Anyone who’s had a baby can tell you how much of a strain becoming a parent can put on your relationship. Suddenly a couple has to balance the needs of this new little human, all while keeping up with their everyday routine and drama. Needless to say, most people wouldn’t recommend bringing a baby into the picture if the marriage is on the rocks.

With that being said, life happens, and we can’t always plan things ahead of time, even pregnancies. Sometimes an unexpected pregnancy might take a couple by surprise because having a kid was the last thing on their mind. Other times, the couple may have been trying for a little one in an effort to patch up their relationship. And sometimes it actually works, while other times it doesn’t.

The celebrities that made this list all had (or at least tried to have) children in order to save a dwindling relationship. Some of these famous couples are still together to this day, proving that a new baby can bring an estranged couple back together. But there are also many examples in which another child only seemed to push the couple to break up sooner than fans were expecting. Keep reading to see which stars had children amid their very public relationship problems.

20 Megan Fox

Nowadays, Megan Fox has taken a step back from the spotlight in order to focus on her young family. But there was a time when the actress almost found herself a solo mom. The celebrity married actor Brian Austin Green in 2010, after seven years of dating.

The couple welcomed two sons before they announced their intent to divorce in 2015. Megan filed for divorce a few days after making their statement.

However, fans were confused when the actress showed up to a red carpet event in early 2016 with a visible baby bump. It didn’t take long for the celeb to confirm she and her hubby were indeed welcoming another boy and that they had called off their divorce.

19 Chip and Joanna Gaines

Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are known for their large brood- the stars are parents to five young children. However, when Joanna became pregnant with baby no. 5 last year, some fans couldn’t help but speculate the pregnant was an attempt to save their marriage.

Since the couple had announced earlier in the year they were ending their show, many fans assumed it meant there was trouble in paradise. So, when they announced their baby news, some fans were less than enthusiastic.

“[This] never fixes a marriage,” one upset follower commented, The Stir reports. “Just means one more kid, the marriage is still broken, and now the kid has to pay for [the] broken marriage.” Another follower wrote, “Well that’s one way to fix a marriage.”

18 Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood and her husband Mike Fisher, who she’s been married to since 2010, just welcomed their second son earlier this year. The notoriously private couple has always seemed strong in front of the cameras. But sources say they were going through a rough patch before they welcomed baby no. 2.

“She wants the world to know that she and Mike are stronger than ever,” a source told Life and Style. “They’ve certainly had their ups and downs, like everyone, but divorce was never an option for Carrie. She says hard work, faith, and commitment to family saved her marriage.”

“Carrie wants to be clear that it’s not a Band-Aid baby,” they continued. “It’s definitely not to fix anything. It’s to spread the love.”

17 Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra

Many fans were surprised when Teen Mom stars Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra announced they were expecting baby no. 3 last year!

The MTV reality show had documented how their marriage had been on the rocks ever since Catelynn went away to seek treatment for post-partum depression. They’d even discussed the topic of divorce. So more babies seemed like the last thing on their radar.

Many fans weren’t surer if their marriage would survive the birth of their baby. Tyler and Cate even lived separately for a few months during the pregnancy to work on their issues. However, baby Vaeda was born earlier this year and the parents are back to being lovey-dovey about each other via social media. So this is one pregnancy that definitely saved the marriage!

16 Kourtney Kardashian

Kourtney Kardashian famously shares three children with her ex-boyfriend, Scott Disick. Although the pair have been broken up for years, the timeline of their third pregnancy and break-up has led some fans to question whether they had their second son in an effort to save their relationships.

The couple welcomed their third child, son Reign, in December 2015. Although everything seemed good between them, fans were quite surprised when Kourtney pulled the plug on their relationship the following month. Sources later revealed she couldn’t stand how much her then-boyfriend was partying despite just having their third baby, People reports.

15 Pink and Carey Hart

Singer Pink and her husband Carey Hart have been together for forever (well, technically they’ve been married since 2006). But there was a time when fans weren’t sure if they were going to pull through.

Back in 2008, the couple announced that they had separated. Pink did not delay before releasing an album about their break-up- her then-ex even starred in one of her music videos!

However, Pink and Carey surprised everyone in 2010 when they announced they’d not only reconciled, but they were expecting their first child. Their daughter Willow was born the following year, while their son Jameson Moon was born in 2016.

