This Christmas, Lauren Goodger has a special wish – and that’s to have more children. The TOWIE star, who is mum to three-year-old daughter Larose, says she really wants to expand her family and is looking into fostering or adopting in 2025. “I’m still young, I still can have my own baby, but I’m not with anyone and time is going on,” says Lauren, 38. “I feel like it’s such a beautiful thing to be able to do and I’ve got the space.”
Lauren longs for a sibling for Larose and has put her all into being the best mum she can be since her second daughter Lorena died in July 2022, shortly after she was born. In an exclusive chat with OK!, Lauren says it feels it’s the right time to have another child and, since she’s single (she split up with the father of her children, Charles Drury, two years ago), doing it on her own might be the right decision for her.
“I’ve always known I wanted more,” she says. “Even when I lost Lorena, it never put me off the idea. If things were different with Charlie, then things would have probably been different by now – I’ve still not moved on or been with anyone else. I was so traumatised by everything that I’ve just shut off and all I could be was a mum. I’m really trying my best to heal and that’s why I’ve not moved on.”
Undeniably, it’s a huge step to adopt or foster a child, so Lauren is giving it a lot of thought and doing lots of research. “There’s adoption and then there’s fostering,” she says. “With fostering, I think about getting really attached to them and then they go back to their home. If I was to do it, it would be a baby or under one-year-old. For Larose to feel more settled, I think she’d have to be the older one – she’s baby obsessed!”
Lauren has even sought the advice of her former TOWIE co-star – and mum to Lydia Bright – Debbie Douglas, who herself has fostered more than 200 children. Lauren recently bumped into Debbie in a supermarket and the pair have plans to meet up at Debbie’s house for a cup of tea.
“She’d said, ‘You’d be brilliant for it. You’d be absolutely perfect,’” Lauren says. “I would love to do it because I love being a mum and I’d love to take on a baby who needs love – I’ve got love and a nice home to give,” she adds.
“Larose would love it. The negative to it is it would put a block on me actually dating and getting pregnant because I’d be thinking of the baby and wouldn’t want to be going out. And to meet somebody and then to be like, ‘I’ve got two kids,’ it’s a lot for someone to take on.”
However, happily settled in at her Essex home, Lauren is confident she has created a nice atmosphere to raise another child. “My home is peaceful,” she says. “I’ve got quite strong boundaries. If I have friends come over, everyone leaves by 7pm because I start doing bedtime. I have a proper routine here – and any child that’s been through anything, it would be at peace and loved. I find it really easy being a mum.”
Lauren says another baby would bring her so much joy, and she would love to add a boy to her family. “I love Larose, but I really want to have a son as well and raise a good boy,” she says. “It would be nice for Larose to have a brother or, of course, a sister.”
“Every year we normally spend it with Charlie, but this year he’s up where he lives [in Chesterfield] and then all my family are with their partners. I was stressed and upset with it being just us two, but then I thought, ‘How beautiful!’ I’ll get loads of M&S food, do us a mini roast dinner with picky bits and then I’ve bought us loads of games.
“It’ll probably be one of our best Christmases – she’s only young once. I’ve spent over a grand on her on presents, but I’m overcompensating because I want to make it amazing for her. But then on Boxing Day, I’m at my sister’s.”
As well as 2025 being the year Lauren wants to have another child, she has also set herself other goals that she’s desperate to achieve. “I’m going to get my body ready for the summer,” she says, laughing. “This winter, I’m going to get my boob implants taken out and make a lot of effort and then when the sun comes out, I’m going to look the nuts. I want to come back with a bang!”
