But just because you’re in your late 30s or early 40s doesn’t mean you need to rule out having a baby. In fact, more than 100,000 people over the age of 40 give birth each year—and this number includes a handful of well-known celebrities. Whether through IVF, surrogacy or conceiving naturally, here are 14 celebrities who have gone through “geriatric pregnancies” and had babies over the age of 40.
1. Halle Berry
At age 41, the actress gave birth to her daughter, Nahla, and six years later welcomed her younger son, Maceo. Being pregnant at 47 was surprising, as Berry admitted in an interview: “I was really, you know, kinda premenopausal so to have this happen was a huge [shock].”
2. Jennifer Connelly
Already a mom of two, Jennifer Connelly had her sons Kai (from a prior relationship) and Stellan (with her husband Paul Bettany) before turning 40. When Connelly was 40, she and her husband welcomed a daughter Agnes Lark.
3. Uma Thurman
At age 42, the actress welcomed her third child, a daughter named Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson (known as Luna). With her former husband Ethan Hawke, Thurman has two other children—a daughter Maya and a son Levon.
4. Geena Davis
Geena Davis didn’t become a mother until her 40s, giving birth to her first child Alizeh at 46 with her partner at the time, Reza Jarrahy. At 48, she welcomed twin boys, Kian and Kaiis. Davis and Jarrahy are no longer together.
5. Gwen Stefani
Already a mother to two sons, Kingston and Zuma, the singer and her former husband Gavin Rossdale welcomed a third son Apollo at age 44. Stefani said in an interview that Apollo’s birth was a “miracle surprise.”
6. Caitríona Balfe
After keeping her pregnancy a secret, Outlander actress Caitríona Balfe gave birth to a son at 41 with husband Tony McGill. In an Instagram post, she wrote: “‘I’ve been off socials for a while as I was taking some time to enjoy cooking up this little human …. We are so grateful for this little soul.’”
7. Marcia Cross
The Desperate Housewives star welcomed twins Eden and Savannah at age 44 via IVF. Cross and her husband tried to conceive before getting married, but when it didn’t happen immediately, they decided to pursue fertility treatments the week after their wedding.
8. Mariah Carey
At age 41, the singer gave birth to twins, a son Moroccan and a daughter, Monroe, with her then-husband, Nick Cannon. She previously experienced fertility struggles and had a miscarriage in 2008. Carey used fertility treatments and acupuncture to help her get pregnant.
9. Eva Mendes
The actress was 40 when she became a mother. In 2014, Mendes and her husband, Ryan Gosling, welcomed a daughter, Esmeralda. In 2016, she gave birth to another baby girl, Amada.
10. Molly Ringwald
After having her first child in her mid-thirties, the ’80s film star suffered secondary infertility. At age 41 she became pregnant again, giving birth to twins—a daughter Adele and a son Roman.
11. Nicole Kidman
After an ectopic pregnancy, Nicole Kidman and former husband, Tom Cruise, decided to adopt two children in the mid-90s. At 41, Kidman and her husband Keith Urban welcomed a daughter, Sunday Rose. Two years later, the couple decided to have another child through surrogacy, which resulted in another daughter, Faith Margaret.
12. Naomi Watts
The British actress had her first child, a son named Alexander “Sasha” Pete, at 38 with her boyfriend, Liev Schreiber. Then, at age 40, she gave birth to another child, Samuel Kai.
13. Meryl Streep
Already a mother to two daughters and a son, the Oscar-winning actress welcomed a fourth child, Louisa Jacobson at 41 (just 10 days before Streep turned 42).
14. Janet Jackson
Jackson became pregnant at age 50. While she didn’t share too many details of her pregnancy with the public, she welcomed a son, Eissa, and is now embracing motherhood in her 50s. Next up: 102 Celestial Baby Names for 2022 That Are Out of This World, Inspired By Astrology
