Maren Morris Talks Co-Parenting With Ex Ryan Hurd: ‘So Many Emotions’

Maren Morris says that co-parenting her 4-year-old son Hayes with her ex-husband, Ryan Hurd, has been a difficult task to navigate.

"I feel like there's so many emotions when you have a child with somebody and the relationship doesn't pan out," she explains to People, "And you just have to put on a brave and consistent face for your baby."

Morris and Hurd finalized their divorce early this year after announcing the split last October. Hayes is their only child together.

"I think he's gone through a lot and there's I'm sure a lot of confusion because he's so little," the singer goes on to say. "But also, I feel like Ryan and I have done a really great job at just being great parents for him."

As they navigated divorce proceedings, the pair have shown up for their son, both separately and together: Just weeks after filing for divorce, Morris shared a photo of herself and Hurd trick-or-treating with Hayes on Halloween.

According to court documents surrounding their divorce, Morris and Hurd have established joint custody for Hayes, with Morris paying Hurd $2,100 per month in child support.

Morris is currently gearing up for the release of her Intermission EP, a project that she has said marks a transition point between her work in country music and her movement towards a new, more fluid direction. In that time, she's gone through some big transitions in her personal life, too: In addition to splitting from Hurd, she came out as bisexual.

What hasn't changed, though, is her dedication to her son — and Morris' new EP includes a song about him titled "Because, of Course."

"I wrote it about him," she says. "It's obviously my promise to him: Every love like that, especially a mother's, should be unconditional. But I like that when people listen to the song, it could be taken as a romantic song, but I didn't write it about that. It was just about love itself."

Carena Liptak is an Associate Editor and staff writer at Taste of Country. She specializes in breaking country music news, interviews and lists. In particular, she’s got a soft spot for sad songs — check out her roundup of the 50 Saddest Country Songs of All Time!