In April 2023, famous actress Hilary Swank became a first-time mother at 48 years old. For years, she’d spoken candidly about putting off having kids, and now she has finally made her dream of motherhood come true. Unfortunately, there’s a stigma about being a geriatric mother in our society, and Hilary couldn’t avoid that label either.
Hilary was ecstatic to announce her pregnancy.
By the time Hilary Swank turned 48, it seemed like she had everything: a smashing acting career that brought her two Academy Awards, a loving husband of four years, but something was still missing. Hilary and her husband Philip were yet to become parents. Little did they know, two bundles of joy were almost knocking on their doors.
In October 2022, Swank publically announced that she was going to be a mom. She was beaming with joy and said, “It’s such a blessing. It’s a total miracle. It’s unbelievable.” Fast-forward to April 2023, and the famous actress was finally holding her twins, adding a title of “mom” to her long list of achievements.
Some people online question her decision to have twins at nearly 50.
Hilary Swank gave birth to her two babies at 48 years old. While 23 is considered an average age for a woman to become a mom, there are plenty of examples of older mothers, who are no less worthy of having a family. Unfortunately, one person, who didn’t appreciate Hilary’s happy news, found her Instagram page and let their opinions known.
- “How deeply irresponsible to bring kids into the world at such an old age, just to fulfill some inner selfish desire for children. By the time your kids are in their 20s both their parents will be in a nursing home or dead.” — felinememecollector / Instagram
Luckily, many other women in the comments shared their similar stories, showing just how wrong that other comment was.
- “I gave birth to my first child last year at 51! Enjoy every moment of it!” — gailbbmarie / Instagram
- “Congratulations!! When I was 45 I gave birth to my 5th child and my only girl! She was born on my 45th birthday. She is 18 now and we have an amazing relationship! I don’t regret having a child later in life! Blessings to you and your family!” — brenlitzo11 / Instagram
- “Congratulations!!!! I’m 47 years old, 7 months pregnant, expecting my second daughter, natural conception, her due day is 20 days before I turned 48 and I feel incredible. Blessings.” — patriciamariadelacerdapicco / Instagram
She chose her timing perfectly.
Truth be told, Hilary has always known she would be a mom, but for her, it was very important to do it at the right point in her life. In 2009, she commented on still not having children: “When the time is right, I’ll know [I am ready]. I am aware that next week, I turn 35. But I am also aware that the timing has to be right.”
Hilary also once explained that she felt overwhelmed taking care of other people instead of herself, “My pattern is that I’ve taken care of everyone. I took care of my mom; I took care of my dad; I took care of Chad. And I don’t want to carry that anymore. It’s a big habit to break, but in the end I sacrificed part of myself.” Having kids would have only further kept her from focusing on herself.
We believe that once Swank married her husband, Philip Schneider, she knew that she finally had a partner she could see herself raise a family with. And we’re very happy things perfectly aligned for them. And speaking of famous women having kids later in life, Naomi Campbell just announced that she’s become a mother for the second time at 53! We wish both Hilary and Naomi luck and happiness with their new babies.