Brigitte Nielsen is aware of everything that is going through your head. She is sixty years old, which is much too old to be a mother to a child of five.
“When I got pregnant at 55, half the world was saying that, including my four older sons,” says Nielsen, who is now the mother of a 5-year-old girl named Frida and who gave birth to her when she was 55 years old. (She is also the mother of four boys who are older than she is; their ages vary from 28 to 39.)
She tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview published this week that there is no such thing as being “too old.” “But first of all, there’s no such thing as ‘too old,'” she says.
“We don’t say that to men who have children when they are in their 60s, 70s, or even 80s!” She continues, “Take Robert De Niro for example. He is 79 years old, and he has a grandson who is 7 months old.
In point of fact, Nielsen believes that her years of experience and maturity make her an exceptional mother.
“You know how grandchildren will tell you that their grandparents are the best? I have the impression that I have that mentality and that attitude. I have the patience and that additional bit of love to offer today, and I guess it’s because I’m at an age where a grandma would have those traits.
She goes on to say, “When I was a younger mom, I was often juggling the fact that I was single with the fact that I was on a plane or on a movie set.” The spotlight is now on Frida. She goes on to say that she is pleasantly surprised to find that she is even less exhausted now than she was with her previous children.
Nielsen, who now resides in Marbella, Spain, with her Italian husband Mattia Dessi, 45 (they got acquainted when she was 42 and he was 27), claims that she couldn’t be happier with how her life has shaped out in any manner, and that she couldn’t be happier with how her life has turned out in any way. She has given up drinking and smoking, and now she is free to dedicate her life entirely to raising her kid.
“I had a long time to prepare for Frida,” says Nielsen, mentioning the fact that she and Dessi tried in vitro fertilization for a total of thirteen years before it was successful.
“The physician cautioned me to have an accurate outlook on my possibilities. Because doctor had informed me that I only had a two and a half percent chance of becoming pregnant, the fact that it really occurred was nothing short of incredible. Fear followed, due to the fact that I was at such a high danger due to my age of 54.
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As things worked out, she had no need to be concerned. “It was the easiest pregnancy I’ve ever had,” she adds of this one specifically. “Perhaps because I had already completed the task four times, and my priorities had shifted over time.” It was a decision that I made in response to a strong need I had inside me.
She continues, “However, with Frida I may have remained pregnant for an additional year. When it was finally time for me to give birth, everything was so simple and wonderful.
Pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, which hits newsstands on Monday, for access to exclusive photographs and further information on the Brigitte Nielsen story.
