Brigitte Nielsen Talks Getting Pregnant at 54

Last month, actress Brigitte Nielsen gave birth to her fifth child at 54, but how did she “beat the odds”?

Nielsen defied nature with the help of science, freezing her eggs when she was 40. She told People magazine, “If you don't want to use [donor] eggs, you have to preserve your own eggs at a reasonable age for there to be a possibility… I wouldn't even bother trying after age 42.”

At the time, doctors gave her only a 3-4% percent chance of conceiving through IVF. Brigitte admitted, “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 pointed out, “It doesn't come easy or cheap if you do it my way. I want people to know that.”

As for those criticizing her decision to have a baby in her 50s, Brigitte 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?”

“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,” Brigitte emphasized.