Former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken has never made any secret of his desire to become a dad, and his wish is finally coming true, in the most bizarre of circumstances.

The revelation that the singer has impregnated his female friend by artificial insemination has done nothing to dampen speculation about his sexuality, a subject he has always refused to address.

Music producer Jaymes Foster, 50, is expecting a baby in August, and the father is her 29-year-old star buddy, who has just finished a stint in the Broadway version of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

‘Clay wanted a baby really badly,’ a source reveals. ‘Even though he isn’t in a relationship with Jaymes, they are best friends, and he will be a doting daddy.’

Since the news of their impending arrival – and the method of conception – became public, Clay and the woman who produced his album A Thousand Different Ways have been keeping a low profile.

‘Clay and Jaymes have been very upset. They aren’t going to deny how the baby was conceived, but they are embarrassed that people know they didn’t have sex,’ a source reveals.

Clay’s desire to become a parent is so strong that he once offered a pregnant woman $1.3 million to buy her baby.

A US magazine has revealed that in late 2006, a friend of Clay’s discovered she was pregnant after having an affair with the husband of another of Clay’s friends. The singer, wanting to protect his friends from the embarrassing scandal, offered to buy the baby, hoping his offer would be the perfect solution. But the unfaithful husband took offence.

‘It’s certainly bizarre that Clay would offer more than a million dollars for the baby, but he genuinely thought he was helping out his friends,’ a source says.

News of Clay and Jaymes’ pregnancy has increased pressure on the coy singer – who has been surrounded by gay rumours for some time – to confirm his homosexuality.

In January 2006, former porn star John Paulus claimed he had sex with Clay in a hotel room, and other men have said Clay, who was the American Idol runner-up in 2003, contacted them through an internet site for gay hook-ups.

‘Clay is 100 per cent gay,’ a former boyfriend reveals. ‘He refuses to come out of the closet because he fears it will alienate his fans.’

‘If Clay is hoping to stop speculation about his sexuality by fathering a child, he’s sadly mistaken,’ an industry insider says. ‘Clay has been dogged by gay rumours since he burst onto the music scene, and he hasn’t been romantically linked to any woman since he became a star.’