Emily Maynard Johnson Announces Birth of Son Jones, Who Has Down Syndrome

Bachelor Nation’s Emily Maynard Johnson is a mom of six!

The reality star announced the news on Instagram, writing, “SURPRISE! On August 31st, Tyler and I welcomed our sweet son, Jones West Johnson, into the world. During my surgery we learned that he was born with Down Syndrome, and while it was certainly a surprise, we have so much peace in God’s perfect plan and know Jones is going to be a blessing to our family.”

She went on, “He was in the NICU for a little over a month and is thankfully now home in all the chaos and we couldn’t love him more. Thank you to everyone at @levinechildrens for all that you did for our family. Im so happy to finally share the news and can share all the pictures with you guys! He’s absolutely the cherry on top! 🍒”

Emily also opened up to People about Jones’ Down syndrome diagnosis and his rare congenital colon abnormality, which required surgery.

"I was in shock," she said of learning his Down syndrome diagnosis. "It was not on my radar at all. And I refused to believe it. I just wanted to hold him and for everything to be okay."

Maynard Johnson said she was “devastated” to find out Jones would need to stay in the NICU for weeks.

"I was just grieving all of it and that the experience was so different from what I had expected,” she said. “Waking up the next morning hearing all the babies crying down the hallway while I was in the room alone, it hurt so much."

Now, he’s finally home and she’s enjoying life with her newborn. "He's the easiest baby and he's just been our biggest blessing," she said. "I'm still learning about Down syndrome, but I'm trying to also just experience Jones as Jones and not as different than any of the other kids."

She added, "Looking back on my life, a lot of things happened that I wouldn't have planned. But I wouldn't change my life for anything. And I wouldn't trade Jones for any baby in the world."