Love Island alum Sharon Gaffka has given birth to her first child, a son, with fiancé Matthew Torbitt. Gaffka announced the news on Instagram on Friday, sharing a series of photos of the newborn.
The new parents have not yet revealed their son's name. The photos showed the couple cradling their baby in the hospital and a snap of the infant sleeping in a dog-themed onesie. Gaffka captioned one post, "Football might not have come home, but someone else did."
Fellow Love Island cast members, including Liberty Poole and Paige Thorne, offered congratulations in the comments section. "Congratulations he's gorgeous," wrote Poole, while Thorne added, "How magical. Congratulations babe."
Last month, Gaffka stated her intention to have an elective cesarean section, a decision she acknowledged went against medical advice. Speaking on Vanessa Feltz's Channel 5 show, Gaffka explained her reasoning for opting for a C-section over an assisted birth. "I don't want some of these stories to play out in my birthing plan," she said.
Gaffka noted that some midwives were reluctant to support her decision, but she remained firm. "I'm not one of those people to change my mind or budge once I've made my mind up," she stated, adding that her regular midwife had been supportive.
Gaffka, who became engaged in December, previously shared that her pregnancy had not been without challenges. She experienced severe morning sickness and skin issues that caused her distress, leading her to cancel her 30th birthday celebrations. "Not only was I vomiting all day everyday, I broke out, my skin was so dry it was making me cry because I was so itchy and nothing was working, and I was DRAINED," she wrote on Instagram.
Gaffka revealed her relationship with Torbitt in March. She appeared on Love Island in 2021 and has since focused on her career as a VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) activist and ambassador for the domestic violence charity Refuge. Torbitt is described as a political commentator and an advocate for homelessness and prison reform.
Her announcement follows Gaffka's previous openness about her past abortion and miscarriage experiences. In October of the previous year, she shared her grief over a miscarriage in 2021, describing the impact as hitting her "like a train." She also disclosed in June of the current year that she had undergone an early medical abortion at home, calling it a "painful, lonely, and traumatising" experience, though she stated she did not regret the decision.
Gaffka has spoken about receiving hateful messages online after sharing her experiences, including being compared to child serial killer Lucy Letby and receiving threats of doxing. She emphasized that her decision to have an abortion was not easy and that both her miscarriage and abortion "both changed me" and "both deserve compassion."