Manny Carabel/Getty ; Tyra Banks/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
Tyra Banks welcomed her son, York Banks Asla, in January 2016
She shares York with ex-boyfriend Erik Asla
Banks is raising her son in Australia
Tyra Banksmay be known as one of the world's most famous supermodels, but at home, she's just "Mom."
The formerAmerica's Next Top Modelhost welcomed her son, York Banks Asla, with her ex-boyfriend, photographer Erik Asla, in January 2016. While being a working mom can be difficult at times, the former model says York makes it "worth it."
"Coming home to him makes it all worth it," Banks told PEOPLE in September 2020. "If it's late, I'll get into bed and cuddle with him."
Since then, Banks, her son and her partner Louis Bélanger-Martin havemoved to Australia, where her ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream, operates. However, she keeps her son out of the spotlight, rarely posting photos with him.
Here's everything to know about Tyra Banks' son, York Banks Asla.
He was born in January 2016
Tyra Banks/Instagram
Banks and her then-boyfriend Asla welcomed York via surrogate in January 2016.
"As I gaze into the beautiful eyes of my son, I think about all the people who struggle with fertility or carrying a child and continue to pray for them every day," she told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement at the time. "My hopes and dreams are filled with well wishes that they get to feel what my little treasure, York Banks Asla, feels like in my arms."
The new mom also shared the happy news onInstagram, where she said York had her "fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik's mouth and chin." Banks thanked the surrogate who carried York, calling her "the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us."
In March 2018, Banks spoke to PEOPLE about her emotional fertility journey. She explained that she and Asla had tried in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments for a year, but none were successful.
Banks' mother,Carolyn London, added, "It hurt me so much to watch her struggle through that. She set up a nursery and in the bathroom she put a tile in the floor that said, 'Mommy Already Loves You.' And then she found out the IVF had failed. It ripped my heart out."
Banks and Asla ultimately decided to use a surrogate. "Everything that happened all got me to this," the model said. "It was meant to be."
He has three sisters
York's dad has three other daughters from previous relationships: Tatjana, Taylor and Tatum.
The photographer occasionally posts pictures and videos of his children on Instagram, including a since-deleted Instagram post of all the siblings posing together on Christmas.
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His grandma is helping raise him
In September 2020, Banks shared that her mother had moved in with her during the pandemic and was helping take care of York.
"My mom moved in with us and it feels like the most natural thing," she told PEOPLE. "Human beings are pack animals, so it's strength in numbers. And it is such a blessing."
But the supermodel's living situation wasn't always easy. "She gets on my nerves sometimes. She buys way too many groceries!" Banks added.
He speaks three languages
In March 2018, Banks told reporters at theAmerica's Got Talentpremiere that York, who was 2 years old at the time, already spoke three languages.
"He speaks Spanish, Norwegian and English," she said. "He's a smart one — but he's still crazy and damn near rolling on the floor and not listening to me most of the time!"
She also shared that York had a knack for recognizing colors. "My son is amazing with his colors. He has friends in his classes that are like 're-re-red' and my son is already up to silver and rose and rose gold," she said. "And he has been counting to 20 since he was 18 months. So he's really, really smart."
She doesn't want him to model
In a July 2017 interview onLate Night with Seth Meyers, Banks spoke about a picture she had posted of York that went viral on Instagram. In the picture, baby York is "smizing" — a term Banks popularized onAmerica's Next Top Model, meaning "smiling with your eyes."
"I do not want him to model, Lord," she said of her son potentially following in her footsteps. "But he had that thing. Look at him. He's like, 'Hellooo. I am smizing.' "
At the season 13 premiere ofAmerica's Got Talent, Banks doubled down on the sentiment that she doesn't necessarily want York to become a model.
"I wouldn't love for him to model, but I wouldn't tell him, 'Don't do it,' because then he'd do it more," she said. "I'm going to support what he wants and just hope it's not modeling! But if it is, I'll be telling him how to smize."
Banks rarely posts pictures of him
In the sameLate Nightinterview, Banks shared that she only posted York's "smizing" picture, which was his first full photo, because she wanted to get ahead of the paparazzi. Around the same time, Banks had taken York to the beach and the pair got caught by photographers. She assumed they had managed to get a shot of baby York.
"It wasn't so much that I was itching for the world to see him," she explained. "After they get the shot, I text his dad and I'm like, 'I've got to put this picture out before the paparazzi. I don't want them to make money off our child and have the first picture.' I wanted to beat them to the punch. So, I post the damn picture."
In the years since that first photo, Banks has continued to largely keep York off of her social media accounts.
Read the original article onPeople
