Celine Dion Has Baby Boy

MONTREAL (AP) â€” Singer Celine Dion gave birth to a boy early Thursday, three weeks ahead of her due date, and mother and son were both reported ``in perfect health.'' <br><br>A statement from

Thursday, January 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MONTREAL (AP) â€” Singer Celine Dion gave birth to a boy early Thursday, three weeks ahead of her due date, and mother and son were both reported ``in perfect health.''

A statement from the office of Francine Chaloult, Dion's spokeswoman, said the baby â€” named Rene Charles â€” weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was born in Florida. It was the first child for Dion and her husband-manager, Rene Angelil.

Both the 32-year-old mother and child were ``doing marvelously well and are in perfect health,'' the statement issued by Dion's spokeswoman said.

Claude Lemay, Dion's musical director, said he spoke briefly to Angelil, who described his newborn son as a ``beautiful baby.''

``You could hear the joy in his voice,'' Lemay told Radio-Canada's all-news channel, RDI.

One of the singer's sisters, Linda, and Angelil were at the birth.

Dion, recently named favorite adult contemporary artist at the American Music Awards show, announced her pregnancy last June after taking a break from performing due to difficulty in conceiving.

She had been undergoing fertility treatments in New York, forcing her to turn down an offer to sing at the Montreal funeral of Canadian hockey legend Maurice Richard last year.

Her pregnancy was achieved through in vitro fertilization.

In December, Dion revealed she had a second embryo stored at a New York fertility clinic.

``It doesn't mean they're identical twins but they were conceived at the same time,'' the Quebec pop diva said in a television interview.

Asked whether she planned more children, Dion replied: ``Another child? Yes, because we already have another child waiting for us in New York, making a stopover at this time. I surely couldn't live knowing that child is there.''