'They call it a geriatric pregnancy.' The stories behind 10 celebs who had babies over 40.

Motherhood is one of the most rewarding roles there is. But it also undoubtedly turns your life, priorities and sleeping schedule upside down – just ask any person with children. 

While it is an incredible journey to go through, it's also not for everyone – and the journey to becoming a parent is not the same for everyone either. 

From IVF to surrogacy and adoption, the celebrity world has begun to shift the narrative on when and where the "right" time or way to become a parent is. Especially in the space of becoming a parent later in life.

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They've also been vocal about the infertility battles so many women go through – helping the one in six Aussie couples who struggle to conceive each year feel a little bit more seen and understood.

From Hilary Swank to Celine Dion, here are the stories behind 10 celebrities who had children after the age of 40. 

Hilary Swank

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In 2022, aged 48, actor Hilary Swank announced she wasn't just expecting with her husband after years of struggling with fertility – she revealed she was having two!

"This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time, and my next thing is I’m gonna be a mum," she explained on Good Morning America. "And not just of one, but of two. I can’t believe it."

Susan Sarandon

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When actor Susan Sarandon was 45, she gave birth to her second son, Miles Guthrie. At the time, in 1992, she was still with her ex-husband, Tim Robbins. 

Previously, she had given birth to her daughter in 1985 and her first son in 1989, at 42 years old. 

Sarandon, who has endometriosis, said she’d been told she wouldn’t be able to have children, but was fine with it as she'd had so many nieces and nephews.

"I wasn’t in a hurry, but I actually had a medical condition and was told I could never be a mother," she explained while in conversation with Time Out New York in 2014.

Halle Berry

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The Cat Woman actor became a mum for the first time at age 41, in 2008. At the time she was with her then-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubrey. When Berry was 46, she fell pregnant again with her husband Olivier Martinez, admitting the revelation was the "biggest surprise" of her life. 

“I didn’t think it was possible at my age, honestly," she told Ellen DeGeneres. "They call it a geriatric pregnancy. I was, you know, on my way. This is probably way TMI, but I was kinda premenopausal, so to have this happen was huge.”

Eva Mendes

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When Mendes was 40, she welcomed her first daughter Esmerelda. Two years later, she and her husband Ryan Gosling welcomed another daughter. 

The actor has taken time away from work to raise her kids, labelling it as the most "creative" journey she's ever gone on.

"I'm an actress, I've designed clothes, I've done a number of different things. But this is the most creative thing, is to create life with them," she told Today.

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Cameron Diaz

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At age 47, in January 2020, Diaz welcomed her first baby with her husband Benji Madden.

"A lot of people do it the other way around... they get married [and] have a family in their youth," the actor told Naomi Campbell on her YouTube series, No Filter.  "I'm kind of doing it in the second half of my life."

Celine Dion

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She was a mother to Rene-Charles already when she gave birth to her twin boys, Eddy and Nelson, in 2010 after undergoing IVF at age 42 years.

"I never gave up," Dion told Oprah. "But I can tell you that it was physically and mentally exhausting." 

Nicole Kidman

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Nicole Kidman adopted two children – Isabella and Connor – with Tom Cruise during their marriage.

Following their split, the actor moved on with Keith Urban and in 2008, she gave birth to Sunday Rose. Kidman was age 40 at the time. In 2010, she had her second daughter via surrogate, who they named Faith.

The actor previously discussed struggling with fertility, describing it as something she is not afraid of talking about.

"Anyone that's been in the place of wanting another child or wanting a child knows the disappointment, the pain and the loss that you go through trying and struggling," she told 60 Minutes in 2011. 

"Fertility is such a big thing, and it's not something I've ever run away from talking about."

Janet Jackson

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Janet Jackson became a first-time mum at 50 years old in 2017. 

Since giving birth to her daughter Eissa Al Mana, the singer has taken a step back from performing. 

“There will be music at some point," she explained to Essence. "There’s so much that I want to do – but my number one job is being a mama."

Salma Hayek

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In 2007 at age 41, the actor Salma Hayek gave birth to her daughter, Valentina. 

“I gained so much weight, I got an opportunity to see myself completely disfigured in many different ways – for a very good reason – and I don’t regret it for a second,” Hayek told Glamour a few years later in 2013. 

“That’s when I started appreciating my body. The things that I used to criticise, they were not that bad after all.”

Julianne Moore

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Actress Julianne Moore was 41 when she welcomed her second child, daughter Liv, with her husband Bart Freundlich in 2002. The couple also share a son, Caleb, to whom she gave birth in 1997.

The actor has previously mentioned the intensity of the role of motherhood, telling Scary Mommy: "The thing about being a mother is that your responsibility and your love for your children is so enormous that it kind of overcomes everything. I knew that my job as a mother was to make sure that my children were happy and educated and safe and to give them every kind of possibility in his life."

She continued: "That’s the way every mother feels. I hope I’m a good mother. I think we all hope we’re good mothers. I think my children are happy and seem to be doing well. I feel fortunate in the way that my life is structured, that I’m kind of allowed to explore lots of emotional avenues in my work. I think that’s left me in a place where I have a lot of balance in my life, where I can kind of be together in different places and fall apart in others. I’m lucky."

Feature Image: Getty.