Maya Henry, former fiancée of One Direction member Liam Payne, has opened up about her experience getting an abortion.
The former model from Texas started dating the music artist in September 2019, when she was 18 and Liam was 26. By August 2020, the pair were happily engaged but by April 2022 they had broken things off for good.
Two years on Henry, 23, a creative writing student at New York University, is releasing a fictional book called Looking Forward partially inspired by real life. The novel follows the relationship between pop star Oliver and ordinary girl Mallory.
During the novel – which explores themes of abuse, self-harm and substance abuse – Mallory falls pregnant and is told to get an abortion or lose Oliver.
Mallory goes through with it but suffers heavy medical complications in the process.
Henry told People at one point in her life she went through a ‘similar’ medical abortion to Mallory and was ‘alone’ in the hospital.
‘It was very lonely, having these men tell you, “Oh, it’s going to feel like a heavy period, it’s not going to be that painful, it’s going to be easy.” But I’m like, you’ve never even gone through anything like [this], so how would you know to tell me?’
According to Henry, if it were up to her she ‘wouldn’t have done it’.
‘But then also, if I were to have made a different decision, then I would’ve lost the person that I loved. There were definitely difficult conversations about it. But looking back now, things happen for a reason,’ she added.
However, she was inspired to write about her abortion experience in the novel to help other women feel seen.
Henry did not specify when this abortion took place, or whether she was in a relationship with Liam at the time or with a different partner.
The pair publicly dated from September 2019 to June 2021 but took a two-month break before rekindling their romance from August 2021 to April 2022.
Upon reflection, Henry acknowledged the ‘power imbalance’ in their age gap even though she felt ‘very mature’ for her age.
‘I think I was very naïve in relationships because I hadn’t been in a real adult relationship,’ she explained.
‘And then to be engaged in your first real adult relationship was a lot. I don’t know if it was a power imbalance, [but] I feel like maybe my love was taken advantage of in a way.’
The One Direction singer, 30, has had a string of high-profile relationships including with former X Factor judge Cheryl, 40, with whom he shares a seven-year-old son, Bear.
In July last year the Strip That Down singer opened up about attending a wellness clinic in the US for 100 days to deal with past trauma. At that time he had been sober for six months.
At the tail end of 2023 Payne worried fans after suffering a serious kidney infection and cancelling his tour. He then fell seriously ill while holidaying in Italy.
Payne dropped his emotional new single Teardrops in March, in anticipation of his new album coming out for the first time in five years. The album will reflect on the difficulties he’s faced in the past year.
Payne is currently dating influencer Kate Cassidy.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Liam Payne for comment.
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