Naomi Campbell, 50, announces she is a mother as she shares picture cradling a newborn

Naomi Campbell, 50, has announced she is a mother.

The supermodel – who is believed to be single – surprised her Instagram followers on Tuesday as she shared a picture cradling her newborn daughter and stated she has never felt a ‘greater love’.

She did not disclose the method in which she welcomed her daughter, but four years ago credited science with giving her an opportunity to start a family ‘whenever she wants’, suggesting she was leaning towards using a surrogate.

Offering a first look at her new arrival with a picture of her baby girl, whose name has not been revealed, Naomi penned: ‘A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother.

‘So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love.’

Model mum: Naomi Campbell, 50, has announced she is a mother, four years after crediting science with giving her the opportunity to start a family ‘whenever she wants’

Last picture: It comes after Naomi (seen in April) admitted that she would ‘think about having children all the time’ but wasn’t planning to rush herself to start a family

The model gave no further details in the post. MailOnline has contacted Naomi’s representatives for further comment.

Naomi was last in a relationship with rapper Skepta in 2018 but enjoyed a fling with Liam Payne the following year, and has also enjoyed high-profile relationships with Diddy, Robert De Niro, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin and Mike Tyson over the years.

Although she is notoriously private about her love life, she has previously stated she is ‘on good terms’ with her exes and is not believed to be dating anyone new at present.

Naomi kept her baby news a secret from the world, but her mother Valerie Morris-Campbell shared her thoughts on the arrival, saying she was ‘beyond thrilled’.

Sharing the same picture, she posted: ‘Congratulations to my daughter Naomi on the birth of her daughter, I’m beyond thrilled as I’ve waited a longtime to be grandmother. ❤️ @naomi #proud #mother #grandmother #love #family’.

Naomi then commented on the snap: ‘We love you Mum ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’

No greater love: The model shared a gushing post about motherhood then tagged her own mother, Valerie Morris-Campbell in the post

Congratulations! Naomi’s mother shared that she was ‘beyond thrilled’ to become a grandmother after the model welcomed her first child

Naomi’s baby announcement comes after she admitted that she would ‘think about having children all the time’ but wasn’t planning to rush herself to start a family.

Speaking to ES Magazine back in 2017, she said: ‘I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want.’

Asked if she would have the child herself rather than adopt, she replied: ‘Maybe. Maybe… Maybe.’

However, the Vogue cover girl insisted that she did not want to be a single parent so would find a suitable partner first.

She said: ‘I do want a father figure. I think it’s important. It’s the way I feel today, sitting here talking to you.’

Mix up: In 2019 Naomi denied claims she had adopted a child after fans got the wrong end of the stick when she posted a picture cradling a newborn baby on Instagram on Mother’s Day

In another interview she admitted: ‘I want the same things as every other woman: the house, the kids, the lot.’

The following year she told Vogue magazine that she would ‘love’ to have a child and wouldn’t rule anything out for the future.

She explained: ‘I’d love to have kids. I don’t discount anything in life. I love kids and always will.

‘When I’m around children, I become a child myself. That’s the little girl I don’t ever want to lose.’

Former flame: Naomi was last in a relationship with rapper Skepta, with the couple reportedly dating for around five months in 2018 (Pictured in January 2019)

Not ready: Naomi enjoyed a fling with Liam Payne, 27, in 2019 and in the same year confessed she ‘wasn’t ready’ for motherhood

Despite continuously expressing a desire to have children in the years prior, she then said that she was ‘not ready’ for motherhood in 2019.

Asked if she would have any kids, the model, then 49, told Metro: ‘Not yet…

HOW DID NAOMI BECOME A MOTHER AT 50 YEARS OLD?

Naomi has not revealed the method in which she welcomed her daughter but has previously spoken about her many options for starting a family

More mothers are waiting until later in life to have children, but pregnancy after 50 is still quite rare.

A woman’s fertility begins to decline in her early 30s. After age 35, her number of viable eggs starts to fall more quickly.

However celebrities have made headlines for having kids in their later years, including Janet Jackson who had her son, Eissa Al Mana, at age 50.

Some mature mothers choose to have a baby via surrogacy, when someone has a baby for a couple who cannot have a child themselves.

For the intended father, surrogacy can be a route to having a child biologically related to them.

Surrogacy is legal in the UK, but it’s illegal to advertise for surrogates. No financial benefit other than reasonable expenses can be paid to the surrogate.

The baby is not legally yours until a parental order has been issued after the child’s birth. Until this order is issued the surrogate has the right to keep the baby.

‘I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want.’

‘I do want a father figure. I think it’s important. It’s the way I feel today, sitting here talking to you.’

‘I’ll see what the universe brings me. For now, what the universe has delivered is very much in the spirit of a chosen family.’

‘Would I adopt? Maybe’

‘I’d love to have kids. I don’t discount anything in life. I love kids and always will.’

‘When I’m around children, I become a child myself. That’s the little girl I don’t ever want to lose.’

‘I want the same things as every other woman: the house, the kids, the lot’

‘I’ll see what the universe brings me. For now, what the universe has delivered is very much in the spirit of a chosen family.’

She made the statement shortly after she broke off a fling with One Direction star Liam Payne, 27.

The same year she was also forced to deny claims she had adopted a child after fans got the wrong end of the stick when she posted a picture cradling a newborn baby on Instagram on Mother’s Day.

Despite the outpouring of congratulations, Naomi’s representative revealed that she hadn’t adopted and the picture had been taken when Naomi visited an orphanage for abandoned children in Lagos.

Prior to dating boyband singer Liam, Naomi was in a relationship with grime artist Skepta, 38.

