Clay Aiken to Be a Daddy!

American Idol runner-up and recent Spamalot star Clay Aiken is expecting a child, TMZ.com reports.

Aiken will share the parenting duties with Jaymes Foster, a record producer and close female friend. Foster is in her late 40s and with Aiken being only 29, age questions have already been raised. Perhaps these will take a back seat to the fact that Foster was artificially inseminated, which adds more fuel to the fire of speculation over Aiken's sexual orientation.

Ever since the singer stepped into the spotlight a few years ago, his sexual orientation - which he has been famously private about - has been an issue. In 2006, Rosie O'Donnell added more speculation when she criticized Kelly Ripa's comment of, "I don't know where that's been," when Aiken covered her mouth with his hand while cohosting Live with Regis and Kelly. O'Donnell raged on The View: "To me that's a homophobic remark. If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn't question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing." The conflict escalated slightly when Ripa called in to defend her actions.

Aiken and Foster's child is reportedly due in August. Aiken's latest album, On My Way Here, dropped on May 6.