‘Dancing With the Stars’: Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy Share Name and First Photo of Their Son

Jenna Johnson and her husband Val Chmerkovskiy just shared the adorable name they chose for their little boy. The Dancing With the Stars couple took to Instagram Tuesday to share the first photo of their newborn son’s face after he was born on Jan. 10 – and announce his name to the world.

“Rome Valentin Chmerkovskiy,” the 28-year-old dancer captioned a photo of her baby boy, smiling with his eyes closed as he lays on a fluffy white blanket next to a wooden sign proclaiming his name. “Cannot believe it’s been 4 weeks of being completely infatuated with you. Thank you for bursting my heart wide open and showing me what unconditional love is. Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!!!” The new mom added as an afterthought, “The left dimple melts me every time.”

“CANNOT HANDLE HIM! Love you Rome! You’re the best mama,” fellow DWTS pro Witney Carson commented, as Lindsay Arnold, who is currently expecting her second child with husband Sam Cusick, commented, “sweet boy I love you so much!!!!!!” Johnson’s sister-in-law, Peta Murgatroyd, who is also pregnant with her second child with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, commented with a teary-eyed emoji, “Baby Rome.”

The So You Think You Can Dance alum previously shared news of her son’s arrival on Jan. 11, posting a photo of Rome’s tiny finger next to his mother and father’s. “Our world is forever changed,” Johnson wrote at the time. It was a difficult journey for Chmerkovskiy and Johnson to become parents. The dancers wed in 2019 and announced in July 2022 that they were expecting their first child after fertility struggles.

“We had actually stopped trying to conceive for about 6 months to mentally/emotionally give ourselves a break… so the shock, disbelief, and sheer joy in this moment is a memory I will never forget,” Johnson wrote on Instagram in July. “After two years of infertility, and hundreds of negative tests after negative tests, it was heart-wrenching at times to stay optimistic and made me question whether I would ever have this opportunity.”

She encouraged any of her followers “out there are struggling to get pregnant, suffering from infertility, or mourning a pregnancy loss… don’t lose HOPE,” reminding people in a similar position that while “it may not happen on your timeline and the journey may rip your heart open at times, but don’t give up on yourself and your precious baby! It will happen.”