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Beverly D’Angelo baby. After six years of dating, Al Pacino and Beverly D’Angelo became parents together in 2001 – even though he was 60 at the time. Thanks to in vitro fertilization, the “National Lampoon” actress, then 49, delivered twins Olivia and Anton that January.
Within two years, the couple split and a bitter battle for custody began when D’Angelo wanted to raise the kids in Los Angeles, while Pacino is New York-based. The two settled a year later, although they wouldn’t say who won.
Emma Thompson baby. After numerous miscarriages, Emma Thompson finally made her baby dream a reality when, after undergoing in vitro fertilization, she conceived daughter Gaia, who was born in December 1999 when the British actress was 40.
But giving the little girl a brother or sister proved impossible when another round of IVF failed. "I would have desperately liked to have had more children and it's been a great agony for me," Thompson has said. Not having more kids was so “depressing” to her partner Greg Wise, he sought therapy. “It's a brute, IVF,” he has said. “It depends on the age of the woman. Your eggs get old. I'm completely in love with the idea of fatherhood, but as for more children we'll have to see what happens. We're just very lucky to have Gaia."
Geena Davis baby. After three failed marriages, Geena Davis settled down with Iranian-American plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy in 2001 and the two immediately started their family.
The next year, then-46-year-old Davis gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter named Alizeh. Two years later, the “Stuart Little” actress did it again, this time with twins Kian and Kaiis when she was 48.
Jennifer Beals baby. “Flashdance” star Jennifer Beals may have gotten married to her second husband, Canadian entrepreneur Ken Dixon, when she was 34, but the actress waited until she was past the big 4-0 milestone to have her first child.
Beals was 41 when she gave birth to a daughter in October 2005. She got some practice in beforehand, however, as stepmom to Dixon's two kids from a previous marriage.
Marcia Cross Baby. When Marcia Cross met stockbroker Tom Mahoney in 2006, the race was on for the 44-year-old actress to start a family. Six months later, they married and immediately began in vitro fertilization. In February 2007, the “Desperate Housewives” actress gave birth to fraternal twin girls Eden and Savannah.
Cross, who considered a surrogate, has been very open about the real struggle women in the 40s face when trying to get pregnant. “One's own eggs only last so long, and sometimes at 43 or 44 you can have your own baby, but statistically it's very difficult and expensive,” she has said. “You don't want to wait that long."
Mariska Hargitay baby. Mariska Hargitay was 41 when she gave birth to her son August in June 2006. The “Law & Order: SVU” actress had to undergo an emergency c-section after she developed gestational diabetes in her third trimester after gaining 54 pounds. "I was overwhelmed by my lack of energy,” she told Self magazine in 2007. “
All I could do to survive was to eat.” For their second and third children, Hargitay and her husband, Peter Hermann, adopted. In April 2001, they welcomed daughter Amaya and just six months later, a son, Andrew Nicolas.
Helen Hunt baby. After going through multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization, Helen Hunt gave birth to her first child, daughter Makena Lei, in May 2004, a month before the “Mad About You” actress turned 41.
“Motherhood is totally thrilling and I love every minute of it,” Hunt, who’s been in a relationship with TV producer Matthew Carnahan for more than a decade, told The Daily Mail in 2008. “I think it’s partly having had a challenging time getting pregnant. Someone who went through in vitro said to me, ‘When other mothers run out of patience, you’ll have another two hours in your tank because you’re so grateful she’s here.’ And it’s true.”
