Amber Heard Makes Surprise Baby Announcement Amid Ongoing Johnny Depp Drama

Amber Heard is embarking on a new phase of life: motherhood. The Aquaman star shared on Instagram that she welcomed her first child, a daughter, likely through surrogacy 12 weeks ago. The actress, who has been locked in a contentious legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp, is choosing to focus on more positives in life like new parenthood. "I'm so excited to share this news with you," she wrote on Instagram. "Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms."

"I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way," she continued, before acknowledging the public interest in her personal life. "I hope we arrive at a point in which it's normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib. A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone's business. I also get that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this. My daughter was born on April 8, 2021. Her name is Oonagh Paige Heard. She's the beginning of the rest of my life."

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It seems that Heard named her daughter after her mother Paige Heard, who passed away in May 2020. "I am heartbroken and devastated beyond belief at the loss of my mom, Paige Heard. She left us too early, clasping onto the memory of her beautiful, gentle soul," Heard wrote at the time. "She will be missed from the very depths of our hearts forever," the star wrote on Instagram at the time. "Her unflinching, open heart made her the most beautiful woman I had ever known. It's hard to imagine and even more difficult to say but I feel truly lucky to have been her daughter and been given the gift of having the light she shone on everyone, fall on me for nearly 34 years."

This news comes on the heels of her ex-husband Depp's request to overturn the ruling in his "wife beater" libel case against The Sun was denied in March. Heard's spokesperson said in her statement to Yahoo! of the ruling, "We are pleased — but by no means surprised — by the Court's denial of Mr. Depp's application for appeal." Calling the evidence presented in the UK court case "overwhelming and undeniable," the statement reiterated the original verdict that Depp "committed domestic violence against Amber on no fewer than 12 occasions and she was left in fear of her life." Depp's appeal on the basis of having new and important evidence that could overturn the case was "nothing more than a press strategy," they alleged, "and has been soundly rejected by the Court."