Hilary Swank addresses backlash over women having kids later in life after announcing she's pregnant with her third child at 52

Hilary Swank has addressed the backlash over women having children later in life after announcing she's pregnant at 52.

The Yellowjackets actress stunned fans this week when she confirmed she's expecting another baby and showed off her bump in a family Instagram video – three years after she and her husband Philip Schneider, 53, welcomed their twins Ohm and Aya.

She's now opened up about her baby news in an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show – insisting she doesn't understand why older fathers don't face as much criticism as women.

Hilary told the host: 'There's a lot of backlash women get for having children older but not men, which is interesting.'

Drew – who is mother to two children – insisted the double standard is 'weird', adding: 'Men have babies in their like 80s, and that's not a euphemism or a joke.'

The Million Dollar Baby star went on to say: 'You had kids in your 40s, and people weren't always gracious about it.'

Hilary became a first-time mother in 2023 when she was 48, welcoming her twins with her husband Philip, and the actress revealed she was previously scolded by a woman for having children late.

Hilary claimed the unnamed woman told her: 'How dare you? You're too old.' However, the actress explained the criticism stemmed from the woman's own personal tragedy of losing her beloved father when she was in her twenties.

The Oscar-winner said: 'I related to it because my dad [has] also passed, but he was one of my favorite people on earth.

'I thought to myself: 'Well, I would rather be born and have that person that was my favorite person and experience that than not at all.''

The full interview on The Drew Barrymore Show is due to air on October 20.

Hilary confirmed her pregnancy in a fun video featuring herself, her husband Philip and their three-year-old twins dancing with glowsticks painted on their bodies and showing off her growing bump with a tiny glowstick-clad baby.

The actress responded in the comments to a fan who said the news had given her 'hope' for her own future.

Hilary's Instagram follower commented: 'At 39 I'm still single and childless. You are literally giving me hope that the life I want could still happen for me. Congratulations to you and your beautiful family.'

The Oscar-winning star replied: 'Thank you! It can! I always go by the adage, things happen in their time, not ours, and that has always been the case for me.

'But of course trusting that, for me, has always been the hardest part. Wishing you unwavering trust and abundant beauty on your journey!'

Hilary previously revealed the benefit to having her twins later in life is that she gets to be more 'present' in their lives.

She told People magazine: 'It just worked out that I had babies this much later in life.

'It wasn't that I didn't want them earlier. There were a lot of things that kept that from happening, and so I can really take time to be with them.

'I feel like I get a lot of Mother's Days other than actual Mother's Day because of being able to be so present with them.'

Hilary spoke out on her fertility journey last year in an interview with Women's Health, explaining that she froze her eggs at the age of 37, before becoming pregnant with twins aged 47.

'I would have had kids earlier. I'm not saying I actively waited until 47,' she said at the time. 'But that was a magical time in my life, when it all culminated. It was the right time for myriad reasons.'

She said that having 'the ability to freeze my eggs for later' was one of the most important things she has ever done to prepare for the possibility of being a mum, pointing out 'it takes some of the pressure off'. 

She also explained how she was thankful to be an older mum, and doesn't think she would have been the same parent as a younger woman.

'I'm a very different parent than I would've been, even in my early 40s,' she told the magazine. 

'I'm much more patient. I'm much more understanding. I am much more, I think, interested in a different way than I would've been.'

'I'm really interested in their brains. I'm fascinated about what makes them tick. And I have my career that's already established, so I'm not divided.

'I'm able to really sink in and be present with them and be a hands-on parent.'