EastEnders star Kellie Bright hits back at criticism over having baby at 44
23 March 2021, 10:28
EastEnders' Kellie Bright has slammed criticism after falling pregnant with her third child at 44-years-old.
Kellie Bright recently revealed she is expecting her third baby with husband Paul Stocker.
But now the EastEnders star has been forced to hit back after receiving criticism for going through IVF treatment at the age of 44.
Kellie, who plays Linda Carter in the BBC soap, told OK! magazine: "First of all, if I was a man having my third child at 44, no one would bat an eyelid.
"Don't forget my husband is much younger than me.
"He's in his thirties, so he's still running around after the kids, which is great. We met when I was 31 and I didn't want to jump straight into having kids."
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After explaining she would have ‘finished having babies at the end of her thirties’ if it were possible, she added: "But who gets to pick their life like that?
"We had fertility struggles we didn't expect and had to just deal with it."
Kellie and Paul are already parents to two sons, 9-year-old Freddie and 4-year-old Gene.
While Freddie was conceived naturally, Kellie became pregnant with Gene at 39-years-old after undergoing IVF for the first time.
The couple then had to use the three embryos they had left trying for their third baby, with the first two not working out.
Luckily, Kellie had success with the final embryo, and the couple will welcome their baby in August 2021.
Despite originally planning to try for another baby at the end of 2019, the coronavirus pandemic meant they had to put this on hold.
"This baby inside me now was the last one we had,” Kellie said, adding: “The last chance of pregnancy, because at 44 we were not going through IVF again. It was a rollercoaster.
"I believe it was meant to be. [It was] a real roller-coaster."
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