Brigitte Neilson defends having a baby at 54, calls out sexist double standards

Brigitte Neilson has defended her decision to have a baby at age 54, saying “it’s my life”.

The Danish actor and model, gave birth to her fifth child – Frida – in June after 10 years of IVF treatment.

It’s Neilson’s first child with husband Mattia Dessi, age 39.

Neilson, now 55, has responded to critics who say she is “too old” to have a baby by pointing out that men can have children later in life without receiving the same backlash.

Speaking to People magazine, Nielsen said: “Some women think, ‘Oh my God, I’m too old.’ Well, yeah, I can understand people saying, ‘How dare she?’

“But how many men have their first kids in their 60s and 70s and they never doubt it?”

Neilson also has four adult children: Julian, 34, who she shares with first husband Kasper Winding, Killian, 28, with ex-fiance Mark Gastineau and Douglas, 25, and Raoul, 23, with fourth husband Raoul Meyer.

“Do I understand that [people] are a bit skeptical? Yes, I understand. I also totally respect the fact that not everybody likes it and agrees with it, but it is my life,” she says.

Nielsen says she froze her eggs at age 40 when she and Dessi first met.

“There is a huge disappointment. If you do IVF, 80 percent of the time, it doesn’t work. It’s that phone call going, ‘It’s negative.’ It’s the waiting. It’s a lot. It’s a big, big journey,” she told the publication.

“Another thing is it is expensive. It doesn’t come easy or cheap if you do it my way. I want people to know that.”

The first ever IVF baby, Louise Brown, celebrated her 40th birthday this week, heralding four decades of the breakthrough treatment.

If she’s happy then why does age matter?

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

An IVF clinic is offering couples a ‘no baby, no fee’ promotion but some experts have concerns

Same-sex couple make history in New Zealand by both being named ‘mother’ on baby’s birth certificate

Would you turn to crowdfunding to pay for expensive IVF treatment?