Lily Allen has been very open about her journey to motherhood over the years.
The singer shares daughters Ethel, born in November 2011, and Marnie, born in January 2013, with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper. Their first child, son George, was stillborn when Allen was six months pregnant in 2010.
“For ten hours between my baby dying and me getting him out, I entered a realm I’d never been to before,” she wrote in her 2018 memoir, My Thoughts Exactly. “It is a realm I’d never been to before. It is a realm I cannot describe or revisit, even if I wanted to. The sickness I was experiencing was consuming. I felt knocked out. I felt not human.”
Allen also reportedly suffered a miscarriage in 2008, and has been open about having several abortions.
“I’d get pregnant all the time, all the time,” she said during a July 2025 episode of her “Miss Me?” podcast. “Abortions, I’ve had a few, but then again, I can’t remember exactly how many. I think maybe like, I want to say five, four or five.”
Allen was married to Cooper from 2011 to 2018 and then went on to marry Stranger Things actor David Harbour in 2020. They reportedly separated in 2024, but neither Allen nor Harbour has confirmed the split.
Below, read more of Allen’s quotes about pregnancy and motherhood:
The Heartbreak of Her Stillbirth
Lily Allen attends the 2025 Planned Parenthood New York Gala on April 24, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images
Allen suffered a stillbirth in 2020 when she was six months pregnant with her and Cooper’s son, George.
“As I was delivering him, the doctors said there was a pulse, but then there wasn’t,” she told the BBC Radio “4 Woman’s Hour” podcast in September 2018. “The cord was wrapped around his neck … He was just too small.”
Allen further detailed some of the complications that occurred during the delivery.
“He was so small that he actually got stuck halfway in and halfway out,” she explained. “And because his skin wasn’t fully formed they couldn’t use forceps to pull him out. So there was a period of about 12 hours of him lying there deceased in between my legs. Which was incredibly traumatic.”
She concluded: “I went into trauma and I don’t think I will ever recover from that.”
On Stepping Back from Her Career to ‘Concentrate’ on Her Children
“I chose stepping back and concentrating on [my children], and I’m glad that I’ve done that because I think they’re pretty well-rounded people,” Allen said in an interview with Radio Times in March 2024 after joking that Ethel and Marnie “ruined my career.”
“I mean I love them and they complete me, but in terms of, like, pop stardom, totally ruined it. Yup,” she said, laughing. “It really annoys me when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t. And, you know, some people choose their career over their children and that’s their prerogative. But my parents were quite absent when I was a kid and I feel like that really left some nasty scars that I’m not willing to repeat on [my kids].”
On Being a Single Parent
Lily Allen and daughters Marnie Rose Cooper and Ethel Cooper at the “Frozen 2” premiere in London. Getty Images
During a 2024 episode of “Miss Me?,” Allen said single moms must rely on a “strong support network.”
“My mom [film producer Alison Owen] had me when she was 23 and had my sister when she was 17 and I cannot fathom how she managed to create and establish a pretty successful career for herself whilst having three children,” she said, alluding to her sister, Sarah Owen, and brother, Alfie Allen.
Lily continued: “She would say that she doesn’t think that it would be possible in today’s world because we don’t have the same sense of community that you guys had when it was the ‘80s or late ‘70s. You know, people are strapped for cash, people are strapped for time. Life is tough, at the moment out there.”
On Becoming a Mother for the Wrong Reasons
Lily admitted that she had children for reasons she now views as misguided in a discussion on her podcast in September 2024.
“I think I had children for all the wrong reasons really because I was yearning for unconditional love, which I haven’t felt in my life since I was a child,” she shared, admitting she hoped motherhood would offer her the love and stability she had long been craving.
“Also my career was at such a high speed, you know high pressure and I’m a people pleaser and I felt very overwhelmed by what was happening,” she continued. “I just didn’t get much respite and I felt like the one way to stop people hassling me, it’s not about me — it’s about this other person that’s inside me.”
Lily added, “They did leave me alone, but I don’t think I really understood what I got myself into.”
The Guilt of Falling Back into Old Habits
Lily Allen poses at the opening night of the new play “Prima Facie” on Broadway on April 23, 2023 in New York City. Getty Images
Lily told “The Recovery” podcast host DJ Fat Tony that she and Cooper were facing financial troubles when she decided to join Miley Cyrus’ “Bangerz Tour” in 2014. She admitted she wasn’t mentally ready to leave her children, and began abusing alcohol and drugs again.
“I felt so guilty about neglecting my kids in those early years of their lives and having to go off on tour and misbehaving in the way I was,” she said.
On Her Multiple Abortions
Lily was open and honest about undergoing several abortions in her life during a July 2025 episode of her podcast.
“Abortions, I’ve had a few, but then again, I can’t remember exactly how many. I think maybe like, I want to say five, four or five,” she told cohost Miquita Oliver, who noted that she’d had “about five, too.”
“I remember once getting pregnant and the man paying for my abortion, and me thinking it was so romantic,” Lily said with a laugh, noting her opinions have since changed. “I don’t think it’s generous or romantic. How much is it, like, 500 quid? Kids are a lot more expensive.”
Lily recalled the aforementioned guy not “texting her after” she got the abortion despite paying for it. “Fair [to be honest], I was a f***ing crazy bitch, still am,” she quipped.
The “Smile” singer added that she’s since gotten better at using contraceptives. “I have an IUD now. I think I’m on my third, maybe fourth. I just remember before that was a complete disaster area.”
In 2022, Lily also spoke about her personal stance on abortions, sharing via Instagram Story, “I wish people would stop posting examples of exceptional reasons for having abortions. Most people I know, myself included, just didn’t want to have a f***ing baby. And that is reason enough! We don’t have to justify it.”
On the Possibility of Having More Children
Lily Allen (C) and daughters Marnie Cooper (L) and Ethel attend “Stranger Things” season 4 premiere in Brooklyn. Getty Images
Following her marriage to Harbour, Lily told The Sunday Times in October 2020 that she would like to have more babies.
“I think so. Especially now Marnie’s getting so big. It’s like, no, my babies,” she said, admitting she misses having little ones around. “I do. I miss little terrors running around the house.”
Lily added, however: “I’m in a really good place. I don’t know if I’d mess with my hormones, at this particular point.”
Opening Up About the Joy of Having Kids in Her Life
In January 2025, Lily spoke about how she leaned on her daughters during a hard time in life.
“I can say, it’s really tough – they are always there and you have to be present and there for them,” she shared on her podcast, noting that it’s difficult to “hold things together” sometimes. “And that’s OK. When things in life are going well and you’re coping, it’s really nice to have the kids around. They’re a joy. One of the main sources of joy in one’s life.”
Lily added: “We are a support network for each other and encourage each other to talk about our feelings but I think the main thing is telling them we’re going to get through it and be fine.”
