TV stars' baby joy - 'OUR MATARIKI MIRACLE!'

Seven Sharp's Te Rauhiringa tells how some people might see her birth plan as 'radical'

- Kasia Jillings

As the karanga chant rang out at dawn on the first official Matariki holiday, Seven Sharp reporter Te Rauhiringa Brown and Abikaroa actor Mauri Oho Stokes separately sent a wish to the stars to conceive a much-longed-for baby together.

Unbeknownst to each other, they both had set the same intention, desperately hoping a newborn would be part of their future after years spent trying to get pregnant.

Three months later in October 2022, while picking up dinner from the Pakuranga night market, Te Rauhiringa had the first inkling she was expecting.

"The smell made me feel really sick and the only other time that's ever happened, especially towards kai I love, was when I was pregnant with the boys," recalls Te Rauhiringa, 30, who is mum to sons Te Mapuna, 12, and Te Rangikohea, nine.

She and Mauri were due at a cast wrap party that night for the fifth season of bi-lingual drama Ahikaroa, but excitedly took a pregnancy test at home first.

"It had been about three years of trying and we had started talking about seeing a fertility specialist - that's the point we were at," recalls Te Rauhiringa, who was shocked but overjoyed to see the positive result. "It's our Matariki wish come true."

Mauri, 31, had been dreaming of this baby for so long, it took a while for the news to sink in.

"I've been involved with the boys for about six years, and had lots of practise with nieces and nephews, but I've always pictured my little baby running around the marae," he shares.

Now eight months pregnant, it's Te Rauhiringa's third baby another son and her first with Mauri. They were cautious of celebrating too early, but as the second trimester arrived and they felt their boy moving and kicking, it was hard to contain their excitement. And their whānau feel the same way.