Hollywood actress Hilary Swank, 52. [Getty Images Korea]
Hollywood actress Hilary Swank, 52. [Getty Images Korea]

Hollywood actress Hilary Swank has sparked widespread discussion after announcing her third pregnancy at 52, with the two-time Oscar winner drawing attention for speaking out against what she called a societal double standard toward older mothers.

According to NBC's Today and Britain's The Independent, Swank's pregnancy announcement and a related interview triggered a wave of debate on social media about attitudes toward late-in-life childbirth.

Swank announced Sunday on her social media accounts that she is expecting her third child with husband Philip Schneider, with the baby due in December.

Best known for her role in "Million Dollar Baby," Swank gave birth to twins at age 48 in 2023. She had frozen her eggs at 37 and used them a decade later.

The debate over late-in-life childbirth resurfaced after a clip from an upcoming interview on "The Drew Barrymore Show," set to air Tuesday, was released.

In the interview, Swank addressed the negative reactions that older mothers often face from society.

"Women get a lot of criticism for having children later in life," she said. "But it's interesting that men don't get that at all."

Hollywood actress Hilary Swank, 52. [Social media]
Hollywood actress Hilary Swank, 52. [Social media]

Swank also recalled the negative reactions she faced after her first birth.

She recounted how one woman had snapped at her: "How dare you. You're too old."

Swank said the woman's father had been the most important person in her life, and that when he died while she was in her 20s, she was left with a deep sense of loss — which was why she had said what she did.

Swank said she empathized with the woman's grief, explaining that her own father had also passed away and was one of the most beloved people in her life. "I actually thought: if you could meet the person who meant the most to you and have the experience of being with them, wouldn't it be better to be born than to never have that experience at all?" she said.

Her point was that the time parents and children share together is precious in itself, regardless of the age at which a child is born.

Drew Barrymore, a mother of two daughters, also expressed sympathy with that view, calling the social scrutiny "really strange."

"Men have children in their 80s. That's not a euphemism or a joke — that's a fact," Barrymore said.

In practice, many male Hollywood actors have children well into their later years.

Actor Al Pacino fathered his fourth son at 83 in 2023 with his partner Noor Alfallah, who was 29 at the time and 54 years his junior. Actor Robert De Niro also made headlines when he welcomed his seventh child at 80.

Meanwhile, Swank made her debut in 1992 and has since collected a string of major awards, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Critics Choice Movie Awards and one Screen Actors Guild Award. She won her first Academy Award for best actress for the 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry" and her second for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com