With her hands placed lovingly on her newborn daughter’s chest, Lily Collins announced the birth of her first child yesterday.

In an emotional post on Instagram, the Emily In Paris star said she was full of ‘endless gratitude’ for the surrogate who helped her to become a mother.

She added that the girl –who she and her husband Charlie McDowell have named Tove – had become ‘the center [sic] of our world’.

But while the actress was inundated with congratulations from fans, she has also faced criticism for joining the ranks of Hollywood stars having a baby via surrogacy.

Some social media users attacked the actress for taking part in the ‘unethical trend’ – which, critics argue, involve ‘rich people renting women’s bodies’ and is akin to ‘human trafficking’.

Others speculated that Lily, along with other A-list celebrities, might have chosen to ‘opt out’ of pregnancy, to preserve their looks.

Last night McDowell, 41, hit back. He wrote: ‘In regards to the unkind messages about surrogacy and our path to having a baby – it’s OK to not be an expert on surrogacy. It’s OK to not know why someone might need a surrogate to have a child. It’s OK to not know the motivations of a surrogate regardless of what you assume.

‘And it’s OK to spend less time spewing hateful words into the world, especially in regards to a beautiful baby girl who has brought a lot of love into people’s lives. That’s all for now because she just pooped and I need to change her diaper.’

Lily and McDowell, the film director son of A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, began dating in 2019, after meeting on the set of his film, Gilded Rage. They married in September 2021
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Lily and McDowell, the film director son of A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, began dating in 2019, after meeting on the set of his film, Gilded Rage. They married in September 2021

In an emotional post on Instagram, the Emily In Paris star said she was full of 'endless gratitude' for the surrogate who helped her to become a mother
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In an emotional post on Instagram, the Emily In Paris star said she was full of ‘endless gratitude’ for the surrogate who helped her to become a mother

In their baby announcement, the couple did not divulge the reason for choosing a surrogate
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In their baby announcement, the couple did not divulge the reason for choosing a surrogate

Lily and McDowell, the film director son of A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, began dating in 2019, after meeting on the set of his film, Gilded Rage. They married in September 2021.

In their baby announcement, the couple did not divulge the reason for choosing a surrogate. Writing that ‘words would never express’ their gratitude to the unnamed woman, they also thanked ‘everyone who helped us along the way’, and added: ‘We love you to the moon and back again.’

In her 2017 memoir Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, Lily – the daughter of musician Phil Collins – candidly described how an eating disorder had a devastating effect on her reproductive system. She revealed she used to eat ‘every type of junk food possible’ and then force herself to vomit. She said it stopped her menstrual cycle adding: ‘I was terrified I had ruined my chances of having kids,’ she wrote.

A number of other Hollywood celebrities have also turned to surrogacy. Reality star Kim Kardashian, 44, has been open about the ‘medical necessity’ of using a surrogate to have the two youngest children, Chicago and Psalm, after experiencing life-threatening complications during her first two pregnancies.

Aquaman actress Amber Heard also had her daughter, Oonagh, via surrogacy in 2021 after being told by doctors she would never be able to have her own child.

And Australian star Rebel Wilson used a surrogate to have her daughter, Royce, after IVF failed.

However, Los Angeles-based fertility doctor Vicken Sahakian says some otherwise healthy women opt for a ‘social surrogacy’ often to continue working without having to pause their careers.

She said: ‘For instance, if you are a model or an actress and your income is based on performing and how you look, pregnancy will ruin that for a year if not more.’

Charlie’s Angels star Lucy Liu has been open about her decision to use a surrogate to have her son, Rockwell Lloyd, in August 2015 – citing her career.

‘It just seemed like the right option for me because I was working and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to stop,’ the actress, now 54, said.

‘I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great.’