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It's entirely possible to fall pregnant once you're over 40. Your pregnancy will be considered high-risk because of your age but it certainly is possible to carry and deliver a healthy baby.
There seems to be a trend among career women to put off starting a family till later in life, whether it's for financial stability reasons or to climb the career ladder a bit for more security, many women have their reasons for putting this decision off. Some women only meet their partners later in life and often women struggle to have kids in silence, some eventually turn to IVF.
Read more: Hollywood's interesting baby names
With Janet Jackson announcing at 49 that she is expecting her first child, the spotlight has been shone on women who've become mothers after 40.
We take a look at some of Hollywood's stars who put motherhood off to a later date or just didn't stop their age from growing their families.
Eva Mendes
At 42, Eva Mendes welcomed her second child with Ryan Gosling, a daughter on the 29th of April 2016. The couple also have a 18 month old daughter called Esmeralda Amada Gosling.
Gwen Stefani
Gwen has 3 sons with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, Kingston, Zuma Nesta Rock and Apollo Bowie Flynn.
Halle Berry
Halle has two kids, Nahla Ariela Aubry and Maceo Robert Martinez.
Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston and husband John Travolta had son Benjamin when she was 48 after the death of their son Jett in 2009. The couple also have a teenage daughter Ella Bleu.
Salma Hayek
Salma has one daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault.
Connie Britton
The Friday Night Lights alum and Nashville star adopted a baby boy, Eyob Britton.
Brooke Shields
Brooke has 2 daughters with husband Chris Henchy, 12-year-old Rowan and 10-year-old Grier.
Celine Dion
Celine and her late husband René Angélil, have 3 sons. 15-year-old René-Charles and 6-year-old twin boys, Eddy named after her favourite French songwriter, Eddy Marnay and Nelson named after South African President Nelson Mandela.
Molly Ringwald
Molly and her husband have a daughter, Mathilda (born 2003), and twins, Adele and Roman (born in 2009).
Helen Hunt
Helen and her partner Matthew Carnahan have 1 daughter Makena Lei Gordon Carnahan, born on May 13, 2004.
Geena Davis
Geena has 3 children with Iranian-American plastic surgeon, Reza Jarrahy. Daughter Alizeh Keshvar Jarrahy (born April 10, 2002) and twin sons Kian William Jarrahy and Kaiis Steven Jarrahy (born May 6th, 2004).
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep's 3 older kids are all adults but she has a laat lammetjie in daughter Louisa born in 1991 when the actress was 42.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman has two adopted children with Tom Cruise, Isabella and Connor. But she had her biological daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret with husband Keith Urban after she turned 40.
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey and ex-husband Nick Cannon have 5-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan.
Mira Sorvino
Mira has 4 children: 2 sons and 2 daughters, the youngest of who was born when Sorvino was 45.
Lena Heady
Lena Heady has two kids, son Wylie born in 2010 and a daughter born in July 2015.
Uma Thurman
Uma has 2 kids with ex-husband Ethan Hawke, daughter Maya Ray and son Levon. But her daughter with ex-fiance Arpad Busson, Luna Busson was born when she was 42.
Julianne Moore
Julianne and her partner have two kids, son Caleb born in December 1997 and daughter Liv born in 2002 when Moore was 42.
Naomi Watts
Naomi and husband Liev Schreiber have two sons, Alexander "Sasha" Pete born in 2007 and Samuel Kai in 2008.
Alanis Morissette
While Alanis became a mom for the first time at 36, she announced in February 2016 that she is expecting her second child with husband Mario "Souleye" Treadway. She will be 41 when the new bundle of joy arrives.
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa has a 4-year-old son, Milo and a 1-year-old daughter, Elizabella.
Have you had a baby after the age of 40? Send us your experiences to chatback@parent24.com.