The couple reportedly dated for around five months in 2018, with the rapper even referencing her in the song Interlude, claiming she wore sexy underwear for him during a video call.

He penned: ‘How can I fall asleep when I’m on this FaceTime with Nao… shh. She got them Victoria Secrets that she’s tryna show me.’

In August 2018, Naomi unfollowed Skepta after he posted a baby scan on Instagram, leading fans to question whether or not they might be expecting.

Neither Liam or Skepta have spoken out publicly on Naomi’s baby news.

Although fans were left reeling, Naomi’s celebrity pals were quick to congratulate her on the happy news.

Singer Rita Ora, 30, said: ‘No one deserves this more’ while actress Zoe Saldana, 42, commented: ‘Oh my goodness congrats lady! What a blessing!!’

Designer Marc Jacobs, 58, appeared to have some inclination that Naomi was to become a mum, writing: ‘Oh my God!!!! Today is the day?? How absolutely incredible. How lucky she is and how lucky you are! What a wonderful mother you will be. Blessings all around.

Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, 25, simply commented a love heart on Naomi’s heartwarming post while Jamie Winstone, 36, said: ‘Wow congratulations Naomi. BIG, BIG LOVE, wow you’re a Mama.’

British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, 49, appeared overwhelmed by Naomi’s news, but also hinted the model’s post may not have been the first time he’s seen the new mum and her daughter together.

He said: ‘Seeing the two of you together made my year. You will bring each other so much joy @naomi.’

Celebrity fans: Although fans were left reeling, Naomi’s celebrity pals were quick to congratulate her on the happy news

Whilst Naomi is notoriously private about her love life, she has been linked to a string of high-profile men in the past.

In 2017, she was linked to billionaire Hassan Jameel, but this short-lived romance quickly fizzled out and he went on to date Rihanna.

Naomi was also famously linked to Gerard Butler in 2007, P Diddy in 2002 and Leonardo DiCaprio in 1995.

Her longest public relationship was with Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, who she dated for five years until 2013.

Naomi also dated Robert De Niro in the early Nineties, and Mike Tyson in the late Eighties, with both relationships clearly ending on good terms.

Last year, in an interview with Times Weekend magazine, Naomi said she is on good terms with all her previous ex-boyfriends, but admitted she isn’t friends with her ‘last’ ex.

Discussing who she has dated, she said: ‘Why don’t you say it the other way round? Surely it was their privilege just as much as mine to be with them? But yes, I had some wild and exciting times until I changed my life aged 29.

‘Whatever they say about me, I have remained friends with all my exes… except the last one.’

Asked if she means Skepta, she simply said: ‘A lady never discusses the details of her private life.’

Naomi previously insisted 2021 would be ‘an amazing year’, but acknowledged there are ‘a few more bumps to get through’ amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Naomi said earlier this year: ‘At the end of 2020, my main reflections were on the need for us to move upward and forward. We have to rise to every challenge and walk through it.

‘And we will get through it. 2021 is going to be a great year, we’ve just got a few more bumps to get through first. Nothing disappears overnight, but we just need to get through this first quarter.

‘After that, I believe that this is going to be an amazing year. Actually, I don’t just believe it will be; I feel it will be.’

Naomi Campbell: A timeline of her torrid love life

By Andrew Bullock

Published: 15:38 BST, 18 May 2021 | Updated: 15:59 BST, 18 May 2021

As Naomi Campbell becomes a mother aged 50, we look back at the supermodel’s torrid love life – from pop stars and actors to business tycoons and oil magnates…

1995: Leonardo DiCaprio

Known for a revolving door of romances, a penchant for models and being seemingly disinterested in settling down, Leonardo DiCaprio was perhaps a kindred spirit for Naomi when they were linked in 1995.

The couple’s dalliance was fleeting, however. They appeared to have remained pally ever since, seen chatting at events on many an occasion since.

Still friends: Naomi and Leonardo Dicaprio are seen chatting at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in Los Angeles in 2007 – 12 years after being romantically linked

1998-2002: Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore – the boss of Benetton – was with Naomi from 1998 until they parted ways in 2002.

The Italian – who is 21 years Naomi’s senior and worth £258 million – famously said after their split: ‘She’s great but better as a friend than a girlfriend!’

Naomi later told Marie Claire: ‘I’m not going to be a trophy. If you expect me to be in the kitchen cooking breakfast in high heels, looking as though I just stepped out of a fashion magazine, it’s not going to happen.’

Flavio of the month: Despite a lengthy dalliance, Naomi and Flavio Briatore split because, according to Naomi, he wanted her as ‘a trophy’ [pictured 2001]

2002: P Diddy

It’s still unclear how romantic Naomi and music star P Diddy were, but they were linked in 2002.

Since, they have been very close friends and are thought to consider one another more as siblings.

Close but no cigar: Naomi and music star P Diddy were linked in 2002. Since, they have been very close friends [pictured 2017]

2005-2006: Badr Jafar

Naomi and oil heir Badr Jafar were reportedly a couple for 10 months.

Apparently, for Naomi’s 35th birthday, he hired out eight floors of the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai to throw her a £1 million party. He himself has an estimated worth of £2 billion.

Party hard: Apparently, for Naomi’s 35th birthday, Badr Jafar hired out eight floors of the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai to throw her a £1 million party [pictured 2012]

2007: Gerard Butler

Naomi and the Scots action star were rumoured to be an item in 2007 when they were seen hanging out together on multiple occasions.

Seemingly a friendly ex to many, Naomi has since been seen socialising with him at events, despite their alleged romance fizzling out.