Baby, look at them now

More than ever, it pays to be pregnant in Hollywood.

Jennifer Lopez, about to give birth to twins, is the latest A-lister to reportedly strike a deal worth millions for exclusive photos of her children. And the incentive might not be purely financial: Such pacts can also protect celebs’ privacy by thwarting the paparazzi.

Those involved in negotiations for Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony, confirmed that U.S. and Latin American rights were sold to People magazine and other international rights to OK! magazine.

Advertising Age reported on its website Monday that Lopez and Anthony had been negotiating with People to be paid as much as $6 million. Representatives for both People and OK! declined to comment on the payments.

The trend toward featuring celeb babies on the covers of glossy magazines kicked into high gear in 2006 when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt allowed People to photograph their daughter Shiloh in exchange for a donation to charity. The magazine reportedly paid $4 million for the U.S. rights and London-based Hello! magazine obtained the British rights.

Celeb baby covers are big business for magazines’ newsstand sales, those who broker the deals and the stars themselves.

Photos of a pregnant Halle Berry tottering in high heels or tabloid toddlers such as Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Violet Affleck, daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, are eye candy for consumers.

“Part of the reason that the demand is so huge -- and everyone is so excited about it -- is because it’s such a nice antidote to all the other celebrity news that’s going on at the moment,” said Sarah Ivens, editor in chief of OK!

“There’s nothing not to love about watching these women blossom and their bodies change and then having babies. It’s all just such fun, lovely, positive stuff, isn’t it?” she said.

Danielle Friedland, who runs Celebrity Baby Blog, said the craving for celebrity news is fueled by the tabloid media.

“Celebrities always have children . . . it’s just that we’re paying so much more attention to them right now,” Friedland said. “The more that we see of them, the more we want.”

Christina Aguilera debuted her newborn son, Max, on the cover of People last week for a reported $1.5 million.

Larry Birkhead, father of the late Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, landed an OK! cover with Dannielynn. Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, also appeared on the cover of OK! when she announced her pregnancy.

OK! doesn’t disclose the terms of its deals with celebs, but TMZ.com reported that Jamie Lynn would be paid $1 million after her baby is born.

Pacts with magazines can be a way for celebs to protect their privacy.

Cruise and Holmes kept Suri out of the spotlight for nearly five months after her birth in April 2006. The shroud of mystery was so intense, people wondered if she existed.

In September, Vanity Fair flaunted the first shots of the baby, warmly photographed by Annie Leibovitz. The couple weren’t paid for the photos.

“When you hit the level of Tom and Katie and Suri, you can’t shut it down,” said Los Angeles-based publicist Howard Bragman.

“It’s pure economics. If you put those out in the world, those pictures, which they did, and they controlled which images were out there, then suddenly the monetary incentive for the paparazzi is taken away from them.”

Sheryl Crow agreed to a photo shoot with her infant son last year after OK! offered to make a donation to the World Food Program, a United Nations organization that works to fight child hunger.

Julia Roberts showed a photo of her youngest son, Henry, during a recent appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”