Janet Jackson is having a baby at 49 - and it's none of your business

More women in their forties are having babies, and this is not a problem. No one judges the 40-something dad, so why do they reserve their anger for the older mother?

2. Singer Janet Jackson (Getty Images)

Singer Janet Jackson confirmed she is pregnant with her first child at the age of 49, and has postponed her latest tour. According to gossip, Janet’s mother urged her to have a baby ‘before it was too late’. The singer joins a long list of famous women who have given birth well into their forties - Gwen Stefani, Kelly Preston, Susan Sarandon, David Bowie’s wife Iman and Halle Berry.

Celebrity photographer Annie Liebovitz produced her first child at 51. These women are all wealthy and- most important- unconcerned by the public’s reaction. It’s a personal decision, and generally not one they see the need to justify. Their relative wealth will mean they can afford help, even if the father is not present- and many of these older mothers already had several children, so they clearly enjoy family life.

It’s extremely unlikely that Janet Jackson got pregnant unexpectedly- gynaecologists reckon the chances of that happening are less than 1 per cent. She may have used a donated egg and IVF, or her own eggs which were harvested and frozen when she was younger and more fertile. New blood tests (now available on the NHS) mean that older mothers can find out if their child is likely to be suffering from Downs Syndrome, without the risk of a miscarriage, although babies born to older mothers are more likely to be premature or underweight at birth.

Using IVF and donated eggs, women have been having babies right up to the age of 70, although their decision still attracts suspicion and controversy. In the UK, older motherhood is becoming more attractive- the birth rate for women over 50 has doubled to about three a week.

I don’t buy the argument that there’s ever a ‘right’ age to have a baby. With the advent of civil partnerships and gay marriages, more same sex couples than ever are adopting kids or producing children using donor eggs and surrogates- and some of those mums and dads will be well into middle age. Every time I read that health experts are complaining about women delaying motherhood, I notice they are not complaining about heterosexual old men who father children with much younger women.

Frankly, anyone who wants to produce a child or be a surrogate donor is fine by me- it means I don’t have to bother. By criticising older mothers, we are (in effect) demonising career women or those women who choose to be childless- and I won’t stand for that. Why should having a baby validate your femininity?

At the same time, three cheers for Janet Jackson choosing motherhood. The whole notion of what constitutes the nuclear family has altered drastically over the last five years (no matter what the Pope may say) - and older mums are bound to increase in numbers as medical science makes it less of a risk. Older mums are no more likely to get tired than a pensioner dad - and these days, older women are fitter than ever.

Let’s just hope Janet Jackson’s baby gets a sensible name.