Growing up, it seemed perfectly natural to dream about being extremely successful by the time I was eighteen, married by twenty-two, and a mom two years later. That was the life I envisioned as a fourteen-year-old walking home from the bus stop, listening to my Walkman in 1997. Fast-forward to 2018 and, as thirty-five creeps around the corner, staring at me like a pimple that won’t go away, I realize how far off fourteen-year-old me was.
At eighteen, I was in college working on my bachelor’s degree. At twenty-two, I was graduating with said degree. And at twenty-four, I was trying to live my life to the fullest; working different jobs, dabbling in acting, shopping, figuring out who Mandi truly is, no talk or thought about marriage and children. So, what about ten years later? Yes, I want to get married and yes, I would like to have kids, but I have vastly different priorities now than I did then. I am just a few months away from receiving my master’s and I have spent over seven years perfecting my career. This is the path I have chosen and I applaud those women who were able to jump into jobs and get married and have kids earlier in life. Bless your souls! But for me and, as I have discovered, several heavy-hitting celebrities, having an established and stable career came before baby.
Here we share a few celebrity momma’s who launched their careers before they had their baby.
Kerry Washington
The Scandal actress already had a bevy of films under her belt (Save the Last Dance, anyone?) before she welcomed her first child at thirty-seven. She did not let the success of her smash-hit show slow her down either as she went on to welcome both of her children (a girl and a boy) during the show’s run.
Janet Jackson
Rumors flew for years that she may have had a secret love child but we only know of one child—a son that the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer and actress welcomed at age fifty. She hustled and worked for decades and now she gets to have the reward of being a mama and releasing and performing new music.
Salma Hayek
At forty, the activist and actress welcomed her first daughter, Valentina, with her husband François-Henri Pinault. She once noted that it was the perfect timing and had it happened ten years earlier, she would not have been ready. It’s all in the timing.
Eva Mendes
By the time she welcomed her first daughter at age forty, Mendes had already amassed a rich acting portfolio that includes roles in Training Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and The Place Beyond the Pines. She also has a fashion line for New York & Company and went on to welcome a second daughter a year and a half after the first.
Mariah Carey
The multiple Grammy Award-winning singer and actress (props for Precious) welcomed twins Moroccan and Monroe at forty-two. That has not stopped her from a Vegas residency and a joint tour with Lionel Richie.
As you can clearly see, it is okay to put your career first and once that is secure, focus on becoming a mom, if that is part of your life plan. For some women, that is just not where they see themselves and that is perfectly okay, too. I see myself as a mom in two years, once I am truly stable and established. Then again, I do like my sleep, so you never know . . .