According to a report by ‘Rolling Stone,’ the former model and author was allegedly forced by Payne to terminate her pregnancy

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Liam Payne, Maya Henry

Liam Payne allegedly forced his ex Maya Henry to get an abortion after she discovered she was pregnant with their baby.

A source claimed to Rolling Stone that the late singer, 31, gave the former model and author, 25, an ultimatum after she learned she was pregnant with the couple’s first baby. “Liam sent Maya a long message saying it’s either get an abortion and stay with him, or raise the kid alone and he will not acknowledge either of them,” the source told the outlet.

“This was a surprise to Maya, because Liam wanted to have a family, and they were trying for a kid,” they add.

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Liam Payne and Maya Henry in 2019
Related: Liam Payne’s Ex Maya Henry Opens Up About ‘Painful’ Abortion Experience: ‘If It Were Up to Me, I Wouldn’t Have’ (Exclusive)

Henry and Payne, who died in October after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, first confirmed their relationship in 2019 and were engaged in August 2020. After breaking up the next year, they got back together before ending things for good in April 2022.

This past May, Henry opened up about experiencing a “painful” abortion in an interview with PEOPLE about her novel Looking Forward, a work of fiction “inspired by true events.”

In one key scene in the novel, the protagonist Mallory goes through a painful abortion after her partner tells her that he’ll leave her if she decides to keep the pregnancy.

At the time, Henry shared with PEOPLE that what she went through in real life is “very similar” to that of her character and that she dealt with serious complications with little support (In the book, Mallory is encouraged by her partner’s team to not seek treatment for hemorrhaging in the hospital for fear of being spotted in public and word getting out).

“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done it,” Henry said of her abortion. “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.”

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Liam Payne and Maya Henry in 2022
Related: Liam Payne’s Ex Maya Henry Breaks Silence After His Death: ‘It Was the Drug Use and Addictions That Tore Us Apart’

Henry said she suffered complications during her abortion, and ultimately had to take herself to 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?” she said.

“That’s why I wanted to include it in the book, because I’ve seen so many people online talk about taking the abortion pill and it was the most painful thing for them. It’s just mind boggling to me that you could tell a woman how they’re going to feel.”

Henry said that she was able to use her platform to shed light on other young women who might still be in relationships that mirrored her former one.

“You never know what goes on behind closed doors,” she said. “It’s definitely nerve-wracking and scary, but we need to have difficult conversations about these topics to help women not feel alone and to speak up about things. That’s ultimately why I wanted to put this book out there.”