London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

Naomi Campbell’s motherhood is good news, but most women don’t have her reproductive choices

Naomi Campbell’s motherhood is good news, but most women don’t have her reproductive choices

While we don’t know the details about Campbell’s situation, we do know that for most older women, options are limited, says women’s health lecturer Zeynep Gurtin
Earlier this week, supermodel Naomi Campbell created a social media storm by posting a picture of her hand cradling a small baby’s feet with the caption: “A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother.”

While thousands congratulated Campbell, 50, on her newfound motherhood, many others raised critical voices, commenting on her age. Since the post doesn’t provide any details regarding whether Campbell gave birth, adopted the baby, or commissioned a surrogate’s services, there was also widespread speculation about how the baby was conceived, carried and delivered.

Quite aside from the particular choices that Campbell might have made, this case raises important questions about the range of reproductive options available to older women, fertility education and whether celebrities owe a degree of transparency to their followers, in particular regarding such potentially private and sensitive life decisions.

Prof Joyce Harper, reproductive scientist and author of the book Your Fertile Years: What You Need to Know to Make Informed Choices, warns that: “Celebrity pregnancies at advanced ages give women false hope about what is actually possible. The reality is that it is very, very unlikely for a woman to naturally become pregnant at 50. And, what’s more, it is equally unlikely that she can do so using IVF.” Harper says that while increasing numbers of women are becoming aware that their fertility begins to decline from the age of 30 onwards, many still assume that assisted reproductive technologies can provide a miracle solution to help them conceive if they have fertility problems, whatever their age. This, she points out, is simply not the case.

The latest data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) provide strong support for Harper’s point. While the average birthrates via IVF in the UK were 23% per embryo transferred in 2018 – a figure that is already considerably lower than many would imagine – the chances decreased as women became older. For instance, while women under the age of 35 had a 31% chance of live birth, the chances for those aged between 40 and 42 dropped by almost two thirds, to 11%. More strikingly, the chances for women over 43 have remained consistently below 5% – meaning that for this age group, only one IVF cycle out of 20 ends with a “take-home baby”.

IVF, of course, is not the only option available. Older women can significantly increase their chances of pregnancy – to over 25% – by using donor eggs (usually from much younger donors), although this remains a less favoured option, with most women hoping to have their own genetic children. Consequently, over the last 10 years, more and more women have opted to freeze their eggs in order to “preserve their fertility”, and to give themselves a higher likelihood of achieving motherhood later in life, in effect donating their own younger eggs to their older selves. Surrogacy – with or without the use of donor eggs – can also provide a route to motherhood, particularly for women unable to carry pregnancies for a range of reasons. But it is important to note that none of these options come with a guarantee, and none of them come cheap. In the UK, egg freezing costs between £4,000 and £7,000, egg donation up to £10,000, and surrogacy typically between £10,000 and £15,000, making these technologies financially inaccessible for most women. Adoption, too, is often a costly and lengthy process – and, according to the charity Family Lives, most of the 6,000 children in the UK seeking adoption are of school age, making it harder for those individuals hoping to adopt babies.

The key question here, of course, is not what Naomi Campbell has done, or whether she will ever reveal the intimate details of her life decisions. Rather, it is why women and men in general seem to have such inaccurate ideas and expectations about fertility and reproduction that the news of older celebrity mothers – including, in recent years, Janet Jackson, who had her first child at 50, and Brigitte Nielsen, who had her fifth at 54 – can easily mislead them about their own options. It seems that in an age of proliferating reproductive choices, fertility education remains woefully insufficient.

This, Harper points out, is the main reason why she co-founded the Fertility Education Initiative in 2016, to help spread accurate information to young people, adults, teachers and health professionals about fertility and reproductive health, as well as the limitations of technologies like IVF, so that people can have realistic expectations and don’t find themselves “running out of options”. Harper, who speaks frankly about her own fertility struggles and her lengthy journey to have her three sons – the first just a few weeks before her 40th birthday, followed by twins conceived after frozen embryo transfer – says she was lucky, but knows that many others are not.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, 18% of women born in 1974 will reach the end of their reproductive years without children. While many of these women may be actively choosing childfree lives for a variety of reasons, that’s not the whole story. There is also an increase in involuntary childlessness due to age-related loss of fertility, one of the consequences of a demographic trend for delaying motherhood. “As experts speaking up about age-related fertility decline, we are not trying to spread doom and gloom,” Harper says, “but we hope that providing this information can help people make the right choices for themselves at the right time, and avoid women suffering heartbreak because they are surprised to find themselves childless and infertile in their 40s.”

Naomi Campbell’s news – like the happy announcement of every other new mother – deserves nothing but congratulations. But it should not be confused with what is possible for the majority of people. Although Campbell told ES magazine in 2017, “I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want,” that is simply not a realistic option for most women.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
×