Madeline Argy revealed that her mother is Thalidomide survivor and activist Michaelina “Mikey” Argy on her latest podcast.
@4_theoasis madeline argy on her adhd – part 27 #madelineargy #madeline #argy ♬ original sound – Nari
Who is Madeline Argy’s Mom Michaelina “Mikey” Argy?
- On the latest episode of her podcast Pretty Lonesome on Monday, Madeline Argy told listeners the backstory about her mom — and fans quickly worked out the TikTok star’s mother is Thalidomide survivor Michaelina “Mikey” Argy.
- The morning sickness and sleeping pill Thalidomide was introduced in the 1960s but was poorly tested on pregnant women, leading to many babies being born with birth defects.
- Madeline says in the Pretty Lonesome podcast: “My mom is a baby of Thalidomide, if you don’t know what that is, you could Google it. It was basically like a morning sickness pill and then, so my grandma took it when she was pregnant with my mom. And my mom subsequently did not grow arms. Well, she grew some arms, just not full arms and not really hands. And there’s a whole group of people known as the Thalidomide babies and it ranges in severity of their birth defects.”
- Madeline continues: “So my mom is one of those and she has spent her whole life campaigning to basically get some kind of compensation from the government controversially… kinda knew what would happen to the babies but they gave it out anyway because back then you didn’t have to test the way you have to now.”
- Madeline’s mom Mikey is the former chair of the National Advisory Committee of the Thalidomide Trust, the organization through which British Thalidomide survivors receive financial support. She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors in 2015 for her campaigning to fellow “Thalidomider” survivors.
- In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2016, Mickey said that she was a single mother to Madeline and her sister Jessica. She said she suffered from constant pain from neck, shoulder, and lower back problems due to the effects of Thalidomide.
- Mickey told The Guardian that she support herself financially as a single mom with temporary jobs. In 2015, Mickey also stood as a candidate for the Independence from Europe party.
- According to The Face, Madeline has spoken proudly about being mum’s “designated flipper-offer” as a child — if anyone was rude to her or cut her off in traffic.
Congratulations Michaelina Argy and Lorraine Mercer, who both receive an #MBE for services to Thalidomide survivors pic.twitter.com/skYug1sIKd
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 25, 2015
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