George Michael secretly covered the costs of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for one British couple after hearing of its struggle to conceive naturally on TV.
Stories about the late pop icon's low-key generosity have been hitting headlines ever since the Faith hitmaker's shock death on Christmas Day (25Dec16), and on Tuesday (03Jan16), a woman named Jo Maidment revealed she has George to thank for her daughter, because he quietly funded her medical treatment after she shared her baby struggle on U.K. show This Morning back in 2010.
Returning to the series on Tuesday, Jo explained she had no idea who the mystery donor was at first, as the singer's personal assistant only described him as a "businessman" who "would like to donate some money for one cycle of IVF for you".
"I didn't believe it at first...," she explained, "and it took me a good few days to respond because that wasn't what I came on the show for, I wanted to help other people in my position. But then we agreed to it, because (the assistant) said it was what this particular man wanted."
Jo tragically suffered a miscarriage after her first attempt at IVF, and was sent flowers from her anonymous supporter, but when she finally welcomed her first child, a daughter named Betsy in 2012, she learned who had been funding her efforts to become a mum.
She continued, "It was a couple of days after we came home with Betsy and we had loads of cards and flowers, and there was a massive bouquet of flowers that came and I read the card that said, 'Congratulations to you both. Lots of love to Betsy. Love from Michelle and George Michael (AKA Anonymous) xx'. Me and my husband read it hundreds of times to believe it (sic)."
Jo and her husband kept the surprising news to themselves and a few loved ones, but following the star's death, she reached out to George's relatives and received their blessing to share the story of the couple's "miracle baby".
Jo is sad her daughter will never get to meet the man she owes her life to, but she is determined to teach Betsy all about her celebrity benefactor in the near future.
She concluded, "Betsy is now four-and-a-half. I was really upset when I found out (George had died) because I can never thank him personally and he never got to meet her. Betsy will know when she's old enough."
The former Wham! star died in his sleep at his home in Oxfordshire, England on 25 December (16), aged 53, after reportedly suffering from heart failure. An autopsy carried out last week (ends30Dec16) proved "inconclusive", prompting authorities to conduct further tests to determine his cause of death.