14 Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren have been married since 2008 - the same year they welcomed their first child. Nowadays, the couple has two daughters and a son. But by the sounds of it, things haven’t always been rosy for the couple.

In fact, when Jessica announced her third pregnancy in 2017, reports suggested the couple were only expanding their family in order to save their marriage.

“Jessica and Cash were going through a tough time, and they thought adding another little one to their brood might bring them back together,” a source told Radar Online. “They’ve been happier than anyone’s seen in a long time,” they continued. “This could be the magic remedy that rights all their recent wrongs!”

13 Khloe Kardashian

Nowadays, Khloe Kardashian is thriving as a mother to her adorable 1-year-old daughter True, whom she shares with her ex Tristan Thompson. But there was a time the celebrity almost had children with her then-husband Lamar Odom, although we’re sure she’s glad nowadays that this is one plan that didn’t work out.

Khloe and Lamar were married from 2009-2016, and during that time, Lamar put his wife through a lot of heartbreak. She’s since revealed that the couple once used IVF to try to have a baby in order to save their relationship.

"I do want to have a baby. I've tried IVF and all that," Khloe once told Hello Magazine. "Right now in my life, I don't want to just have a baby. I still want to have like my family – but at the time, I was like, 'Ugh, gotta have a baby.' That’s all I wanted at that time." She added,

"I'm happy it didn't happen because I was so young. I was 27 and I thought 'Oh my god, a baby will fix this.' (But) it's not going to fix that,"

12 Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake have been married since 2012, although they’ve technically been together since 2007. Given how long they’ve been together, no one was surprised when the long-time lovers welcomed their son, Silas, in 2015.

Although the couple is notoriously private about their personal life, sources say they’ve been considering having baby no. 2 in an effort to save their relationship - yikes!

"They were talking about how they can't wait for him to have a baby brother or sister," a source told In Touch last year, adding the couple has never been in agreement about how many kiddos they want. "A baby could be just what they need to save their marriage."

11 Jana Kramer

In 2016, it looked like Jana Kramer’s marriage to athlete Mike Caussin was definitely over after his infidelities came to light. But not only did the couple reconcile the following year, but they announced Jana’s pregnancy early into 2018. Since then, the country singer has revealed that their baby saved their marriage.

“Babies and having other kids don’t save a marriage but for us, this baby truly has been a saviour for us in a way that we’ve really done our work and gotten dirty,” the mom-of-two told People.

“We’re bringing a child into this world (so) we have to be there for each other and continue to do our own recovery work for him and me and be in a place where we’re bringing him (our son) into the best environment possible.”

10 TI and Tiny

TI and Tiny have been married since 2010, having dated for almost a decade before, and now share three children together. But in 2016, things definitely looked done between the couple after Tiny filed for divorce amidst reports her husband had stepped out on her.

However, the couple were able to patch things up quickly and remain married to this day. Many fans speculate that the birth of their third child, daughter Heiress, in 2016 played a part in their reconciliation. Since then, they’ve been stronger than ever.

“They put in the work to save their marriage and it deepened their connection so much. Nearly losing his wife and family really woke T.I. up to himself and his mistakes, treating Tiny like his Queen is his priority now,” a source told Hollywood Life. “Tiny feels incredibly blessed so how can she regret the past?”

9 Bristol

Teen Mom OG star Bristol first made headlines for getting pregnant as a teenager while her famous mother was subsequently campaigning. Since then, Bristol has gone to have two more children as well as get married and divorced.

The celebrity has revealed that she and her now-ex-husband had their second daughter in a bid to save their relationship, though it clearly didn’t work out for them.

"I made a mistake, but it's not the mistake all these giddy [naysayers] have loved to assume," she wrote on her blog, NY Daily News reports. "Everyone knows I wanted more kids, to have a bigger family. Believing I was heading that way, I got ahead of myself. Things didn't go as planned, but life keeps going."

8 Josh and Anna Duggar

After the news of Josh Duggar’s various indiscretions came to light in 2015, many fans assumed his wife Anna would be filing for divorce soon.

But not only did Anna stick by her man through the drama, the couple (who already had three kids at the time) soon announced they were expecting another child.

That same year, Anna gave birth to their second daughter, whom they named Meredith. The parents later went on to welcome a fifth child, son Mason, in 2017. Need more proof this couple is stronger than ever? Earlier this year they announced they’re expecting baby no. 6!

