Bláthnaid Treacy says ‘you don’t need a man’ to be a mum after pregnancy reveal

The broadcaster announced last week that she and her husband Charlie Moon are expecting their first child together.

Speaking to Jennifer Zamparelli on her RTÉ Radio show this morning, Bláthnaid said that while she and her beau are “married and have been together a long time”, she believes that women are more than capable of becoming mums on their own.

“You don’t always have to have a partner there with you. You can do it on your own now,” she said.

“Obviously, you need a sperm donation so you do need a man to do that, but you’ve got so many more options now.

“Everybody’s changing their options when it comes to parenting. Like do you need a mum and a dad? You can have two dads, you can have two mums, you can have one mum, one dad. Families look different now”.

However, the broadcaster acknowledged that parenting alone “doesn’t look easy” as there are fewer resources available for single people.

“Charlie and I, we’re married and have been together a long time and are very happy, but we’ve got other friends who are still trying to get onto the property ladder and they might not want to start a family until they can do that.

“There are lots of things that happen in people’s lives that can make you push it out further and sometimes the longer you leave it, the more difficult it can get to become pregnant.

“You need to have a huge family support network and friends and not everyone has loads of people around them that can help them”.

Bláthnaid is halfway through her pregnancy and is due to give birth to a baby girl this summer.

She said that she and Charlie are “so happy” and can’t wait to meet their little one, but admitted it was important for her to keep her big news private until the right moment.

“I was hiding it. It’s funny, you know, when you get pregnant, it’s so exciting and then for the first three months you have to not tell anyone.

“It was so exciting. We told all our family at Christmas time and then I was like, ‘okay I’m at 20 weeks now so now is a safe enough time to say it.’

“Maybe a couple of people did notice that maybe my chest had gotten a little bigger and things like that. But no one actually said it to me”

She continued: “You obviously have to be aware that it’s quite a sensitive topic as well and you have to be kind of careful who you say it to and how you say it.

“I think people are so much better at speaking about losses. I think everyone knows someone who has suffered a loss and you just have to be a little bit more mindful and a little bit more careful how you approach things like that.

“But everyone has been so happy. And it’s good news so we’re celebrating that”.