Aiken told mom four years ago he was gay

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Clay Aiken says he told his mother four years ago that he is gay.

Aiken publicly confirmed his sexual orientation for the first time in this week's issue of People magazine, which features the quote, "Yes, I'm gay," on its cover, along with a photo of Aiken holding his son, Parker, who was born last month. Although the issue doesn't hit newsstands until Friday, People ran an excerpt on its Web site Wednesday.

The 29-year-old former "American Idol" star also confirmed speculation that his child was conceived via in vitro fertilization with his best friend, music producer Jaymes Foster.

"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told People about coming out as a homosexual. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."

Aiken said his son would be brought up in an environment that is "accepting and allowing him to be happy."

He also revealed he told his mother Faye he is gay about four years ago when they were dropping his younger brother, Brett, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to be deployed to Iraq.

"I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out," he recalled. "She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting. ... She still struggles with things quite a bit but she's come a long way."