7 Dan Osborne

Celebrity Big Brother star Dan Osborne has been very open about the fact that the birth of his second child is the reason is marriage is still going strong. The star has been married to Jacqueline Jossa since 2017, but evidently, they went through a rough patch last year that almost broke them.

"During our hard times and stuff, we had a spell where we lost that friendship. Once we had Mia we started getting on,” Dan recently shared, MSN reports. "I've never lost that attraction to her. I always tell her she's beautiful and stuff. I honestly think if we break up and we're done then I'll be [solo] and that will be it,” he continued. "I would just concentrate on my kids and work."

6 Tori Spelling

It seems like Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott have been on the verge of splitting up for years. Their marital problems have played out in front of the camera on their various short-lived reality shows, proving that these two have worked through a lot in order to stay together.

Back in 2017, the actress revealed that it was the couple’s fifth and final child that saved their marriage. “Beau was like the rebirth of our relationship,” Tori told Us Weekly. “We know how to do it differently now. For so many years, we kind of didn’t know how to find time for ourselves, it was all about the kids, because we did start having kids right away.”

5 Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck had three beautiful children together before they officially ended their marriage in 2018. The couple had announced their split several years prior, and despite reports that they were working things through in therapy, they eventually decided to go their separate ways.

However, in 2016, sources said that the couple were actually pregnant after deciding a baby could save their relationship. “Friends are expecting an announcement very soon that Jen is pregnant,” a source told Radar Online. “Jen has played Ben like a fiddle!” said a friend. “She was determined to make him ‘walk the plank’ over his wild ways. She believed he would come to his senses and they could save their marriage. Opens a New Window.”

However, given that a pregnancy announcement never came and these two have since divorced, we guess the plan didn’t work out for them.

4 Katie Price

U.K. media personality and model Katie Price has been married to Kieran Hayler since 2013. The couple shares two children together, although Katie has three older children from previous relationships. However, the celebrity has revealed that she credits her fifth child, daughter Bunny, for saving her relationship.

“If there’s one thing that kickstarted the turnaround in the relationship between Kieran and me it was my little Bunny’s arrival into the world,” she wrote on her blog. “In lots of ways, she became the fresh start we both needed.”

The mom-of-five continued, “Normally, I wouldn’t recommend having a baby to save a relationship – more often than not the strain breaks an unstable marriage. But I guess because we had kids already it wasn’t such a [surprise] to the system.”

3 Courtney Stodden and Doug Hutchinson

The world was first introduced to Courtney Stoddden in 2011 when it was announced the then-16-year-old had gotten parental permission to marry a then-50-year-old Doug Hutchinson. After their unprecedented marriage, the celebrity made the news again for going under the knife to achieve the perfect look for her new husband.

The drama didn’t stop there for Courtney. In 2013, it was announced the couple was going their separate ways, with Courtney confirming their 34-year age gap played a part. However, the couple then announced they reconciled in 2016 when they also publicized Courtney’s first pregnancy. It was clear the couple had gotten pregnant in an effort to work things out.

Unfortunately, Courtney revealed she endured a loss several months later. The couple eventually separated in 2017 and filed for divorce the following year.

2 Jack Osbourne

Jack Osbourne - aka the only son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne - shares three children with his ex-wife Lisa. She actually filed for divorce last year shortly after welcoming the couple’s third child, proving that not even a new baby was able to save their relationship.

Shortly after the news broke, reports suggested that Jack’s mental health played a part in their split (he’s been open about his difficulties with depression in the past). Evidently, the couple’s family and friends weren’t surprised by the move. “We all kind of thought it would go this way,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “They seemed so happy.”

1 P. Diddy and Kim Porter

Kim Porter was married to rapper P. Diddy from 1994-2007. Their son was born in 1998, and although it seemed like they were done having children, they announced they were expecting twins in 2006.

However, it wasn’t happily ever after for long. During Kim’s pregnancy, something was revealed that would forever alter the course of their relationship, and of Diddy's lineage. It wasn’t long after that Diddy and Kim announced they were splitting.

While some fans think Kim and Diddy had their twins to try and make things work, others think Kim didn’t know about Diddy’s other daughter until after the fact. Either way, having more kids clearly wasn’t enough to keep these two together.

Sources: Entertainment Tonight, Radar Online, People Magazine, The Stir, MSN News.