All About Tyra Banks' Son, York Banks Asla

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty / Erik Asla Instagram

The formerDancing with the Starshost shares son York Banks Asla, 9, withex-boyfriend, Erik Asla, and 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,” Bankstold PEOPLE in 2020. “If it’s late, I’ll get into bed and cuddle with him.”

Although she has been careful to keep York out of the spotlight, she has shared a few sweet photos and ancedotes about him over the years, including herjourney to bringing him into the world, his standout language skills and his natural ability to “smize.”

Keep reading to learn more about Tyra Banks' son, York Banks Asla.

He was born via surrogate

Erik Asla Instagram

Banks and her then-boyfriend Aslawelcomed York to their family 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 exclusively 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 alsoshared the happy news on Instagram, 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 as well.

Banks had a difficult fertility journey

In 2018, Banksspoke to PEOPLE about her emotional fertility journey. She explained that she and Asla had triedin vitro fertilization treatmentsfor a year, but none were successful.

Banks' mother,Carolyn London, told PEOPLE, “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 eventually decided to use a surrogate, and Banks shared that the process was nerve-wracking.

“There are so many stages,” Banks said. “It’s like, ‘Okay, it’s a healthy embryo. Okay, it’s month one.’ I was just constantly living on edge until I held him for the first time.”

She added, “Everything that happened all got me to this. It was meant to be.”

He knows how to “smize”

Tyra Banks Instagram

“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.’ "

Banks rarely posts pictures of him

“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.” As it turned out, Banks was able to hide York from the cameras and no photos surfaced of York at the beach.

In the years since that first photo, Banks has continued to keep York off social media and posts of him on her page are few and far between.

He speaks three languages

In 2018, Banks told reporters 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.”

Banks isn’t pushing him to follow in her footsteps

At the season 13 premiere ofAmerica’s Got Talent, Banks said that she doesn’t necessarily want York tobecome 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.”

He has three half-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 a2018 shotof all the siblings posing together on Christmas.

Banks alsospoke about what it has been like to raise a young childduring a pandemic with PEOPLE. “It’s just life,” she shared. “I find little kids so interesting. At first wearing a mask was awkward, but now, it’s all he knows. It’s just normal.”

His grandma is helping raise him

In September 2020, Banks shared thather mother had moved in with herduring 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 former supermodel’s new living situation isn’t always easy. “She gets on my nerves sometimes. She buys way too many groceries!” Banks added.

He loves to rap

Tyra Banks and son York.John Photography/Shutterstock

York also has a musical side to him, and in a rare Instagram video, Banks showed offher son’s rapping skills. In the video, which was posted in January 2021, York can be heard busting some rhymes about lettuce wraps. “Bacon and cheese and peppers on lettuce!” the toddler rapped. Banks joined in and the mother-son duo enjoyed an adorable sing-a-long session.

“Food tastes even better when you sing about it with the fam… How about these wraps, y’all??” she captioned the video.

source: people.com