Viewers have praised former football player, psychotherapist and pundit Richard Sadlier for a powerful and tearful interview on the Tommy Tiernan Show about becoming a parent for the first time.
Opening the interview, Tommy said that Sadlier gave him the impression that there was “calmness in him”, Sadlier replied that he is the calmest he has ever been after he became a dad 19 days ago and that while he thought it would be “carnage and all over the shop” but it has been “weirdly calm”.
He added that it was he and his partner Fiona’s first child and that they had tried IFV for years, but to no avail.
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“It's lovely, we have this tiny little boy, and I have cleared my schedule. All my focus is on her and him. It's amazing," Richard explained to Tommy.
“For years we thought we couldn’t and wouldn’t. I’ve had years of wanting to bed a dad. We had years of wondering maybe we won't and maybe we never will, but we really want to, do we need to stop trying, do we need to accept it won’t happen? All this kinda craic.
“So we did a round of IVF every year for four years. Every time we did it we thought brilliant this one is going to work. It never entered our heads that it wouldn’t, and it never did.
“I completely underestimated the heartache of it not working. Then, on our third wedding anniversary last year, Fiona said to me: ‘I’m a couple of days late’. She did a pregnancy test and she was pregnant.
“We were told this couldn’t happen naturally. We were also told for different reasons that if we used Fiona’s eggs there could be a high risk of fetal abnormality so every scan was a big event, but every scan went really well.”
He added, tearfully: “I’m only recently at the stage where I can say the phrase my son without crying. So every time I talk about it, or I think about it in any depth, I kind of get like this. When he came out, all that other shite we went through, not that it didn’t hurt but none of that matters now. It just doesn’t matter.”
Viewers took to social media to praise the psychotherapist, pundit and author for his honest interview about his and his wife’s journey to parenthood that left Richie in tears at the end.
One Twitter user posted: “Great to see two men talking about IVF and parenthood, from the heart, on Saturday night telly in Ireland.
“Wishing you all the best on this new beautiful, crazy journey Richie Sadlier.”
The same account later reposted the Tweet with the caption: “A beautiful, honest, vulnerable and moving interview.”
Another user posted: “Loved every minute of that. Top class Richie.”
Expressing their love for the pundit, one more account posted: “So thrilled to see the wonderful Richard Sadlier on Tommedian. I admire him so much.”
The praise did not stop there, with another account posting: “Brilliant, emotional and insightful interview on The Tommy Tiernan Show. All the best to you, Fiona and little Sam.”
Lastly, praising him for his honesty, another account said baby Sam was in perfect parent hands, posting: “Jaysus Richie that was powerful, Sam is in perfect ‘parent’ hands, enjoy every moment! Thanks for your honesty.”
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