Among the hundreds of birth announcements in the Ottawa Citizen over the years mentioning Dr. Manuel “Manny” Gluck as the delivering doctor, two are of particular note and significance, especially today: Justin Trudeau and Alexandre “Sacha” Trudeau, born on Christmas Day in 1971 and 1973 respectively. What are the odds?
Both boys were delivered by Dr. Gluck, a prominent Ottawa obstetrician and gynaecologist, who worked out of the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Dr. Gluck, who was the family doctor for the Trudeau family, passed away in 2023, but after almost two decades at the Civic, his memory and his impact lives on for countless families.
“He was really proud to be a doctor and really proud to bring babies into this world,” says his wife, Cheryle Hothersall-Gluck. “To hold a newborn in his arms, to deliver life, well, that meant everything to him.”
Dr. Gluck was also instrumental in helping shift societal norms surrounding childbirth, championing the idea that fathers should be encouraged to be in the delivery room. This paved the way for many families to embrace this precious moment together.
Known by so many patients for his kindness and remarkable ability to listen with deep compassion, it’s interesting to note that medicine wasn’t Dr. Gluck’s first choice. He started his professional career as a biochemist with the Department of Agriculture before graduating with a medical degree from the University of Ottawa in 1956. He worked at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City and Jewish General Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal before returning to his hometown of Ottawa and becoming an integral part of the very fabric of the Civic.
As for his relationship with the Trudeaus, Mrs. Hothersall-Gluck says her husband was rather nonchalant about that.
“Well, I heard that Margaret really liked him, and Pierre did too,” she recalls, “and so it just came about that he continued to deliver their babies!”
Dr. Gluck died on August 25, 2023, at the age of 95 within the walls of the same hospital where he brought forth so much life.
