Britney Spears’ baby:
a girl or not a girl?

In a posting on her Web site Tuesday, Britney Spears told fans that she and husband, Kevin Federline, were expecting their first child together, not mentioning a gender. By Thursday night, numerous online publications were reporting the baby is female.

Does anyone actually know the child's gender? Hard to say.

British publications and the New York Daily News reported that, when asked how Spears was faring after a miscarriage scare, spokeswoman Leslie Sloane said, "She's OK. Mother and daughter are doing fine.'"

But Sloane reportedly claimed she "never said that" and was enraged at the paper for printing it.

According to the rival New York Post's Page Six gossip column, Sloane said, "I don't know the sex of Britney's baby. I am shocked they would blatantly print a lie and attribute the lie to me." The Post said Spears lawyer Marty Singer was "on the case" and the News printed a correction Thursday.

British sources also reported that betting pools on the baby's name favor Grace and Zara.

The couple were married in September. Magazines and tabloids have speculated for weeks that Spears, 23, was pregnant, documenting her expanding waistline and fuller figure, but she remained mum on the subject.

Then on Tuesday, Britney 'fessed up.

“The time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together,” the singer said in a post on her Web site. “There are reports that I was in the hospital this weekend, and Kevin and I just want everyone to know that all is well. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.”

'Personal love story' on TV
Spears previously expressed a desire to start a family. In an interview with People magazine last fall, she said: “I want to be a young mom. I can see us as parents.”

Slide show The Spears years Spears through the ages: from Mickey Mouse to motherhood. more photos

While this will be Spears’ first foray into parenthood, Federline, 27, has two children with his ex-girlfriend, actress Shar Jackson. Spears and Federline met last year when he was a backup dancer on her tour — and Jackson was pregnant with their son.

Spears wed Federline just eight months after ending a 55-hour Las Vegas marriage to her childhood friend, Jason Alexander. Her second marriage has provided endless fodder for tabloids, which have speculated that the union is in trouble — prompting an angry outburst from Spears on her Web site last month.

Yet the couple have hardly hid from the limelight — last week, the pair announced they would document their courtship in a new reality series on UPN. The network promised “exclusive, never-before-seen private home videos” of their “personal love story.”

Spears’ impending motherhood may be the ultimate indicator that the former teen princess is all grown up. Spears was cast as an innocent with a bit of sex appeal when she made her debut at 16 with the multiplatinum “ ... Baby, One More Time” and became a youth icon. As she grew older, her image got sexier, and more vampish.

Her last album was a greatest hits collection, which has sold nearly 1 million copies.

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