Claire Danes should have been happy to fall pregnant at 44. She felt something else entirely.

Claire Danes didn't plan to fall pregnant at 44 years old. So, when she and her husband Hugh Dancy found out they were expecting their third baby, she was overcome with a wave of emotions. Disbelief. Excitement. Fear. And unexpected shame.

In a recent interview with the SmartLess podcast, the actress, now 46, has opened up about the internal battle she faced during her third pregnancy, and how she "didn't think it was possible" at her age.

"I was so old when that happened. I was 44," Clare told hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.

The actress went on to say she did "not foresee" the pregnancy at all, and it brought up "weird" emotions.

"Suddenly, I felt a funny shame," she said. "Like I was naughty, I had been caught fornicating past the point I was meant to."

Watch: The Doctor's Wake-Up Call During Pregnancy. Post continues after video.

Claire continued: "It was weird, and it was like I found an edge that I hadn't been quite conscious of, like I was going outside of the parameters a little bit."

While she was "terrified," the Little Women star said it all worked out in the end. And while she would have been "delighted" to have another boy, she "got really, really lucky" to welcome a little girl.

Who is Claire Danes' husband?

Danes is married to English actor Hugh Dancy, known for his roles on Confessions of A Shopaholic and Hannibal. The actors met in 2006 while playing fictional love interests in the film Evening, and it didn't take long for Claire to know Hugh was 'the one.'

"When we first started sorta-kinda-dating for real-ish, I had an ornament-making party for Christmas, and [Hugh] helped organise it," she told PORTER magazine in 2020.

"Then he made an ornament of cowboy paper dolls, and I thought, 'and he crafts?' That was it. You have me for the rest of our lives."

They married three years later in a private ceremony in France.

Claire credits her parents for showing her that a "long marriage can work."

"My parents have been together since they were 18, so I am privileged to have them as role models, she told The Sun. "I like marriage. I feel very secure. It helps when you are in love with the person you are married to. I do sometimes look at him and think: 'You are really handsome.' He keeps me sane and happy."

A year later, the actress told Elle that she "got very, very lucky" with her relationship.

"Hugh was just the right partner for me," she said. "There's only so much credit you can take when it just sort of works, you know?"

How many children does Claire Danes have?

Along with her two-year-old daughter, whose name she has not revealed publicly, Claire shares two sons, Cyrus, 12, and Rowan, seven, with Hugh.

In the same interview, Claire said she had always pictured herself being a mother, but was worried about the impact it would have on her career.

"I've always wanted to have kids, but I'm glad I didn't until now," she said. "When I was thinking about [working and being a mother] originally, I was really nervous about it."

Five years after becoming first-time parents, Clare and Hugh told Humans of New York that "having a child was the best thing that ever happened to" them, describing it as "constant company with terrible conversation."

But parenthood hasn't been without its challenges.

In a 2014 profile with Harper's Bazaar, the Romeo and Juliet star spoke about the "pressure" mothers feel to talk about parenting "in very romantic terms."

"We all have that resentment at times and anxiety about being trapped by the role, that responsibility," she said.

"And then chemically it can run riot. Your mental state, the hormonal swings are so extraordinary and singular to the female experience."

Claire went on to say that motherhood was the "hardest adjustment" of her life.

"I mean, post-partum aside, even if you have the most healthy relationship with your child and have support and resources, it's tough. It's really tough. And there's no 'off' button," she said.

"You always feel beholden to somebody... And for so long they're like koala bears, you just feel a physical responsibility to be there for them to cling to. It's pretty primal."

Feature Image: Getty.