Hilary Swank on women facing backlash for having children later in life but not men

Hilary Swank on women facing backlash for having children later in life but not men

Actress Hilary Swank has spoken about the criticism she faced as an ‘older’ mother when she announced her pregnancy with twins.

The Million Dollar Baby star, 52, pointed out that ‘There’s a lot of backlash women get for having children older but not men, which is interesting.’ She told fellow actress Drew Barrymore in her soon to be aired The Drew Barrymore Show, reports Page Six.

Mum-of-two Barrymore agreed that the double standard is ‘weird’, saying that, “men have babies in their like 80s, and that’s not a euphemism or a joke.”

She added, “You had kids in your 40s, and people weren’t always gracious about it.”

Swank, who already has twins Aya and Ohm, whom she had in 2023 at the age of 48, mentioned how she remembered a woman at the time saying, ‘How dare you? You’re too old.’

Swank explained how the woman mentioned her father was her ‘favourite person’ and she was ‘devastated’ when he died when she was still in her 20s.

Instead of being offended, Swank detailed how she tried her best to sympathise with the woman.

“I related to it because my dad [has] also passed, but he was one of my favorite people on earth,” she explained.

“I thought to myself, ‘well, I would rather be born and have that person that was my favorite person and experience that than not at all,'” she said.

On Wednesday, Swank made a playful Instagram post, hinting that she was expecting her third child in December – through a video clip with Swank, her husband Philip Schneider and the twins all dancing with glow sticks.

She included the caption: “A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December. 😉👼🏼🫶🏼,”

The video showed her baby bump.

She was then seen arriving on Thursday at Barrymore’s talk show studio in New York, again showing her baby bump.

According to Hello! the actress was smiling, wearing a colourful woollen-looking cardigan and white vest top while waving at photographers and others gathered outside the Manhattan building.

The actress has faced criticism for her choice to embrace motherhood later in life, and while she has been outspoken and expressed pride in her family, she has remained modest about sharing details of her children on social media.

Some of the snippets include a photograph of the twins shared on Valentine’s Day 2024, announcing the names of Aya and Ohm by writing them in sand behind them.

She appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Falon later that month and spoke of how her life had altered since the arrival of the twins.

When Falon asked her about being a mum, she said, “It's more everything than I ever thought it would be. It's more glorious, it's the most extraordinary thing in the world."