Mollie King has revealed that she scheduled a Caesarean section for her daughter's birth so that her terminally ill father could meet his granddaughter before he died. The BBC Radio 1 presenter explained that she wanted to eliminate the unpredictability of childbirth because her father, Stephen, had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and had only a few weeks left to live.
A Difficult Decision
The 38-year-old former Saturdays singer said she found it challenging to explain her reasons to hospital staff, but once she did, they immediately scheduled the procedure. Stephen saw his granddaughter, Annabella, once before passing away ten days later.
Mollie gave birth to Annabella in November 2022 and welcomed her second daughter, Liliana, in January 2025. She shares both children with her partner, cricketer Stuart Broad.
Sharing Her Story
Speaking on the Happy Mum podcast, Mollie recounted the events: 'I was about six months pregnant. It happened in August. I had seen my dad that morning. We had gone out for a walk with my dog and with Stuart as well. And everything seemed pretty fine, pretty normal.'
'Then that evening, I had a call from my sister to say, Dad's not been very well at all. He's gone into hospital. I was like, Oh my gosh. Basically, over the next few days, we got the news that he had a brain tumour, which is obviously shocking because there were no signs.'
'You just don't know how to process it. I was trying to get my head around it, but also I'm pregnant. This is meant to be such a magical happy time. I was really worried that he wasn't going to meet Annabella. I can't have him not meet my kids.'
Hospital Response
Mollie recalled telling the hospital: 'I remember them saying to me, why are you choosing to do this? I found it really hard to talk about at the time. Eventually I said, look, my dad is dying and we've only got a few weeks. I just need her out now. And they said, totally get it. Let's book you in for this date. It was amazing.'
'He met her once, and he passed away 10 days later, which was really difficult.'
Wedding Plans on Hold
Mollie recently shared the heartbreaking reason she and Stuart have not yet married: she cannot bear to have a wedding without her father present. The couple first dated in 2012, split briefly, and reunited in 2019.
In an interview with The Times, Mollie said: 'We do need to get married - it's high up my priorities list. We want to do it soon, but it can take a while to prepare. I've dreamt of my wedding day since I was five.'
She added: 'It happened so quickly, out of nowhere. I was in the final stage of the pregnancy so it was incredibly tough. I'm so grateful Dad was able to meet my daughter and see me in this phase of my life. I can't bear to think about my wedding without Dad being there. Elements like walking down the aisle without him I still struggle with.'
