Eva Mendes says she was thrilled to become a mom in her 40s, but faced judgment from others for entering motherhood later in life.
In a new interview with People, the Fast & Furious actor recalled how when she became pregnant at 40 with her first child with partner Ryan Gosling, people made it a “big deal” because of her age.
“And then I was 42 and I was pregnant with my second one,” she said, “and people were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to be so tired. That’s why people have kids in their 20s.’ I was like, that’s the most sorry, asinine thing I’ve ever heard.”
Eva and Ryan share two daughters: nine-year-old Esmeralda Amada and eight-year-old Amanda Lee. The couple famously keep their relationship out of the spotlight, but reportedly wed in 2011.
Later in the interview, Eva said she’s also confident in her decision to give birth later in life because she had some vices to kick before stepping into motherhood.
Because parenting “takes more patience,” she said, “in my 20s, I shouldn’t have even been around a child. I was just foul-mouthed and smoking”.
“I could not have raised kids in any other era of my life but now, for sure,” Eva added.
The Hitch actor went on to share that after becoming pregnant, she knew immediately that she would rather take a step back from her acting career than miss out on her kids’ first years.
“It was the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” she recalled. “I was older and I knew that my kids are going to be little once, and whatever I do or don’t do right now is going to affect them the rest of their life.”
“Your career comes and goes but kids, yeah, that was easy for me,” Eva added. “They’re just formative years. I wanted to be there for all of it.”
