This movie star has admitted she was as surprised as anybody else to learn she was pregnant at 46.
Halle Berry says she was stunned when she found out she was expecting Maceo, her first child with husband Olivier Martinez, last year. As she was feeling “premenopausal” at the time, the news came as a total shock to the couple – and she puts it down to a miracle.
“I didn’t think it was possible at my age, honestly. They call it a ‘geriatric pregnancy’,” Halle, now 47, said during an interview with Ellen Degeneres yesterday.
“I was, you know, on my way. This is probably way TMI, but I was really, you know, kinda premenopausal, so to have this happen was a huge [shock].”
The Oscar-winning actress added that her odds-defying pregnancy may have resulted from her six-year-old daughter Nahla, from her previous relationship with Gabriel Aubry, wishing ardently for a baby brother or sister.
"Nahla prayed and prayed for him for like a year and a half for a baby and a bunk bed and she got both of those things ... Only her prayers could have done this."
While Halle's pregnancy last year left her scratching her head, medical professionals were quick to point out that while falling pregnant naturally over the age of 40 is possible, it often requires medical intervention.
“When you hear of people in the public arena who are pregnant in their 40s, the obvious suspicion is that they’ve availed themselves of fertility treatment, but aren’t being transparent about it,” Dr Joshua U. Klein told the website Health at the time.
“I’m not saying that’s what Halle Berry did, but the odds are against her having conceived naturally at her age.”
In recent years, a number of famous women have become mothers over the age of 40. Singer Gwen Stefani, 44, welcomed her third child earlier this year, while 42-year-old celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe had her second son last December.
CLICK THROUGH this gallery to see who else has given birth at a similar age...
