Richard Gere, 69, and his younger wife Alejandra Silva are expecting their first child

On Sunday, Richard Gere and his new wife Alejandra Silva confirmed via social media that they are expecting their first child together. Their baby bump was also blessed by the highest Buddhist monk.

The Instagram image showed the couple having their baby bump blessed by the Dalai Lama in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The caption informed fans that the pregnancy was kept a secret for a reason.

Actor Richard Gere, 69, and his wife Alejandra Silva, 35, kept the news of their pregnancy a secret because they needed the Dalai Lama to bless it first. An Instagram photo showed the Dalai Lama with his hand on Silva's bump, blessing the unborn child.

The Spanish publicist wrote, “Just a few moments ago... Getting blessings for our precious to come. We couldn't announce it before telling HH Dalai Lama.”

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Both Gere and Silva have other children from their previous marriages.

Gere has a son Homer James Jigme, 18, with ex-wife Carey Lowell. While Silva has a 5½-year-old son named Alberto from a previous marriage to Govind Friedland.

Gere and Silva, his third wife, married in April after being together for four years. They married during a civil ceremony in Spain before celebrating the occasion with friends and family at the actor’s home near New York the following month.

The event held at Gere’s estate in Pound Ridge, New York included several Tibetan monks. His son, Homer’s middle name, Jigme, is a Tibetan name.

Gere, a Buddhist, is a long-term friend of the Dalai Lama who is Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader. In the past, Silva has spoken highly of the actor.

In September 2016, Silva told Hola! magazine, “Richard has been my hero in real life. I was a little lost, without light, and meeting him gave sense to my life.”

She added that “I felt like someone was stretching out his hand and showing me the true path.” The pair’s relationship first became public in June 2015.

The two had known each other for over a decade before they first began dating in 2014. In April, a source close to the couple said they married “weeks and weeks ago” and are “extraordinarily happy.”

The insider also shared how the pair was comfortable with each other, had fun, and looked forward to their future. ABC is a Madrid-based daily newspaper which first broke the news of the couple’s pregnancy last month.

Gere met Silva at a luxury Italian boutique hotel that she had bought with her former husband. At the time, she was responsible for managing it.