'I became a mum at 51 - we need to have a full-on conversation about age'

As Cameron Diaz, 53, celebrates the arrival of her third child , a fellow later-life mother has warned that while the journey is filled with "gratitude," it also requires an immense amount of "grit." Cameron's husband Benji Madden took to Instagram to share the news on Monday. He shared: "Cameron and I are Happy, Excited, and feeling so BLESSED to announce the birth of our third Child, Nautas Madden. Welcome to the world Son!! We love life with our family- our kids are healthy&happy, and we are grateful!! having a blast. Sending all our best wishes- the Madden Family.” He shared a photo of a ship and the names meaning, which is: "Sailor, navigator, voyager. One who embarks on a journey and fears not the unknown.” Caroline Morgan, 55, welcomed twins at the age of 51 following a harrowing years-long fertility battle. Speaking to the Mirror , the podcaster says it is time to move past the "fairytale" narrative and have "full-on honest conversations around age and fertility and support." She added: "I honestly think later motherhood is beautiful but it's not the fairy tale that people think." Caroline met her partner Richard, a CEO, when she was 44 years old and he was 50. The pair tried conceiving naturally, but after they were unsuccessful decided to try IVF - both healthy and keen to become parents. Unfortunately due to the "postcode lottery" of NHS fertility services, they found their options for IVF were too limited, and opted to go private. This began a long journey, with the couple seeking fertility treatment in Spain. Heartbreakingly, Caroline endured three chemical pregnancies - a very early miscarriage - and then a miscarriage at eight weeks, when she was aged 49. "I just felt really flat, because I'd wanted this for so long," she tells the Mirror about the trauma of the experience. However, partner Richard provided unfailing support to Caroline, and they did four more IVF cycles, falling pregnant on the sixth. At this stage, Caroline was 50, and her partner 57, but they were simply overjoyed to learn they were finally going to become parents, and that they were having twins. Being pregnant with twins at 50 made it "high-risk", and Caroline admits that she suffered from a lot of anxiety whilst she was expecting. "I was so scared of losing the babies, so I was having scans every week," she tells us, adding "I was nervous about my bump and didn't want anyone to come near me. I was huge." She also claimed that at times during appointments, "I felt a bit judged in terms of my age. Even the look you get from 'what's your date of birth?' Then they go, 'oh'." 30 weeks into the pregnancy , Caroline's waters broke, and on April 19 at 10:03 and 10:04am, her babies were delivered - first a 4.5lb boy and then a 4lb girl - by c-section at Royal Derby Hospital. Seeing them for the first time, she says: "In that moment, I felt like I was dreaming. "But I felt like they were meant to be with me. Almost like, 'why have you taken so long to get to me?' They were the cutest little babies." Caroline - whose twins are now two-years-old - started a podcast called Motherhood In Stereo, which sees her breakdown the reality of becoming a mum later in life, the good and the bad, as she chats with experts and other parents. Discussing the reaction to Cameron Diaz's announcement, Caroline says, "I think women are often made to feel like there's a deadline on motherhood. So I think stories like Cameron Diaz really matter. But alongside the joy, there needs to be more honesty, I think. Later motherhood can be really incredible, but it can be very exhausting and overwhelming, and very real. As a twin mum in my fifties, I've experienced both sides of that, the grit and the gratitude," she tells us. "Later motherhood is beautiful but it's not the fairy tale that people think," she explains, adding that the actress has not made public the details of her pregnancy journey and that no one else has a "right" to that information, saying that instead it should be a moment of "celebration". "If it was a man," Caroline points out, "and he was 53, 54, 65, 75, 80, nobody would bat an eyelid." The podcaster adds that "Even if she wasn't in the public eyes, this has been going on for years. This is not a new thing, women having babies in their 50s. This is normal, it's just that nobody's been talking about it. And I think somebody who has a platform like her, she's brave enough and got the courage to let people into her private world . She doesn't have to, but she has." She added: "It's amazing to see women later in life having children. But the danger is when it looks easy, because that can create an unrealistic expectation for the women who may face a very difficult journey. So although Cameron's got a platform to show her happiness, it might not be the same route for everybody else. So I think it's really important that people understand that." However, Cameron Diaz has, the podcaster points out, made a point of "aging gracefully". "She's never had Botox, she has never had any lip fillers, she's never had anything that's changed her look. She's growing old gracefully, but she's fit and healthy. I think she's an inspiration to all women out there, even if they don't want to have children naturally. If you want surrogacy, or they don't want children, she's just showing that age is just, it is just a number, go out there and get what you want, whenever you want to do it. I think she's fabulous." Caroline tells the Mirror that despite the challenges that come with later in life motherhood, it also comes in her experience with a unique set of advantages. "I have more patience, and I'm more present because I've lived my life and I've had many lives in terms of my career. I've had a lot of success. "So, I feel very confident, I feel very comfortable, and life feels meaningful. I really appreciate all the really small moments. I have a lot of gratitude. I don't take motherhood for granted. Everything I do now, I do for my kids. I'm more settled in my own life financially. I have a home, I have my finances in check. I know who I am as a person, I know who I am as a woman." Though she points out that dealing with the realities of perimenopause, and new motherhood is a lot to contend with: "Not only are you going through an up and down emotional rollercoaster after you've had your babies, you've got perimenopause as well. So, that cocktail on top of emotions, I don't know where one finished, and one started". Overall, Caroline encourages women to follow their dreams and proactively go after what they want in life, especially when it comes to parenthood. "Don't let people stop you because of your age. With parenting, what matters most isn't the age of a parent, it'’s the environment the child is raised in. Loving, responsive, emotionally available parenting will always matter more than the number on someone’s birth certificate."