Braver, bolder, older celebrity mummies

Love 97.2 radio DJ Leelian Chua dropped a double bomb (Dec 20) on us this week when she announced that she has tied the knot with her beau, only to be identified as Mr Lee, after dating for less than a year and is already three months pregnant.

At the age of 42, the actress fumbled when she attempted to take the pregnancy test with a pregnancy kit and decided to do a proper one at the gynaecologist two weeks later, where she was delivered the good news.

The DJ shared that her first trimester has been difficult, as she had no appetite due to gastric pains, felt lethargic in the day and was unable to sleep well at night, but despite the struggles of a high-risk pregnancy, she let in that she would be willing to have a second baby. “My siblings were a lot older than me, so I felt quite lonely then, but conceiving at my age might bring a lot of complications, so we will let nature take its course,” she said.

Having given birth to her first child, Zed Lee, at the age of 43, it’s no surprise that local actress Fann Wong would make it on this very list.

With her pregnancy only happening five years into her marriage with Christopher Lee, we can’t say that we weren’t surprised when Fann made the official announcement in 2014. Well past the age of a low-risk pregnancy, the bold mother—who is 45 this year—is still looking to expand the brood and she is currently striving hard with husband Christopher Lee to give 2 year-old Zed a sibling.

Raised in a big family (she’s the sixth child at home), Zoe Tay loves children and once had a goal of having four kids at home.

For her last and most recent pregnancy at the age of 42 years old in 2010, the Queen of Caldecott Hill gave birth to her third son Nathan Chionh prematurely. Despite being an experienced mother from two past pregnancies, Zoe’s high-risk pregnancy took a toll on her and she experienced bleeding before deciding to undergo Caesarean section, making Nathan a premmie.

At the age of 42, Carole Lin’s gynaecologist told her that the chances of getting pregnant would be slim, but the undaunted actress challenged her body to get pregnant within six months and succeeded in doing so.

Although Carole had a smooth sailing pregnancy, she suffered from postpartum depression after a traumatic delivery, but has recovered fully thanks to the support from her husband, David Lim.

The couple’s only child, Brooklyn Lim, is now 1 year old and has her own Instagram account that her father sometimes uses to document her milestones.

Mariah Carey's twin pregnancy definitely did not come easy for her and ex-husband, Nick Cannon. The American singer suffered a miscarriage during her first pregnancy just before she was about to share the good news with her family.

Determined to become a mother, Mariah went on to go through a series of fertility treatments and was blessed with twins three years later by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) at the age of 42.

She also had a much tougher time during pregnancy as she was carrying twins. Her children, Moroccan and Monroe, were born by Cesarean section as Mariah eventually developed gestational diabetes and risked preeclampsia towards the end of her pregnancy.

Workaholic mummy Rene Liu not only managed to have a smooth-sailing pregnancy at the advanced age of 45, she spent the bulk of her confinement period buried in work instead of recuperating.

She managed to publish her third book, Dare To Be Lonely In Someone Else’s Arms during her confinement month, albeit struggling to juggle between work and rest. The Taiwanese songstress even felt that 24 hours a day was insufficient for her.

Learning from experience, Rene decided to prioritise her son’s upbringing over work, only allowing herself to work for a few hours a day in order to spend the rest of the time with her child.

At the age of 42, Hong Kong model Kathy Chow is currently in the midst of her second high-risk pregnancy. She gave birth to first son, Jackques Lepeu, at the age of 41, and is currently five-months pregnant her second child, whom gender is unconfirmed as of press time.

The hot mama is the envy of all women, especially mothers, for maintaining her curvaceous figure even during pregnancy and being able to bare it for the cameras at a maternity photo shoot.

Superstar singer Celine Dion deserves a standing ovation because of all the emotional turmoil and physical pain she went through during her six rounds of IVF before getting pregnant with twins, Eddy and Nelson at the age of 42.

Although the singer had her first child, Rene-Charles at the age of 33, she had difficulties conceiving again, and eventually turned to IVF for help.

You might think that Celine was done for the day, but the brave and determined mother said that she loved children so much, she would be willing to go through the process of IVF again for her twins.

Liu Ling Ling was so good at ‘hiding her belly’ that nobody knew about the Getai Queen’s pregnancy at the grand ol’ age of 50 till the day she popped!

She kept everyone in the dark about her expectancy, which meant that she continued to perform at Getai shows as per normal and even acted in a movie during pregnancy. News of her delivery only got out after she missed the 2013 Getai Awards.

The Getai veteran also suffered a miscarriage during her first round of IVF in 2011, but refused to give up on her dream to become a mother and finally got pregnant on her second try of IVF three years later.

Janet Jackson has only recently join the high-risk mummies gang! The 50 year-old singer was spotted shopping for baby furniture before she confirmed pregnancy rumours in May with a video she posted on Twitter saying that she would be postponing her Unbreakable world tour for “family planning” and “doctors’ orders”.

The news definitely came as a shock to fans and possibly to Janet as well, as the singer was in the midst of preparing for the second leg of her world tour. She asked for fans’ understanding and promised to continue the tour as soon as she could.

Hats off to the mother for putting her health and child in first place.

Dubbed as the “beautiful baby-maker” by good friend Ella Chen, Alyssa Chia is one mummy that is great at maintaining her figure and good looks even on her third and ongoing pregnancy at the age of 42. This comes one year after she gave birth to now social media-famous Bubu at the age of 41, and the actress was applauded for her efficiency in recovering from labour.

The gung ho mother-of-two, who is currently seven-months pregnant, even insisted on raising her two daughters by herself and went on a reality show to prove that mothers don’t have it easy.

The actress also gave birth to her first daughter, Angelina Sun at the age of 30 during her first marriage with Sun Zhihao, before she got together with Xiu Jie Kai, who is nine years her junior.

Although Michelle Reis gave birth to her only child, Jayden Max Hui, at the age of 40, comparably younger than some of the mummies on this list, but she definitely deserves a mention as she is planning to try for a daughter at her current age of 45.

The 1988 Miss Hong Kong winner had her eggs frozen in preparation for her possible second pregnancy, but she was also considering to use a surrogate mother. We’re waiting for your good news, Michelle!

Annie Yi had recently welcomed the arrival of her first daughter this July with husband, Qin Hao at the age of 47. The singer was at risk of suffering from pre-eclampsia (a pregnancy condition that results in sudden rise in blood pressure), but managed to carry her daughter, Milly, to full term healthily.

Despite the difficulties she faced while pregnant with Milly, Annie has been particularly vocal about her wish to have a third child and had admitted that she will indeed be trying for another baby after she recovers from labour.

Annie has a 14 year-old son, Harrison Yu, from her first marriage with Taiwanese singer Harlem Yu.

Ruby Lin’s pregnancy has been kept tightly under wraps, just like her relationship with Wallace Huo. The actress is eight months pregnant currently, but there are little to no details regarding the newlyweds’ first child, including its much speculated about gender. Apart from going on a few dates, both Ruby and Wallace have been living apart after the wedding due to the latter’s work commitments.

With the actress due anytime soon, we sure look forward to hearing more of their little family!