Sweet success for ‘Hollywood moms’ who give birth after 40
January 11, 2009 by Cindy Ferda
For the latest pregnancy, health and conception tips visit Cindy Ferda’s National Examiner column here.
When it comes to pregnancy over 40, nothing beats a good dose of Hollywood moms over 40 conceiving and successfully giving birth to make women across the globe hopeful they
Actress Selma Hayek (41) and daughter Valentina
too can achieve their goals of having a family.
Beautiful Naomi Watts, 41, known for her roles in ‘King Kong’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’ and partner Liev Schreiber welcomed a son, Samuel Kai seven weeks ago. It is the second child for the duo.
‘Life on Mars’ star Lisa Bonet, 41, and her husband, ‘Stargate Atlantis’ actor Jason Momoa announced the birth of baby boy Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Bonet also has a 20 year old daughter, actress Zoë Isabella Kravitz from ex-hubby Lenny Kravitz.
Academy-award winning actress Nicole Kidman, 41, and country singer hubby Keith Urban welcomed 6lb. 7oz. daughter Sunday Rose last July. Kidman has two adopted children Isabella and Connor with ex-husband Tom Cruise. Sunday Rose is her first biological child.
At 41, actress Halle Berry and Versace model boyfriend Gabriel Aubry brought home their new daughter Nahla last March. This is the first child for the pair. Reports from Hollywood state Berry, now 42 along with beau Aubry are hopeful for yet another baby.
With more women in the workforce than ever before, studies indicate that the numbers of advanced maternal aged moms are increasing yearly as not only celebs are putting off baby-making but women across the country as well. Whether it’s a forty-plus hour work week amassed in Hollywood or as a business professional, countless numbers of women are opting out of procreating until well into their thirties and early forties to pursue their careers early on.
Accordingly, infertility clinics are popping up across the country to accommodate the abundant calls they receive on a daily basis. The latest CDC report filed indicated more than 10% of women or 1.2 million who tried to conceive turned to fertility treatments and testing for help.
Assisted reproductive techniques like in vitro fertilization (IVF), the egg-stimulating drug Clomid, egg or sperm donation, utilizing a surrogate or gestational carrier; these are just a sampling of the methods and treatments being offered and used by Hollywood moms and women across the globe.
From ‘Lipstick Jungle’ star Brooke Shields, 41 at the time of delivery of Baby Grier to ‘Desperate Housewives’ star, Marcia Cross who used IVF and welcomed fraternal twins Eden and Savannah at almost 45 to Courteney Cox-Arquette who at 40 also using IVF brought daughter Coco into the world to hard-hitting CNN anchorwoman Nancy Grace, another admitted IVF-user who at 48 gave birth via c-section to twins John David and Lucy Elizabeth, these women are an inspiration to the millions of women each year attempting to fulfill their dreams and the nursery.
Click here to view the ‘Hollywood Moms over 35 Baby Gallery’ for a little extra inspiration.
me and my boyfriend is trying to have a baby. but he dont want to get check out how do i go by during with. i mean i have 3 kids but not by him.
These stories are all wonderful, no doubt about it. But, one thing is left out of this story and that is that many of these women may have used donor egg, and also if these women were not famous, they may not have been accepted into IVF programs. There are criteria in these clinics, and there are age cutoffs for using your own egg. (Most clinics will not treat a woman over 42 or 43 with their own egg.) It’s not impossible to have success after 40, but the chances, even with IVF, are very very low. While these stories have happy endings, I am certain there is so much detail left out that it makes the journey seem a lot more attainable than what is realistic for non-celebs to hope for. Another issue is that of health insurance. Many policies are quite lacking in what they offer for IVF treatment, and most policies have age cutoffs and other criteria–such as needing to have certain hormone levels that are more like the hormone levels of a younger woman, or treatment will not be covered. Unless a couple has lots of disposable income (one round of IVF can cost up to $15,000) they may not be able to pursue these treatments without insurance coverage (and usually to have success requrires several cycles–some are lucky and it works the first time, but I know women who have had 10, 11, 12, 13, and more IVF cycles and still have not had success). Good luck to anyone who may be considering fertility treatment.