Lily Collins’ husband Charlie McDowell shuts down ‘hateful’ comments after couple welcome baby through surrogacy
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Lily Collins’ husband Charlie McDowell has responded to the “hateful” responses the couple received after announcing that they had welcomed their first child via a surrogate.
The Emily in Paris star, 35, and the director, 41, announced the birth of their baby girl Tove in an Instagram post shared yesterday (1 February).
In the post, which showed the newborn lying in a cot alongside a blanket stitched with her name, the pair shared their “endless gratitude for our incredible surrogate” and thanked “everyone who helped us along the way”.
While some fans and famous friends of the couple shared messages of congratulations, other social media users criticised their decision to use a surrogate and even speculated for the reasons behind the choice.
McDowell later weighed in with a comment on the post that thanked the wellwishers for their support and hit back at the disparaging remarks, noting that the critics didn’t “know why someone might need a surrogate to have a child”.
“Thank you for all the kind messages and love,” he wrote. “We are overjoyed and very grateful.”
“In regards to the unkind messages about surrogacy and our path to having a baby – it’s OK to not be an expert on surrogacy. It’s OK to not know why someone might need a surrogate to have a child.
“It’s OK to not know the motivations of a surrogate regardless of what you assume.”
“And it’s OK to spend less time spewing hateful words into the world, especially in regards to a beautiful baby girl who has brought a lot of love into people’s lives,” he added.
“That’s all for now because she just pooped and I need to change her diaper.”
Collins, who is the daughter of legendary drummer Phil Collins, and McDowell, who is the son of actors Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell, started dating in 2019 and married two years later.
In their Instagram post, the couple hailed their daughter as “the center of our world”, adding: “We love you to the moon and back again…”
