Brittany Higgins has shown off her growing baby bump for the first time and revealed that she’s having a baby boy.
The former Liberal political staffer and her husband David Sharaz announced in July that they were expecting their first child after a lavish wedding on the Gold Coast a month earlier.
On Sunday night, Higgins took to Instagram to give an update on her pregnancy.
She also shared a series of recent pics, including her in a brown dress cradling her baby bump at their home in Bordeaux, France.
Higgins also posted an ultrasound image of her baby boy, a selfie with her husband, photos of their cavoodle Kingston and cat Clover and images of their new life in France.
She admitted the first half of her pregnancy had been ‘acutely stressful’ after she recently received worrying news about her unborn baby.
The ordeal was on top of a recent defamation trial against her former boss, Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds and the recent death of her grandmother.
Higgins said that uncertainty in last few weeks had made her feel grateful for her unborn son.
‘A fortnight ago, David and I had the shock of our lives after the midwife told us halfway through my second trimester my blood test had raised some red flags,’ Higgins wrote.
‘Our baby had a high probability of a genetic disorder – which wouldn’t have mattered to us – but scarily could mean he may be incompatible with life outside of the womb.
‘After an amniocentesis and a seemingly never ending wait our prayers were answered. Our little guy is perfectly fine and healthy.
‘My mind can’t help but drifting back to that waiting room in the hospital, full of pregnant women, who were all having the same test as us and whether they had been so fortunate.’
Ms Higgins ended the post by thanking friends and family who have been ‘such rocks’ for her and Mr Sharaz during the ‘past few weeks of uncertainty’.
‘Your resilience is, as always, inspiring. Love you,’ her husband commented on the post.
The couple moved to France late last year, shortly after Ms Higgins and her parents were called as witnesses in the high profile defamation trial that Bruce Lehrmann lodged against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Lehrmann lost the case in April after Justice Lee found, on the balance of probabilities, had raped Ms Higgins inside Parliament House in March 2019.
He has since moved to overturn Justice Lee’s judgment on appeal, but is amid a legal dispute over Network 10’s request of a $200,000 security deposit.
That application for a surety – to cover Ten’s legal costs in the event Lehrmann loses his appeal – is being opposed by Ms Burrows.
Ten’s barrister Dr Matt Collins attacked two of Lehrmann’s grounds of appeal as ‘faintly arguable’ and the other two as ‘hopeless’.
According to the court documents, Lehrmann has been on Centrelink benefits since January 1, 2022.
Ms Burrows said her client was unable to pay a $200,000 security and his ‘only shot’ at making money was through ‘OnlyFans or something silly like that.’
The matter was heard in the Federal Court earlier this week, with Justice Wendy Abraham to deliver her judgment at a later date.
Lehrmann faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court in 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges and plans for a retrial due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ welfare.
The couple are also awaiting a verdict after Senator Reynolds sued her and Mr Sharaz for allegedly defamatory comments made about her on social media.
Ms Higgins claimed she felt unsupported by Ms Reynolds after raising the sexual assault complaint, later claiming it had become a political ‘problem’ for Ms Reynolds.
The Liberal Party senator disputed the claims, which she said caused a social media backlash that led to severe distress.
Ms Reynolds is attempting to freeze Ms Higgins’ $2.4 million trust fund she received through commonwealth compensation payment in December 2021 for hurt and distress, lost earnings, medical expenses and legal fees following her alleged rape in Parliament House.
She claims the trust was created ‘with the intention of defeating or delaying’ Ms Higgins’ creditors, of which she is one.
Justice Paul Tottle retired to review evidence produced during the five-week trial last month.