[Article] "Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough Welsomes a Son"

Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough Welcomes a Son

By Marisa Laudadio
Originally posted Thursday May 07, 2009 01:10 PM EDT

Howie and Leigh Dorough Photo by: McKay Imaging

There's a new Backstreet Boy: Singer Howie Dorough and his wife Leigh, a real-estate broker, became first-time parents on Wednesday.

James Hoke Dorough was born at 2:30 p.m. on May 6 in Los Angeles, weighing 4½ lbs. and measuring 16¼ inches.

Although the couple wasn't expecting James until June, he was born healthy, a rep for the couple confirms.

The baby's middle name is a tribute to Backstreet Boy Dorough's late father Hoke, who passed away in June 2008 following a battle with brain and lung cancer.

The new parents, both 35, announced the pregnancy in January. At the time, they were not planning to find out the baby's
gender but said Howie's family was hoping for a boy because there wasn't a male to carry on the family name.

"I think everybody would love a boy," Dorough told PEOPLE at the time. "We're just hoping for a healthy baby."

"I know she's going to be a great mother," the father-to-be added. "If she can take care of me, the biggest baby in the entire
world, I think she's going to be okay with the little one coming along."

Added Leigh: "I think he's going to be more hands-on than anyone expects. He's someone who will get up in the night and change diapers. He's such a partner of mine."