Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert, have embraced their new roles as parents — and they haven’t been shy about sharing the emotional highs and deeply personal moments along the way.
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Everley Capri Hough, on December 29, 2025. Hough announced the news via Instagram on January 5, 2026.
“Everley Capri Hough 🤍,” Hough wrote alongside a black-and-white photo of his and Erbert’s hands cupping their baby girl’s feet. “Every step of our lives has led us to you. Our hearts have been cracked wide open and our world is forever changed.”
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Chose a Name With Deep Meaning
The couple put serious thought into their daughter’s name. Hayley Erbert told People in an interview on January 21, 2026, that “Everley was always at the top of a list that I had,” adding that the spelling was a choice — designed to match the last three letters of Erbert’s own name, Hayley.
“It’s very intentional, the way we spelled it,” Derek Hough added.
The couple also explored the numerology behind “Everley” and discovered it was a master number of 11. “She was 11 days late, I’m born on October 11,” Erbert said. “It just called to us, and we were like, ‘This is right. This is it.’”
As for the middle name, Hough initially wanted to incorporate “rain” or “bow” to honor the fact that Everley is their rainbow baby following a devastating miscarriage. They ultimately chose “Capri” instead. “When we threw Capri in there, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is beautiful,’” Erbert said, while Hough added, “Capri is the little spicy part of her.”
Hayley Erbert Opened Up About Her Empowering Home Birth
Everley arrived via home birth, meaning Hayley Erbert “didn’t have the option of an epidural or any pain management.”
“You don’t know what sounds you can make until you have a child,” she told People. “Did I ever expect it to be the way that it was? Absolutely not, but it was so empowering and beautiful, and it’s how our beautiful baby girl came into this world. I would not change a single second of it. It was perfect in every way.”
Proud dad Derek Hough recalled the atmosphere: “We had candles everywhere, beautiful music playing. To be in the room during Hayley’s labor, holding her … She just became power. I was in awe the whole time. I was like, ‘Damn. Y’all women are badasses.’”
The couple later shared black-and-white footage of the birth on January 29, 2026, with Hayley calling the experience “raw, wild, primal, vulnerable, transformative, sacred.”
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert’s Road to Parenthood Was Paved With Heartbreak
The path to parenthood was far from smooth. Hayley Erbert’s pregnancy news in July 2025 came more than a year after she suffered a near-fatal health scare during a December 2023 stop on the duo’s Symphony of Dance Tour. She was diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy, followed by cranioplasty surgery to replace a large portion of her skull.
“One of the first things Hayley said when she came to after her surgery — missing half of her skull, face swollen — was not, ‘Am I going to be able to dance again?’ It was, ‘Am I able to have children in the future?’” Hough recalled to People. “The doctor was like, ‘Yes, of course.’ And here we are.”
The couple also revealed in October 2025 that Erbert had previously suffered a miscarriage, writing that “one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, a silent heartbreak so many families know, and one we unfortunately had to experience.”
Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Are Embracing a New Chapter
Derek Hough exclusively told Us Weekly on January 13, 2026, that fatherhood has already changed his outlook.
“I just feel so thankful for health and for this blessing and for this new chapter,” Hough said. “This new year is going to be filled with lots of new experiences and amplified experiences because I think that’s what love does.”
By April 2026, Hayley Erbert was candidly reflecting on the bittersweet nature of watching Everley grow. “My heart is constantly bursting open, while also breaking into a million pieces,” she wrote on Instagram. “I find myself celebrating every little bit of your growth, while quietly grieving the version of you that existed just moments before.”
As for whether more children are in their future, Erbert isn’t ruling it out. “There’s a saying that your first one makes you want a million children, and your second makes you feel like you have a million. So I’m like, ‘OK, good to know,’” she told People, while Hough added, “I know, because after this we’re like, ‘All right babe, let’s go! Let’s go.’”
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