gwyneth paltrowI know you've all been asking and wondering about this. But just so you know? Gwyneth Paltrow isn't pregnant right now. OMG, you guys! You're so funny, always asking the Goop One when she's having another baby! But stop asking already, she's totally done having babies, okay? No more apples dropping from her tree.

What? It's only her buddy designer Diane von Furstenberg who's asking? Oh. Geez, thanks a lot Kate Middleton for totally hogging the celeb mom spotlight already!

Yes, it's true: For Gwyneth's cover story in British InStyle, von Furstenberg asked Gwyneth the one question people have mostly stopped asking her. Is she thinking of having another baby? And actually, for once Gwyneth gives an answer I can relate to.

My brain says, ‘Oh, I think I’m done, the kids are big now and I don’t want to go back to changing diapers’. But a part of me would love to have another. Of course, I’m old now!

(Well, I can relate to most of that except the "I'm old now!" As someone who is Gwyneth's age -- this is not "old." It's just not super-young. My grandmother is turning 95 this year. THAT is old.)

Not only am I the same age as Gwyneth (more or less), we also had our first child around the same time, in our early 30s. And you know what? I'm so done now. It's not just the health/physical thing. I'm in the high-ish risk age bracket, true. But I'm in good health and I have excellent doctors.

It's more about where I am in my life now. Now that my son is capable of fixing himself a sandwich, comprehending irony, and compiling his own Spotify playlists, I kind of feel like having a baby at this point would feel almost regressive. With every milestone your kids reach, you, as a parent, get more and more freedom. And your kids get more and more interesting.

And ... look, all of you with new babies, you know I adore those little ones and I will never tire of gazing fondly at their pictures. NEVER, you hear me everyone on Facebook? But the older my son gets, the more boring caring for a baby seems to me. Oh sure, if I accidentally got knocked up and somehow Republicans managed to take away my right to an abortion, I would probably find a way to love having another baby. (I am so joking about that abortion part.)

But don't even get me started on the whole work/parenting balance. I don't want to face all those difficult questions about daycare, nannies, work at home, etc. And breastfeeding, lord have mercy. My boobs are enjoying their early retirement, thank you. So yeah, for all of you who've been asking? All zero of you. I am NOT having another baby. Not because I'm so OLD, but because I am done with that phase of my life.

Do you think 40 is too "old" to have a baby?

 

Image via InStyle