Savannah Guthrie understands the struggles many women face to get pregnant [1], and opened up about her experiences in the newest issue of Health. The Today cohost didn't become a mom until she was in her 40s [2], and while that wasn't always her plan, she recognizes there are some advantages to becoming a parent at a more mature age. She told the magazine, "I think one great thing about being an older mom is that you are at a different place in your career where, in many cases, you have a little more say over your schedule and the choices you make. In your 40s, and now my mid-to-late 40s, you have the difference in attitude where you can figure out what matters and what doesn't. And guess what? What matters is your family. Full stop."
The 47-year-old journalist and her husband welcomed their first child, their daughter, Vale, in 2014. She then gave birth to her second child, a son named Charley, in 2016 — and both kids are too freaking cute [3]. Read more of Savannah's quotes on motherhood ahead, and check out her full cover story in the May issue of Health, on newsstands now.
- On getting pregnant later in life: "I knew it was the winning lottery ticket to have one child — I was 42 when I had her. So I never dreamed that I would have two. But with Charley, I did do IVF. So I would say Vale was a miracle, and Charley was a medical miracle. When making that decision about whether to go through IVF, my husband and I talked about it a lot. I didn't want to start a process where we spent all of our present searching after some future . . . when our present was so lovely and beautiful and enough. But I also knew I would love for Vale to have a sibling — especially because we are older, it was important to me for her to have a sibling, somebody to do life with."
- On how it worked out: "Having kids later in life wasn't so much a choice — it was just the way life happened for me — but when I think about being in my 30s and what I was doing and trying to build a career, it would have been incredibly difficult for me to have kids back then."
- On the growing misconception that getting pregnant in your 40s is no big deal: "Absolutely. My husband and I, we decided, 'OK, let's give it a shot,' you know? But it ended up taking more than one attempt. It took a few. But we were lucky. I always say, Charley was, like, the last egg out. He really was. And we're so blessed. Going through what we did, it makes you realize that everything has to go just right to have a healthy baby. I really feel for so many women who are struggling and wishing and wondering, 'When's it gonna be my turn?' I know. And I understand."