Not every woman out there is ready to have kids in her 20s... or even in her 30s. Some people need a little more time to focus on their careers uninterrupted, some haven't come anywhere close to finding a suitable man to spawn their offspring, and some simply aren't ready. Then there are the moms who started earlier but want to have more children later, and that works too. The following celebrity moms have proved that not only can you wait to have children or continue having them well into your 40s, but you can do it well. Here are 15 celebrities who became moms after 40.
16 Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani had her first two children in her 30s, but she welcomed Apollo Bowie Flynn when she was 44. He joined Kingston and Zuma. While Gwen certainly made adorable sons with Gavin Rossdale, that pairing wasn't meant to last forever. Gwen is one busy mom who admits to feeling guilt about trying to balance it all. She has said, "Getting to the studio and not being able to make it happen, but missing out on being at home, missing out on putting the kids down. What's more important? I felt so guilty. I am letting everyone down in the studio right now; I'm letting down my kids; I'm letting down myself.' Because time was so precious." She also joked that at times she's felt like slipping away for a bit -- finding a motel and just escaping.
15 Rachel Zoe
The super fashionable and trendy celebrity stylist was 42 when she announced that she was pregnant for the second time around with her husband Rodger Berman. Her announcement: "Before we head into the chaos of fashion season, we wanted to take a moment to officially confirm that we are expecting another child. We are beyond excited for Skyler to have a sibling and for us to fall in love all over again. We feel incredibly blessed." Rachel has shared that she actually became more productive after having kids, which is hard to imagine for the jam-packed celeb stylist-turned-mogul.
14 Halle Berry
Halle Berry was 41 when she got pregnant for the first time with Nahla Ariela Aubry, and then 47 when she gave birth to her second child Maceo. She didn't seem to have any complications, at least with her first pregnancy of which she said: "My pregnancy was amazing. I was happy that whole time, I felt good, I had energy, I was like Superwoman. I wish I could feel like that for the rest of my life, that's how fantastic it was." Halle has mentioned that balancing being a mom with starring on a TV show is a lot more difficult than being in a film because TV is "a grind."
13 Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston and John Travolta tragically lost a son when he was only 16, so it was probably very special when she got pregnant again. She was 48 years old when she gave birth to Benjamin in 2010. Nearing 50 is not generally an age that people would suggest to have kids based on some real and other perceived complications that can be involved, but she never took on all that. Kelly has also discussed how having children made it easy for her to stop drinking alcohol: "I'm so different, too. Now I don't drink anymore. I don't smoke anymore. I don't do drugs anymore. All of those come with an 'anymore.' I used to do everything and a lot of everything."
12 Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden has had three children in her 40s. First was daughter Eulala Grace when she was 41, followed by twins Hudson and Julitta Dee when she was 44. She has mentioned that being a working mother is a lot, but that she makes it work. She has also mentioned that she has a pretty amazing, supportive husband: “I have a wonderful husband and I do have help when I need it.”
11 Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek was 40 when she had her daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault with her husband Francois-Henri Pinault. She makes a great point about why the decision was a good one: "I'm a more fulfilled human being now, and I probably wouldn't have been 10 years ago. She gets a better mother for being born now." Salma has talked about being a late bloomer and finding success and family a bit later in life and has said "best of all, love can happen at any age." Nice to hear, right?!
10 Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger gave birth to Ireland Baldwin at the age of 41, with then husband Alec Baldwin. Kim hasn't shared a ton about her personal life, which is basically a huge contrast to most other celebrities, although of course there's been some controversy about Alec and outbursts. Ireland grew up to be a model like her mother, and she credits her with her mom for getting her into the industry. Being 6'2" it took Ireland a while to get comfortable in her skin, and her mom thought modeling might help. She has also mentioned that her mom looks super hot: "She looks like she’s my age. Her body, I swear, it’s scary."
9 Geena Davis
Geena Davis had three children in her 40s starting with Alizeh at the age of 46 and then twins Kian and Kaiis when she was 48. With her first pregnancy, she had to make a big decision when she went into labor. At the time she was driving with husband Reza Jarrahy (who was then 31) in the San Diego area. The only problem was, they had been doing their months of prenatal care in Los Angeles so they had to make a quick decision about going to a hospital five minutes away or one about two hours away. They chose to risk it and drive to L.A., which ended up working out fine. Geena's father William Davis at the time said: "They decided to take their chances and head to L.A.. There was nothing much happening when they started the ride, but by the end, plenty was happening. She never had one problem during her pregnancy, not one bit of morning sickness. For a first-time birth, and at her age, it's amazing. She's amazing."
