Actor Claire Danes said her unexpected pregnancy at 44 prompted a sense of "shame" she had not anticipated.
During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, Danes, 46, discussed the circumstances surrounding the 2023 arrival of her third child and the emotions she experienced when learning she was pregnant at an age she believed made conception unlikely.
Danes recounted the moment to hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett while they were speaking about her home, a brownstone she and her husband Hugh Dancy moved into after learning they will be expanding their family.
"I was so old when that happened. I was 44," she said, adding that she "didn't think it was possible" to become pregnant again.
Danes and Dancy, 50, are also parents to sons born in 2012 and 2018.
Danes said the pregnancy was unplanned and stirred complex reactions. She described being caught off guard not only by the news but by her own response to it.
"I did not foresee this at all. And it was weird. Suddenly, I felt like a funny shame," she said.
She added: "Like I was naughty. Like I had been caught fornicating past the point I was meant to. No, it was weird, and it was like I found an edge that I hadn't been quite conscious of — like I was going outside of the parameters a little bit. That was wild."
Danes said the feeling did not stem from the pregnancy but from realizing she held unconscious expectations about age and motherhood. She said those emotions surfaced quickly and took her by surprise, even as she and Dancy adjusted to the news of a third child.
During the interview, Bateman asked whether the new baby was a girl, which Danes confirmed.
He then joked that she would have "been p***ed off" if the couple had welcomed another son.
"I got really, really lucky," Danes said. "I mean, my OB-GYN was like, 'You know you're having another boy.' But no!"
Danes and Dancy met in 2006 while filming "Evening," in which they portrayed romantic partners.
Danes is currently appearing in Netflix's thriller "The Beast in Me," co-starring Matthew Rhys. The series began streaming on Nov. 13.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.