Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon gives birth after years of IVF

Atomic Kitten star Liz McClarnon has given birth to her first child following years of IVF treatment.

The 44-year-old singer from Liverpool revealed her baby boy had arrived early, and while the experience “started out a bit scary” it “went well in the end”, she said in a message posted to her Instagram story with a photo of her giving a thumbs-up.

In May, the singer announced her pregnancy in an Instagram video showing her baby bump.

Liz McClarnon, left, with her Atomic Kitten bandmates Kerry Katona and Natasha Hamilton in 2001 (Fiona Hanson/PA). PA Media

McClarnon told OK! magazine she had decided to start IVF treatment before her wedding to Peter Cho.

“The first time we did it, I thought, ‘this will be it’, but by my third cycle, it was obviously very different”, she said.

“When that one didn’t work, I was really quite sick and I was in a dark hole.

“I’d put on so much weight but I didn’t want to tell anyone why because I didn’t want the IVF to become my identity, my whole personality. I was still doing shows and I’d see the comments online talking about me.

“I remember one said, ‘She’s getting really thick,’ and others were like, ‘She’s unrecognisable.’

“I tried to remember that those people didn’t know what was happening, but it was hard. I just felt broken after the third time, so we took a break before the wedding.”

In July, McClarnon said she had undergone eight rounds of IVF treatment within three years.

“I’ve been on hormones more often than not. I just wanted to share how it can look”, she said alongside a video montage on Instagram.

McClarnon was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten, who formed in the late 1990s and had hits including The Tide Is High and Whole Again.