12 celebrities who became mothers over 40: from Olivia Munn’s recent baby news and Sandra Bullock’s adoption journey, to Janet Jackson and Naomi Campbell welcoming children aged 50
Did you know Naomi Campbell, Kristen Wiig and Cameron Diaz all became mums after they turned 40?
1. Naomi Campbell was 50 when she announced the birth of her daughter, in May 2021
Campbell, one of the most iconic supermodels of all time, revealed on Instagram that she has a brand new baby.
“A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother, So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love,” the now-51-year-old wrote.
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2. This week Olivia Munn announced the birth of her first child, with comedian John Mulaney, aged 41
Munn and Mulaney were first spotted together earlier in the year, after the comedian got out of rehab in February. In September, Mulaney revealed their pregnancy news on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
“I got into this relationship that’s been really beautiful with someone incredible who has dealt with the non-coked up Bambi version of me,” he said. “And that’s been very incredible, and she’s kind of held my hand through that hell, and we’re having a baby together.”
This week it was announced the couple welcomed a baby boy on November 24. Munn had previously spoken to Hoda Kotb on the Today show about impending motherhood, saying, “I feel good. I feel scared, I feel nervous, and I’m excited.”
This is the first child for both Mulaney and Munn.
3. Mena Suvari gave birth to her first child in April 2021 at age 42
Back in October 2020, the American Pie actor told People she could barely believe she was pregnant.
“It’s still this process for me of believing it and accepting that something this beautiful could happen for me,” she said. “It’s been a very emotional experience. It’s very weird finding out – I was like, I can’t believe it!”
Her rep confirmed in April 2021 that Suvari and her husband Michael Hope had welcomed their first child together, saying, “Both baby and mum are doing wonderfully.”
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4. When Kristen Wiig hosted SNL in December 2020, she confirmed she had become a mother that year – at age 47
It was first reported that Wiig, now 48, had become a mum in June 2020 when she hosted the SNL At Home episode for Mother’s Day, in which she thanked her mom for “preparing me to be a mum myself”. People reported that Wiig and her fiancé Avi Rothman had welcomed twins via surrogate in January.
When she returned to host the Christmas show, she confirmed the news during her monologue, saying that while it was an “icky” year, it hadn’t been all bad, because she had twins.
5. Chloë Sevigny had her first baby in May 2020, when she was 45
According to TMZ, the American Horror Story star was spotted on the streets of NYC on January 6 alongside her new boyfriend Sinisa Mackovic, and notably, she was also rocking a baby bump!
Her rep confirmed to US Weekly that their little bundle of joy arrived in May.
Back in 2016, Sevigny shared that she believes the key to having great skin is not having kids. “I think it’s not having had a baby yet. Because I think the baby wear and tear and stress on your body is part of the reason why people say, ‘Why do you still look so young?’ I really think that that unfortunately ages women, especially when they have children in their thirties, not in their twenties. So I think, first and foremost, it’s that and genetics,” she told W Magazine.
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6. Janet Jackson was 50 years old when she announced she was pregnant with her first son
Jackson announced she was pregnant in October 2016. The singer had previously halted her tour in April that year so she and her then-husband, Wissam Al Mana, could focus on “planning our family”.
She gave birth to her son, Eissa Al Mana, in January 2017. “For someone like me, raised in show business where self-concern is always a priority, how fortunate I am now to be concerned, first and foremost, with the welfare of someone else. Day after day and night after night, holding my baby in my arms, I am at peace. I am blessed. I feel bliss. In those moments, all is right with the world,” she told Billboard.
7. Eva Longoria was 42 when she revealed she was pregnant with her son
Longoria revealed she was pregnant with her son in December 2017. Six months later, the Desperate Housewives star gave birth to her son, Santiago.
This is Longoria’s first child, though her husband, Jose Baston, has three other children from his previous marriage.
“Santi was meant to be with me at this stage in my life. I’m patient, I don’t work as much – even if it doesn’t seem that way! It’s the right time,” Longoria told Parents Latina in 2019.
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8. Cameron Diaz was 47 when she and Benji Madden welcomed their first child, Raddix
Diaz – who retired from acting in 2014 – revealed she and her husband, Good Charlotte frontman Benji Madden, had welcomed a daughter on Instagram in January 2020. Baby Raddix was reportedly born in December 2019.
“Happy New Year from the Maddens! We are so happy, blessed and grateful to begin this new decade by announcing the birth of our daughter, Raddix Madden. She has instantly captured our hearts and completed our family,” Diaz wrote. “While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one’s privacy. So we won’t be posting pictures or sharing any more details.”
9. Sandra Bullock adopted her son Louis, when she was 45 years old
Bullock’s personal life has been frequently scrutinised, including her decision to adopt Louis in 2010 – while she was in the midst of her very public divorce from Jesse James.
“We spent so much time in New Orleans after Katrina and one day it was just a feeling that came that instead of bringing another life into this world, that we wanted to reach out and find our child in New Orleans,” Bullock told People in 2010.
In 2015, Bullock announced she had adopted another child, her daughter Laila, also from Louisiana. “My family is blended and diverse, nutty, and loving and understanding,” Bullock said. “That’s a family.”
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10. Kristin Davis adopted a daughter when she was 46 – much like her Sex and the City character, Charlotte
Davis adopted her daughter Gemma in 2011 and a son, whose name has not yet been revealed, in 2018. The Holiday in the Wild star opened up about being a white mother to two black children during an emotional Red Table Talk interview in 2019.
“Because my children are African-American, I feel like it’s my duty and my job to do as much research, as much work, build as many bridges as possible because you are their community,” said Davis. “I work at that every day trying to figure out how I can make sure they have access to the black community, that they’re part of it, that they’re not separated from it.”
11. Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore gave birth to a healthy baby girl at age 47 after getting diagnosed with pre-eclampsia
Moore and her then-husband Marc Daly welcomed their daughter, Brooklyn Doris, in November 2018. Moore’s labour was induced after she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which caused her to gain 17 pounds (7.7kg) in just a week.
“I’ve waited my whole life for this moment … to be called a mother,” she wrote on Instagram.
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12. Laura Linney was 49 years old when she surprised the world with a son in 2014
Linney never even publicly confirmed her pregnancy, opting to wait until her son Bennett was already born. “I was an older mother-to-be, and it had taken me a very, very long time to have a child, so I wanted to make sure that my child actually arrived, and was safe and healthy,” she explained in 2016.
- Olivia Munn just announced her first child with John Mulaney, aged 41, while Kristin Davis adopted a daughter at 46 – much like her Sex and the City character, Charlotte
- Naomi Campbell welcomed her first child this year, aged 50 – the same age Janet Jackson gave birth to Eissa Al Mana – while Cameron Diaz and Kristen Wiig both became mothers at 47