Hilary Swank is speaking out about the “backlash” she’s received for having children later in life.
While filming an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show on Thursday, October 15, the actress, 52, addressed the reaction she’s faced after she and her husband, Philip Schneider, started their family. (The couple welcomed twins Aya and Ohm in 2023 when Swank was 48. Swank announced on Wednesday, October 14, that she was pregnant again.)
“There’s a lot of backlash women get for having children older but not men, which is interesting,” Swank said in a sneak peek of the episode which is slated to air on Tuesday, October 20.
Host Drew Barrymore, 51, responded, “Oh my God, I mean it is weird, men have babies in their like 80s and that’s not a euphemism or a joke. You had kids in your 40s and people weren’t always gracious about it.”
The Million Dollar Baby star recalled one particularly intense reaction that she received from a stranger when it came to her family choices.
“There’s one story that I found really interesting and I think I was attracted to this particular story because this one woman said, ‘How dare you. You’re too old and you won’t be old enough when your kids are older and my dad was my favorite person and he died when I was in my 20s, my early 20s and it’s just devastation.’” Swank shared.
She added, “I related to it because my dad has also passed but he was one of my favorite people on earth and so I was drawn to that and I thought to myself, ‘Well I would rather be born and have that person that was my favorite person and experience that than not at all.’ Do you know what I’m saying? So that’s how I took what she said.”
In an interview with Women’s Health in November 2025, Swank previously reflected on the benefits of being an older mom.
“I would have had kids earlier. I’m not saying I actively waited until 47, but that was a magical time in my life when it all culminated,” Swank told the magazine. “It was the right time for a myriad of reasons.”
Swank, who gave birth to the twins after freezing her eggs at 37, noted that thought her mindset was different than it would have been had she become a parent when she was younger.
“I’m a very different parent than I would’ve been, even in my early 40s. I’m much more patient. I’m much more understanding,” she continued. “I am much more, I think, interested in a different way than I would’ve been. I’m really interested in their brains.”
