Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is reportedly expecting a child with her boyfriend, jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente.
At 44 years old, she has two children (14 and 11 years old) with football superstar and ex-husband Tom Brady, and this will be the first with her current partner of 35 years.
The Brazilian bombshell has long been a figurehead in the wellness community and is sought after for her health and fitness advice. Still, doctors and medical organizations warn against getting pregnant after age 40 as it can carry greater risks for both mother and baby.
Fertility drops sharply in a woman’s 40s: one in four women in their 20s and 30s can get pregnant in one menstrual cycle, compared to just one in 10 in their 40s.
Not only is it more difficult to get pregnant, but a woman age 40 or older may be at higher risk of developing certain pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia, a condition in which high blood pressure during pregnancy is life-threatening. .
They are also more likely to give birth to children with birth defects such as Down syndrome.
Laura Morton, 60, and Rosanne Austin, 50, gave birth to their children just under 44 years old.
They told DailyMail.com that having a baby over 40 can come with unfortunate judgment from others; It is also a rewarding experience. The hardest part, they added, was getting pregnant in the first place.
Gisele Bündchen, 44, is planning to welcome her third child. She is pictured before her pregnancy in 2023 in New York City.
Bündchen shares two children with soccer superstar and ex-husband Tom Brady. The two finalized their divorce in October 2022.
Austin said: ‘I encourage (Giselle) to ignore the statistics. You know, be aware of them, but focus more on their personal health and unique circumstances.
“She has access to the kind of care that many people don’t have, so she is very well positioned to have a perfectly glorious, uneventful pregnancy.”
Austin, now 50, is a California attorney and personal advisor. She gave birth to her son shortly before her 44th birthday.
She initially had difficulty conceiving, and began the process at age 37, while still working as a trial attorney. She tried clean eating, acupuncture, abdominal massages, and vaginal steam baths, but still struggled to get pregnant.
At age 40, a round of IVF worked, but she had a miscarriage shortly after pregnancy. According Mayo ClinicThe risk of miscarriage in a pregnancy at age 40 is 33 to 40 percent, compared to 20 percent at age 35.
Finally, when she adjusted her work schedule to reduce her stress and adopted a more positive mindset, she became pregnant at age 43.
Still, the judgment of others was harsh: “I can’t even begin to tell you, like everyone likes to spread their fear on you.”
She lost count of the number of people who spoke to her with ‘negativity and condescension’, both when she was trying to conceive and when she was already pregnant.
Rosanne Austin went from being a state prosecutor in California to becoming a fertility consultant after her difficulties conceiving.
Austin, who has since left her job as a lawyer and now acts as a fertility counselor for women ages 20 to 50, said it’s true there are higher risks of conceiving after 40.
But, she added, the reality is that people are settling down (and having children) later in life, and the technology that exists to support that means there has never been a better time to try to get pregnant.
For this reason, Austin added: “There is a kind of baby boom occurring among women in their 40s.”
Morton, another California native, author and filmmaker, gave birth to her daughter a month before her 44th birthday.
He conceived her after seven rounds of IVF therapy with a sperm donor, after initial opposition from an OB-GYN who warned against going through the process at her age and alone.
Morton told DailyMail.com: “It was quite a journey and I didn’t tell anyone I was going through it.” I didn’t want to hear everyone’s nightmare stories.
Once she was pregnant, she said, her fertility doctor worried early on that some of her blood tests indicated she might miscarry.
After five weeks of harrowing tests, her doctor deemed her pregnancy healthy. Around eight months, she woke up bleeding and ran to the hospital in a panic.
Doctors said they couldn’t explain the source, but her pregnancy was fine. Shortly after, she gave birth to her baby girl without complications.
Morton said: “Getting pregnant and being a mother at 40… I think it was a real blessing for me, I was much more settled in my life.” I was able to make really good decisions.”
It was strange sometimes, she said, being one of the older mothers at daycare or having her friend’s children old enough to care for her newborn, but she felt supported by those in her life.
Having a baby in her 40s was right for her and she said she hopes Bündchen can take the time to enjoy the little moments.
She added: “She enjoys every moment of the pregnancy and every moment of being an older mother, because she really has a lot of experience now that she is bringing to that equation.”