Paris Hilton chose surrogacy due to PTSD from alleged sexual abuse at boarding school
Paris Hilton revealed that she opted for surrogacy because she still has PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from her teenage years.
In an interview with Romper, the heiress opened up about her pregnancy and the reasons why she chose to have kids via a surrogate. She said that she has "so much PTSD" from the time when she was allegedly physically, mentally, and sexually abused in a boarding school in Utah’s Provo Canyon School for troubled youth.
“I just have so much PTSD from what I went through as a teenager,” Paris said. “If I’m in a doctor’s office, I get a shot, anything, I will literally have a panic attack and I can’t breathe. I just knew that would not be healthy for me or the baby, growing inside of someone who has such high anxiety.”
Believing what the school officials allegedly told her—that nobody would believe her about the abuse—Paris became hesitant to see a therapist, and instead "felt safe in the nightlife."
“Going out at night would drown out my nightmares,” Paris, a fixture in the social scene, said. "I was wearing this mask, like a survival technique."
However, she said her television show Paris in Love "kind of forced" her to get into therapy, and it helped her a lot. "It frees you," Paris shared.
The show, according to Paris, made her understand and forgive her parents Rick and Kathy Hilton for sending her to Provo.
"I can’t imagine if I moved to New York City and all of a sudden London is sneaking out every night and I’m just going into her room and she’s gone. I would be terrified," Paris explained. "I can totally understand just how scared she was, even though I wasn’t a bad kid. All I did was sneak out, go to clubs, and get bad grades."
Paris said that she aims to be an open but strict mom, one who would make her kids "comfortable" telling them anything without getting worried they'd be in trouble.
“I’m probably going to be really strict, too, because it’s a scary world out there, especially today,” she told Romper.
Paris also mentioned that she and her husband venture capitalist Carter Reum chose to get a surrogate because of her hectic schedule.
"There never would’ve been the right time to do it because there’s literally no time to do anything in my life," she explained.
In the first episode of the second season of Paris in Love, Paris admitted she would have loved to carry her child in her womb.
"I would have loved that experience of growing the baby in your tummy and feeling the kicks and all of those exciting moments, but my life has just been so public. So even though the baby is biologically mine and Carter's, we decided to have a surrogate carry him," Paris said.
Paris is married to businessman Carter, whom he wed in 2021 after two years of being together. They welcomed their first child, Phoenix, in early 2023 and announced in November that they are having another baby.