‘I felt selfish for becoming a mum at 50 – but I’m loving every second’ says Emma Kenny
After trying for a baby for a decade, last month TV psychologist Emma Kenny revealed she’d given birth to her third child at the age of 50. The This Morning star, who’s already a mum to sons Tyde, 20, and Evan, 18, introduced gorgeous Etta-Blue in a surprise social media post.
Talking to OK! less than four weeks after her daughter’s arrival, Emma says she and husband Pete Skywalker are on cloud nine. “She’s my little miracle. I’m lapping up every second,” Emma beams.
While it was never her intention to become a mum at this stage in her life, Emma, who feared she’d become an “easy target” for trolls, has been taken aback by the overwhelmingly positive response she has received. In fact, any concerns about her being an older mum have come from Emma herself.
“I felt a great deal of selfishness all the way up until giving birth,” she tells us. “There are moments when I think, ‘I wish I could have another 20 years with etta.’ I could beat myself up about it, but my best friend died at 43, so you don’t always get the time that’s promised to you. I’ll have conversations with Etta about it as she gets older.”
Having welcomed her boys almost two decades ago, Emma has spent the last 10 years on a fertility journey, enduring rounds of IVF and, sadly, several miscarriages.
“For 10 years I tried to have her and failed constantly. I’ll have to process my grief over the fact that I couldn’t have her at 42 or 45,” she explains. “I feel I’ve had years stolen from my child, but I’m very grateful for having her.”
In 2022, more than 2,000 women over 45 in the UK gave birth, and Emma is sure that being a mum at 50 has its own benefits.
“When the boys were younger, I just followed convention. This time I’m doing things completely differently and I think she’ll benefit massively from that,” she says. “I’ve changed my perspective on schooling. I’ll parent in a much more flexible way. I was laid-back with the boys but that’s been reinforced as I’ve gotten older so I’ll be even more chilled now.”
With appearances on This Morning, her The Serial Killer Next Door tour underway and more than 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, Emma's career has also changed her parenting approach. “I’m very grateful for how my life has shifted now I’m older,” she explains.
“I breastfeed, I co-bed share and it feels very natural. When I had my boys, I was a single mum and I was so broke. Now I’m not broke. Also, I can have her with me 24/7 because she can be with me while I work. I didn’t have that with the boys and it was hard saying goodbye to them when I went to work.
“I don’t feel any different to how I felt at 20. But I can’t change my age and I can’t change the time I have left. I know I have to live a lot longer now,” she adds. “Research on women who’ve had babies over 40 says they’re more likely to live until they’re 100. I think I’ll be 109 by the time I pop my clogs, so Etta-Blue will be well-established as an adult by that point!”
It’s been a long journey for Emma to finally add to her family. “I’ve had lots of miscarriages,” she explains, describing IVF as a “drawn out, protractive, difficult, expensive experience” which often, for her, resulted in “unhappy endings”.
Her difficulties were a factor behind her decision to keep her pregnancy a secret. “The only people who knew were my family and two friends. I didn’t tell anyone else because I thought if I said it, I wouldn’t get my baby home,” she tells us.
“I didn’t believe there was a baby on the way the entire time. I was doing a theatre tour and I just wore baggier and baggier hoodies. I might have looked a little bit more portly but I just didn’t dare tempt fate.” Even during the birth, the outcome was uncertain.
“It was a traumatic labour – she got stuck. The NHS was incredible but when Etta’s heartbeat was dropping, I was thinking, ‘Oh God, this is where it ends.’ When they handed her to me, I couldn’t believe it. She’s amazing. I feel very, very lucky.”
Following Emma’s announcement of Etta’s birth, young women have told her she’s given them hope for the future.
“If you’re a woman and you’re thinking, ‘I want a family, but it’s not the right time,’ have the family, because it’s never going to be the right time. Women push themselves in a direction based on what society expects. Just do things your way, know that you’ll figure it out and remember that hope is the most important thing.”
Despite the recent arrival of Etta-Blue, Emma has already returned to work, teaming up with crime author Ajay Chowdhury to create an interactive murder mystery eBook, optimised for foldable devices like the Pixel Fold – a launch that is of note given that 82% of people are interested in crime/mystery and 62% now commute to work at least for days a week.
And if anyone knows the value of “me time” it’s a mum with a new baby, a busy family life and a career that’s showing no signs of slowing down!
Download The Invitation free from ajaychowdhury.com/the-invitation/ – no extended WiFi access needed. Pixel Fold is the first foldable phone engineered by Google, now available in the UK
Follow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag
Source: Read Full Article