Ashley Iaconetti Turns Gender Disappointment into Boy Mom Bliss

Ashley Iaconetti is talking candidly about something a lot of expectant parents tiptoe around: gender disappointment. And she did it the way most of us do anything these days — on Instagram — only this time it came with a very sweet reason she is fully in on the boy-mom life now.

"To any expectant moms out there who have gender disappointment in having a boy… One of the many wonderful things about having a little boy is that I just had my face held by his little hands and was told many times how beautiful I am."

Where she is now vs. where she started

On Sunday, May 3, Ashley, 38, posted that caption alongside a beaming selfie and basically said: I was bummed about not having a daughter at first, and now I am obsessed with my boys. If you have been following her, this tracks with how she has slowly reframed the whole thing over the last couple years.

She first admitted she struggled with gender disappointment back in August 2023 on her podcast, saying she felt it hard when she found out her first baby was a boy. Heading into baby No. 2, she had a hunch it was another boy and told listeners she could still be happy about it — especially for that hopefully-close brother bond.

By March 2025, during an Instagram Q&A, she said she had made peace with not having a daughter for herself. The part that still tugged at her was Jared not getting the 'girl dad' experience — because in her words, he would crush it. She even asked him about it. His take: he would have liked being a girl dad, but he does not want three kids, so two it is.

The kids (and those very on-brand names)

Ashley and her husband Jared Haibon, 37, have two sons:

• Dawson Demitri, born January 2022, named after Jack Dawson — yes, as in Leonardo DiCaprio ’s character from Titanic.
• Hayden Cruise, born July 2024, named after actors Hayden Christensen and Tom Cruise. Subtle? Not really. On theme? Absolutely.

Quick relationship rewind

• They met on Bachelor in Paradise season 2 in Mexico. She was into him; he wasn’t feeling it.
• Season 3 rolled around and… same story. Still no romance from his side.
• In 2017, Ashley started seeing Kevin Wendt, which is when Jared finally realized he had feelings for her.
• They went public as a couple in May 2018.
• Jared proposed while appearing on Bachelor in Paradise season 5.
• They got married in August 2019 in his home state of Rhode Island.

One small clarification

If you saw a line somewhere calling Ashley a Real Housewives of Rhode Island star… that show does not exist. She is a Bachelor alum, full stop.

The bottom line

Ashley has been open about the complicated feelings that can come with learning your baby’s sex, but now she is very much in the joy-of-raising-boys era. She has made peace with the no-daughter thing, Jared admits he would have liked that experience but does not want to go for a third, and in the meantime their two sons are handing out compliments like candy. Hard to argue with that.