"We don't say that to men who have children in their 60s, 70s, even 80s!" said the Danish model, who did IVF for 13 years before welcoming daughter Frida, now 5, at 55. "Look at Robert De Niro. He's 79, and he has a 7-month-old."
Brigitte Nielsen is opening up about her decision to welcome another child in her 50s.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the 60-year-old actress recalled having a fifth child — her daughter Frida, now 5, — when she was 55 after over a decade of trying IVF, revealing that people told her she was “too old” to become pregnant later in life.
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“Half the world was saying that when I got pregnant at 55 — including my four older sons,” said Nielsen, who is mom to four sons in their late 20s and 30s. “But first of all, there’s no such thing as ‘old.'”
The Red Sonja star called out the double standard of how people react to women versus men welcoming children much later in life, noting how Robert De Niro became a dad again at 79 — his seventh child — earlier this year.
“We don’t say that to men who have children in their 60s, 70s, even 80s!” Nielsen told PEOPLE. “Look at Robert De Niro. He’s 79, and he has a 7-month-old.”
She went on to share how she believes her age has been beneficial to raising Frida.
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“You know how kids say grandmothers are the best? I feel like I have that mindset and emotion,” Nielsen explained. “I have the patience and that extra bit of love to give now, and I think it’s because I’m a grandmother’s age.”
“When I was a younger mom, I was often juggling being single, being on a plane, on a movie set. Now Frida comes first,” she continued, adding that she’s found that she’s less tired now than she was when she was a younger mom.
The model recalled how she and her husband Mattia Dessi, 45, did IVF for 13 years before she became pregnant.
“I had a long time to prepare for Frida,” Nielsen said. “The doctor warned me to be realistic about my chances. He told me I had a two and a half percent chance of getting pregnant, so when it finally happened, it was just amazing. And then there was fear, because I was such high-risk, being 54.”
However, Nielsen said her pregnancy with Friday was ultimately “the easiest pregnancy” she’s ever had.
“Maybe because I had done it four times before, and my priorities had shifted. It was a deep, deep desire within me and a choice,” she shared. “But with Frida I could have been pregnant for another year. When I finally gave birth, it was all so easy and brilliant.”
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