA pic.
November 2021: Bon Jovi 2.0
"We're starting a band," Bongiovi—the son of Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Bongiovi—wrote on Instagram, "send name ideas."
December 2021: Merry Christmas
The Stranger Things star and the actor celebrated their first Chirstmas together in 2021.
December 2021: Happy Holidays
Brown and Bongiovi snapped a sweet selfie in front of the Christmas tree.
February 2022: Milestone Birthday
Brown matched Bongiovi's blonde 'do while celebrating her 18th birthday.
March 2022: Red Carpet Official
The couple made their first red carpet appearance as a couple during the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards in London.
May 2022: Stranger Things Premiere
Brown and Bongiovi were twinning in black and white at the premiere of Stranger Things season four in New York City.
January 2023: A New Year
Brown shared photos of the couple in celebration of the new year, writing on Instagram, "endlessly in love with the year I've had."
January 2023: Picture Perfect
One snapshot showed a photo booth strip of the loved-up couple.
January 2023: Ride or Die
Brown captioned her New Year's Day post, "grateful for my friends, family, donkey (bernard), my doggies, my puppies teeth, and my partner for life."
February 2023: Golden Birthday
Bongiovi marked Brown's 19th birthday on Feb. 19, 2023, with a sweet tribute, writing on Instagram, "Another year around the sun together."
February 2023: Dream Girl
The sweet post included photos of the actor with who he called "the girl of my dreams."
February 2023: Making a Splash
The pair's silly side was depicted in one image of Bongiovi and Brown clowning around in the pool
February 2023: Pucker Up
Brown and Bongiovi snuggle up in a romantic selfie.
April 2023: Engaged
Brown announced the couple's engagement on Instagram by quoting Taylor Swift's song "Lover," writing, "I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all."
July 2023: Six Flags Visit
Brown and Bongiovi enjoyed a day out with her younger sister Ava Brown and friends at the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park.
September 2023: Summer Nights
Bongiovi shared this pic in the final days of summer 2023.
November 2023: Glamour Women of the Year
The two appeared at the event, where Brown was honored as one of two Global Women of the Year.
February 2024: Happy Birthday, Millie
Bongiovi shared a tribute to his partner for her 20th birthday, writing, "Happy birthday my beautiful fiancéI love you so much. Big year ahead."
March 2024: Anniversary
Brown shared this tribute to Jake on their third dating anniversary.
May 2024: Married
After three years of dating, the duo tied the knot in a private ceremony.
August 2025: Expanding Their Family
Over a year after their nuptials, Brown and Bongiovi shared they had a new arrival.
"This summer, we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption," the couple announced on Instagram. "We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy."
They concluded, "And then there were 3."
September 2026: Baby No. 2
Brown and Bongiovi announced the arrival of their second baby—a son—by sharing this photo.