Eva Mendes gave birth to both of her daughters in her forties, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She opened up about her decision to have children as an older mom, and admitted she wouldn’t want to be raising them in any other era of her life but now.
Eva Mendes started dating Ryan Gosling in 2011, after meeting him on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines. Their relationship blossomed over the course of the past decade, and they have two daughters together—Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 8.
Mendes discussed her decision to become a mom after 40 in a recent interview with People. She said it was a big deal for other people, but not for her, because the timing felt perfect and she couldn’t imagine herself being a mom when she was much younger.
“When I was 40, it was a big deal for people when I was pregnant, and it wasn’t for me… In my 20s, I shouldn’t have even been around a child. I was just foul-mouthed and smoking. I could not have raised kids in any other era of my life but now, for sure,” she explained.
Mendes also opened up about stepping away from acting to focus on motherhood and said it’s the easiest decision she’s ever made. She said that the “career comes and goes” and she wanted to be there for her daughters during their formative years because it’s impossible to get them back.