8 Brooke Shields
The actress suffered extreme postpartum depression after giving birth to her first child Rowan Francis and has been an advocate for the issue ever since. The second time she gave birth to Grier at the age of 41. Brooke had gone through seven IVF treatments before giving birth for the first time and suffered depression following the birth so badly that she could hardly function. She has been totally open about the situation in the hopes that she can help other women to recognize and handle their symptoms sooner, and she's even published a memoir about her experiences.
7 Celine Dion
Celine Dion and her now late husband René Angélil (who passed away after a long battle with throat cancer in early 2016) had one son named René-Charles before having trouble conceiving again, even going through a miscarriage. However, she continued with the IVF process and ended up giving birth to twins Eddy and Nelson at the age of 42. She has discussed her fears about the process and doing it at her age.
6 Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon had her first child Eva Amurri when she was 39 and she also had both of her sons in her 40s, Jack Henry at 42, and Miles Guthrie at 45. Eva's father is director Franco Amurri and the father of her sons is actor Tim Robbins. “I can’t tell you how many times I made turkey stuffing in my trailer," Susan has said. "We actually shot Bull Durham on Thanksgiving, so I taped the parade so we could watch it together the next day. You find a way to cope, like finding teamsters who are good at wrapping Christmas presents.” Susan became a grandmother when her daughter Eva gave birth as well.
5 Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey was 42 when she gave birth to her twins Moroccan and Monroe with Nick Cannon. Before that pregnancy, she actually suffered a miscarriage, which she has spoken about. Nick and Mariah split after six years of marriage, and he recently released a song called "Divorce Papers" which is more touching than the title would hint at. Here are some of the beautiful lyrics: ""My daughter said daddy why your eyes in tears/ because last time I dropped your brother off I didn't get a call the next day and it felt like years/ and Ima be honest/ sometimes I hate to hear you're on the other line having fun without me/ I wonder if my son will ever doubt me.../ What's love I don't care about it I just want my kids to be safe."
4 Nicole Kidman
When Nicole Kidman was married to Tom Cruise, the two had adopted a daughter and son Isabella and Connor, but the couple never had any biological children of their own. It was later when she married Keith Urban that she decided to take that step, and ended up giving birth to Sunday Rose when she was 40. Their second biological daughter Faith Margaret was birthed through a surrogate. Nicole has also spoken candidly about the whole working mom thing: "I don't want to be the mother who lives vicariously through my daughters, so I'm trying to balance it. There was a period where I didn't do anything, and my mom said, 'I really think you need to get back and do something.'"
3 Tina Fey
The comedian gave birth to her second daughter, Penelope, at 41 (she has another daughter named Alice). Tina has spent a lot of time talking about the balance between being a mom and working her butt off, not only as an actress but a producer and a writer, too. Even more specifically than discussing how she manages the juggling act, she has discussed how other people feel about it. Naturally, she throws in more than a little humor when talking about the matter.
2 Marcia Cross
Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross married Tom Mahoney in 2006 and the same year, got pregnant with their twins. Instead of going on a honeymoon the two instead dedicated their time to starting in vitro fertilization, which worked. Eden and Savannah were born right before Marica turned 45. However, Marica has said that she doesn't want to be a poster child for older mothers and reportedly had some complications such as high blood pressure and preeclampsia, as well as having to undergo an emergency c section when it was go time. That being said, she seems thrilled. Shortly after the healthy babies were born she said: "I wanted to be a member of that club so badly, and now I'm in and it's so much better than I even imagined. I'll tell you my routine – it's really exciting, " she says with a laugh. "I feed, I burp, I change diapers, I pump. And then I have a tiny window of time to myself."
1 Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman already had two children by the time she welcomed her third at the age of 42, whom she named the somewhat unbelievable name Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson. Don't worry, there's an explanation for that. Not a great one, but it'll do. She has explained, "My daughter came up with the best excuse, which was that I probably wouldn't get to have any more children, so I just put every name that I liked into [Luna's]. We couldn't quite agree on the name, so we call her Luna. She's lucky that way." The other daughter Uma was referring to is her daughter Maya, whom she had with ex Ethan Hawke along with Levon. Ethan and Uma split over his extramarital affair, among other things, but it seems like things worked out for the best since the family just kept expanding anyway.
Sources: Dailymail.co.uk, People.com, Hollywoodreporter.com, Redbookmag.com
