Anne Hathaway's Third Child At 43 Puts The Over-40 Baby Boom Back In The Spotlight

Commenters gushed when Anne Hathaway announced she was pregnant with her third child in 2026 in a June 19 Instagram reel that showed off her belly. Many of her supporters made sure to give her props for becoming a mom after age 40 (Hathaway is 43).

Said one follower, "Seeing women over 40 successfully becoming mothers is incredibly inspiring." Another shared, "I'm a doctor and it's a fact that there are some risks. But if you have a healthy life, it's totally possible. I'm 41 and just had a baby 4 months ago."

Indeed, having a midlife pregnancy isn't exactly strange anymore, even though the 20s or 30s tend to be the best ages to have a baby, says science. In fact, recent statistics show that women over 40 are becoming new moms more often than any other group. Per NBC News, over-40 pregnancies are trending upward and have now surpassed the percentage of teenage pregnancies, partially because of teen birth control trends.

"There's a flip in the age distribution," sociology and demographics expert Elizabeth Wildsmith explained to NBC. Wildsmith acknowledged that some of the reasons for women to have children later in life included the cost of raising kids, an increase in women getting college experiences, and changing social values.

Being pregnant at 40 certainly isn't simple. Mothers who are older are at higher risk of problems like pre-eclampsia and miscarriage; Hathaway has been affected by the latter at least once. That's actually why Hathaway made sure to address the topic of difficulties within the 2019 Instagram reveal for her second child. Her post included the message, "For everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies."

"I was just aware of the fact that when it came time to post that I was pregnant, somebody was going to feel even more isolated because of it," said Hathaway (via Associated Press). "I just wanted them to know they have a sister in me."

In a 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Hathaway went into detail about her miscarriage, noting that she didn't realize how many of her friends had also lost their babies in utero. "I thought, Where is this information? Why are we feeling so unnecessarily isolated? That's where we take on damage. So I decided that I was going to talk about it." Hathaway is just one of many over-40 celebrities who became parents after 40, like Halle Berry (who gave birth at 47) and Rachel Zoe (who became a two-time mom at 42).