Celebs Who Had Kids Later In Life — And Clapped Back At Criticism About It

While many older celebrities are unapologetically childless by choice, others have chosen to still have children. It's no easy feat, regardless of age, but for women who are more mature in age, there can be additional health concerns. Women who are considered an advanced maternal age experience issues such as high blood pressure, preterm birth, and preeclampsia, to name a few. And being a celebrity doesn't exempt you from these issues; if anything, it can make them harder to combat. 

Beyond the health concerns older celebrity women face, some have experienced criticism from those who feel that it's inappropriate or wrong to have kids later in life. Thankfully, many women have not only embraced their motherhood journey on their own terms, but they've also been actively speaking out against the naysayers. If Jennifer Love Hewitt's memoir on mother-daughter bonds deserves a spot on your TBR list, so can the other stories of these celebrity women who have shared their perspectives on becoming mothers later in life.

Actress Sienna Miller and her partner Oli Green are one of the celebrity age gap relationships that debunk the myth that the man is always the older partner. Miller gave birth to their daughter in 2023 after deciding to freeze her eggs in her 40s. Though this was a happy moment for her and her family, she still experienced negativity from others. In response to the negativity, Miller has spoken out on more than one occasion about the double standard that she believes exists between women and men when it comes to having kids later in life. 

"I think there's a whole load of noise and people have a lot to say, and it's incredibly gendered and unbelievably misogynistic and anti-feminist. [...] Have all the babies at any time you want to have the babies. And no one has anything to say about — and I love these people, and they're friends, which I like to name-drop — Al Pacino and Robert De Niro having kids in their 80s. Forget about your age! It's irrelevant," Miller expressed in an interview with Elle UK. Since being vocal about the criticism she's received, she's continued to keep her life private about the inner workings of her motherhood journey. 

Hoda Kotb always shows poise and personality during her segments as co-anchor for "The Today Show," but this energy hasn't always been reciprocated. In 2023, Kotb revealed during the morning show that she'd received hate mail regarding her motherhood journey. 

"It was something along the lines of 'How dare you bring a child into this world at your age!' It went on and on and it took my breath away because that actually was my ouch. I was scared. Like, is this something that is smart for me to do and am I helping? Or am I ultimately harming," Kotb revealed during one of the show's segments. While this transparency allowed Kotb to receive support from viewers, she responded to the situation by sharing her own experience of the love she received from her late father and praised the experience of being an older mom.

Eva Mendes gave the most confident response to those speaking out against her having kids later in life. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, she expressed how people's reactions to her being pregnant were negative, and how they were surprised when she decided to go through with the process. 

"When I was 40, it was a big deal for people when I was pregnant, and it wasn't for me. And then I was 42 and I was pregnant with my second one and people were like, 'Oh my God, you're going to be so tired. That's why people have kids in their 20s.' I was like, that's the most sorry, asinine thing I've ever heard," Mendes told the publication. She has even refrained from posting her children on social media because of her belief that, since they're younger, they cannot consent to being photographed and posted publicly.

As one of the many women to tackle geriatric pregnancy head-on, supermodel Naomi Campbell successfully delivered two of her children while still maintaining her private life. However, like many of the aforementioned celebrities, she, too, experienced backlash for praising motherhood journeys later in life. 

Though she took the route of having her children via surrogate, her belief remains the same that it's never too late to become a mother. "I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her," she told British Vogue in a 2022 interview, continuing, "But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It's the best thing I've ever done." To the haters who have come out saying that it's selfish or unrealistic to have a child so late in life, Campbell has clapped back by empowering other women through sharing her journey and not giving the naysayers all of her energy.