Crossword Genius

Born daddy, never mind the tot clinging (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

needy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'clinging' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'born daddy never mind the tot' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'born' could be 'nee' ('nee' is 'born' in French) and 'nee' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for needy that I've seen before include "Disadvantaged" , "clinging" , "Deprived" , "Hard up" , "Impoverished" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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