Halle Berry has said women in their thirties should get “bogged down” with the idea of having children by a certain age.
Berry, 56, has daughter Nahla, 15, with her ex Gabriel Aubry and son Maceo, nine, with ex-husband Olivier Martinez, said: “I’m solidly in my womanhood.
“I finally understand what I have to say is valuable, even if no one else agrees.
“Here’s what I tell women: Own wherever you are. If you’re in your mid-thirties, don’t be bogged down by the idea that you have to have children by a certain age. You decide.”
Speaking to Women’s Health at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity panel, she continued: “If you want to have children, you don’t have to be defined by those old ideologies that this is what women ‘have’ to do.
“Do it only if you want to, because you give up a lot of your personal life to growing those other lives. And maybe you’re not a woman who wants to do that. No harm, no foul, no judgement.”
The Oscar winner has previously spoken about how being a mother made her a better person and that she would’ve had more children had she started trying sooner.
She told InStyle in the past: “I felt the sexiest during both my pregnancies. I became a mom at 40. Knowing that someone would always be counting on me made me a better person. I’m more focused and in line with my values and my goals.
“I stopped letting negativity get me down. Plus, I loved being pregnant. Had I started earlier, I probably would have had five children.
“Or if I hadn’t been busy trying to make movies, I would have been the perfect surrogate. All the hormones made me feel amazing. I was so alive with my purpose and my femininity. It felt like my body was doing what it was built to do.
“Being a mom is the best job…” she continued. “But my kids don’t care about who I am outside of this house.
“The only thing I want at the end of the day is for my children to say, ‘You weren’t perfect, you didn’t do everything right, but you were a good mum.’”
