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GEORGE’S ‘MIRACLE BABY’
George Michael secretly paid for This Morning viewer’s IVF treatment
The later singer donated anonymously as a ‘businessman’
GEORGE Michael secretly funded a This Morning viewer’s IVF after hearing about her fertility heartbreak.
At the time he only identified himself as a “businessman” after seeing Jo Maidment on the show and only revealed his true identity in a small congratulations card shortly after her daughter Betsy was born in 2012.
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Jo appeared on the This Morning today with the blessing of the late singer’s family and explained that in 2010 she was on the show to speak about her frustration at not being allowed fertility treatment because her husband had a child from a previous marriage.
“Two days later I got a call from a PA who said a business man would like to donate,” explained Jo.
Jo and her husband initially didn’t want to agree to it, but George’s PA Michelle was adamant that was what the “businessman” wanted.
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George paid for her first round of IVF which resulted in miscarriage and he anonymously sent flowers from himself and his PA.
However the next year Jo used the frozen embryos from their first round and successfully gave birth to Betsy.
Little Betsy became the “This Morning miracle baby” and Phillip Schofield revealed that there were “only three or four of us who knew how that miracle baby came about.”
Explaining the moment she found out that George was to thank for her baby, Jo said: “We’d just got home with Betsy and we had loads of cards and flowers.
“There was a massive bouquet of flowers that came and I thought, ‘Oh aren’t they lovely’, and I read the card, and that’s when it said who it was.”
The small card read: “Congratulations to you both, lots of love to Betsy.
“Love from Michelle and George Michael (A.K.A Anonymous) xx”
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Out of respect for George, Jo has kept this secret until today and revealed that the only other person who knew was This Morning’s beloved late agony aunt Denise Roberts, who told her, “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”
Since then Jo has had a second child, a son Stanley, naturally.
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Recalling how Betsy and her dad were dancing to Wham!’s last Christmas on Christmas Eve – the day before George died, Jo added: “I was really upset when I found out as I can never than him, never say it personally to him.
“Betsy will know, when she is old enough she will know.
“We sent him photos right from when she was born to when she started school in September.”
The mum-of-two donated her fee from today's telly appearance to children's charity Childline.
This isn’t the only time George donated towards someone’s IVF, after seeing Lynette Gillard speak about plight for a baby when she appeared on Deal or No Deal, he anonymously donated £9,000.
Lynette’s then husband went on the show in 2008 but failed to win enough for another round of IVF — but George contacted producers and donated the money.
Lynette, 38, of Westhoughton, Lancs — who failed to conceive — said: “For years I wanted to know who it was and I was gobsmacked to find it was George Michael.
“I still haven’t lost hope in becoming a mum.
“I love his song ‘Faith’ and that’s what he’s given me.
“If I’m blessed with a baby, I’ll think of him. I may call him George.”
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