Billboard, however, has since confirmed that Spears did not actually welcome a new child through adoption. She may have just been trolling fans all along, having peppered her caption with winky-face emojis.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... she did NOT adopt a child and she's just messing with people, hence the 😉 emojis in her caption. Fans also speculated Britney may have been talking about a fur baby in her post ... but we're told she didn't adopt a dog either.

Britney Spears caused headlines a couple of days ago when she announced she’d adopted a baby girl on social media. Alongside a video of her dancing in a pink leotard, mum-of-two Spears claimed she’d adopted a child called Lennon London Spears.