You may disagree with pregnant Hayden, but he can be a great dad
After The Sun's world exclusive about pregnant man Hayden Cross, Lorraine Kelly gives her backing to the 20-year-old
BEHIND the lurid headlines and social media frenzy about “Britain’s first pregnant man” is a soft- spoken, rather shy and very scared human being.
Hayden Cross, who is just 20 and legally male, was well down the path to completely transitioning from a young woman to a man when he realised he desperately wanted children.
In these circumstances it is possible for eggs to be harvested and frozen then fertilised at a later date.
The NHS refused to carry out this procedure for Hayden so he decided to take the rather desperate action of going on Facebook to find a sperm donor.
Hayden stopped taking male hormones and arranged for the donor to come to his house, where he deposited the sperm in a cup and Hayden did the rest.
It worked first time and he is now four months pregnant.
For people who are going through their transition, I can only imagine how distressing it must be to undergo puberty and witness unwanted changes in your body, but Hayden will have to endure the rest of this pregnancy then actually give birth.
That will be incredibly tough psychologically and I could tell when we met that the prospect is making him anxious.
Luckily, his mother has stood by him, although other members of the family still refer to him by his previous girl’s name and have called Hayden selfish and claimed his life is chaotic.
I met Hayden earlier this week and thought he was a bright, articulate and thoughtful young man who desperately wants a baby he can love unconditionally and he passionately doesn’t want to miss out on having a biological child.
He freely admits he isn’t really ready to become a parent, but that he doesn’t have much choice as there was only a small window of opportunity and he couldn’t afford to have the egg-freezing procedure done privately on his wages as a supermarket worker.
I sensed he is somewhat overwhelmed by what has happened, but I was heartened to meet his circle of close friends who have given Hayden strength and confidence.
It’s very easy for others to criticise someone like Hayden and to disagree with the way he has chosen to bring a child into the world.
As a result of going public he has received death threats and torrents of abuse, which has been deeply distressing for such a sensitive soul.
While you may fundamentally disagree with Hayden, I believe his heart is in the right place, although, like many expectant parents, I don’t think he really knows what he is letting himself in for.
To his credit, he has thought long and hard about what to tell his child, and has vowed to be completely honest from a very early age.
He also hopes his son or daughter will grow up to be open-minded and accept the somewhat unusual circumstances of the birth.
When the baby is born, Hayden is determined to continue his treatment and transition completely into the man he was always supposed to be.
I reckon precisely because Hayden has had a tough time in the past, and is now putting himself through a massive ordeal in order to have a child of his own flesh and blood, that he will make it against the odds and be a good and caring parent.
I wish him and the unborn baby all the best and sincerely hope he finds happiness and peace of mind.
Kym and Simon so brave
I KNOW I wasn’t the only one to shed a tear during the harrowing scenes this week when Coronation Street’s Michelle lost her baby.
Kym Marsh was utterly convincing as the devastated mother whose little boy was born too soon and could not survive.
I can’t imagine how tough it must have been for Kym to film those scenes, above, especially as she went through the agony of losing her own baby, son Archie, in 2009.
It was very brave of her and co-star Simon Gregson, who plays Michelle’s husband Steve McDonald, to agree to go through with this storyline, because as well as Kym having to relive her own tragedy, it was revealed this week that Simon’s wife in real life has suffered 11 mis- carriages.
He said he felt utterly helpless at the time, and we saw all of his raw pain on screen.
Both Kym and Simon deserve the highest plaudits, as do the Corrie writers and producers, who once again proved that some of the very finest drama appears week in and week out in our often under-rated soaps.
Madge an old hand at showbiz PR
YOU have to hand it to Madonna. When it’s been a bit quiet in her life and no one is talking about her, she knows exactly how to generate a headline.
This time she has portrayed herself in a recent magazine interview as being “oppressed” for her entire life.
I’m not sure how a multi-millionaire, hugely successful, globally famous control freak who has always paddled her own canoe and lived by her own set of rules comes under the category of a downtrodden drudge, but her witterings have done the trick and we are all talking about her again.
Just to ensure she continues to trend on social media, a few days later Madonna has once again been posing in her scanties, above, looking like a gothic sex worker from decadent, 1920s Berlin.
Now, I know she has had a bit of assistance to hold back the years, but you have to admit that Madonna does look at least two decades younger than 58, and there’s no way she is ever going to shuffle off quietly into retirement- home oblivion.
Expect those stockings and suspenders to be making an outing when she’s on the brink of receiving a telegram from the Queen (who I sincerely hope will somehow still be with us, too).
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An A-list tale of devotion
IT was bittersweet watching the funny, feisty documentary about mother and daughter Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, knowing they are no longer with us.
Filming had been ongoing since 2014 and it clearly showed the real love between these remarkable women.
Debbie was the ultimate trouper, who probably had “the show must go on” carved on her heart.
Fiercely intelligent and sharp as a tack, Carrie was the rebel who followed her parents into showbiz and, of course, ended up hugely famous for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars.
The docu showed an indomitable Debbie still performing well into her 80s, even if it was in a casino in Connecticut.
She was always immaculately camera-ready and very much the star.
Carrie, who lived next door to her, looked on wryly and rather anxiously, knowing she could never stop her mother from getting up on that stage.
While Debbie’s house was plush, old-school Hollywood glam, Carrie lived in a guddle*, with weird and wonderful souvenirs and artefacts including a shower curtain with bloodied handprints (a homage to the Hitchcock movie Psycho) and a life-size Princess Leia sex toy doll.
Carrie died of a heart attack last month and heartbroken Debbie immediately declared she wanted to be with her daughter and quietly passed away the next day.
That proved just how close they were and how much they loved and cared for one another.
This touching, warts-and-all depiction of their lives stripped away the movie myths and showed two independent but co-dependent women.
They will both be sadly missed.
* Scots for an untidy home
Olly sulk a mistake
IT’S a shame Olly Murs missed out on a Brit Award but he was ill-advised to pull out of performing at the launch of the annual bunfest for the music business and their corporate sponsors.
The Brits are renowned for being snobbish when it comes to former talent show artists or acts that are phenomenally popular.
Olly should have smiled sweetly then blown everyone away with a blistering performance of one of his hits, thus proving he should at least have been in the running for a gong.
I THOUGHT Meryl Streep made a pitch-perfect speech against old Shredded Wheat Head when she called him out over bully boy tactics and divisive rhetoric.
His response that she was “overrated” was both petty and spiteful.
Someone really needs to take his phone away or at least delete his Twitter account.
Of course, Trump will soon be sworn in as President of the USA amid the most jaw- dropping allegations of bizarre shenanigans that would be thrown out if suggested at a script meeting of a sleazy porn film.
I fear this is only the tip of the iceberg and America will soon be engulfed in a sea of sleaze and allegations, and the last thing to be heard will be thin-skinned Donald tweeting and bleating.
Dark times.