Maren Morris Reveals Her Son’s Impact On Her Coming Out Journey

Maren Morris has expressed gratitude for having her four-year-old son by her side during an emotional year.

The 34-year-old musician, who finalized her divorce from Ryan Hurd in January, just five months before publicly coming out as bisexual in June, opened up about her close bond with her son, Hayes Andrew.

Hayes, whom she shares with Ryan Hurd, is currently accompanying Maren Morris on her tour.

Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd's story began in 2013 when they collaborated on a song for Tim McGraw. By 2016, their professional partnership blossomed into romance, leading to marriage in 2018 and the arrival of their son, Hayes, who is now four years old.

However, their journey took a turn last October when Morris filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The split was finalized in January of this year.

Throughout their relationship, Morris and Hurd acted as a creative team, with Hurd influencing several songs on her albums "GIRL" and "Humble Quest."

The pair even earned a Grammy nomination for their 2021 duet, "Chasing After You."

Maren Morris revealed to People Magazine that Hayes has "definitely brought me through a lot of this year," including going through a divorce and coming out as bisexual.

Hayes has been on the road with his mom for her RSVP Redux tour, which she says has only strengthened their bond.

"He loves being on the road, which has been so much fun this summer, having Hayes out. I don't know, we feel like partners in crime a little bit, and we're going to be on this bus journey for forever," she told the magazine. "It just makes me so happy when he's out and the fact that he loves it out here so much."

As reported by The Blast, the former couple agreed to forgo alimony or spousal support from each other. In terms of custody, they have settled on a joint arrangement, with each parent having Hayes for 182.5 days per year.

Going through a divorce isn't easy, especially for children--but Morris said she and Hurd have been co-parenting the best they can. "I feel like there's so many emotions when you have a child with somebody and the relationship doesn't pan out and you just have to put on a brave face and a consistent face for your baby," she said.

"I think he's gone through a lot, and there's ... I'm sure, a lot of confusion because he's so little, but also, I feel like Ryan and I have done a really great job at just being great parents for him," the singer added.

The "My Church" singer publicly came out as bisexual at 34, announcing on social media during Pride Month after a concert in Phoenix.

"PHOENIX, AZ. happy to be the B in LGBTQ+. happy pride," Morris captioned a number of images, including some of her on stage, proudly waving a Pride flag.

In her September EP, "The Bridge," Morris opened up about feeling "very distanced" from country music, pointing to the significant changes and controversies within the genre, criticizing it for its homophobic artists. She also questioned whether her own music still had a place in the genre.

Her skepticism and questioning followed a controversial post by Brittany Aldean, wife of country star Jason Aldean, which seemed to target the trans community. “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life,” she wrote, in part, on her Instagram Stories.

At the time, Morris responded with a lengthy statement of her own, which quickly went viral.“You know, I’m glad she didn’t become a boy either because we really don’t need another a–hole dude in the world," she said, in part.

"Sucks when Karens try to hide their homophobia/transphobia behind their ‘protectiveness of the children.’ Weren’t they putting their kids in ‘Biden-is-a-pedo’ shirts on social media?" she continued. "Sounds like a real safe way to protect them from millions of eyes! F-ck all the way off to Insurrection Barbie and the fellow IB’s trolling this comment section with their hypocritical, hateful a–es.”