Beyoncé and Jay Z announce they are expecting twins

On Wednesday afternoon, superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (married to Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay Z) announced that she is pregnant with twins. Like many Americans today, Knowles chose to make the announcement via social media with the following Instagram post:

“We would like to share our love and happiness,” Knowles-Carter wrote. She revealed that she is carrying twins, saying: “We have been blessed two times over.”

Knowles has always been outspoken about her love for her preborn children, including a child she miscarried prior to conceiving daughter Blue Ivy. “There’s no words that can express having a baby growing inside of you,” she said at the time. Of the baby’s heartbeat heard via ultrasound, Knowles said, “it was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life.”

The announcement of her pregnancy with Blue Ivy manifested the same sentiment. Knowles-Carter began a live performance saying, “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside of me,” and concluding with a mic drop and dramatic revelation of her baby bump. Later, Knowles-Carter would revisit the miscarriage, saying, “Especially after losing a child, the pain and trauma from that just makes it mean so much more to get an opportunity to bring a life into the world.”