Claire Danes Recalls ‘Meltdown’ Over Getting Pregnant in Her 40s
“I burst into tears.”
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Claire Danes was more than surprised to learn she was pregnant at 44. The actress, now 46, described her initial reaction to the news as a “pure meltdown” in an episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler.
Danes recalled a 2022 story about the lead-up to discovering her pregnancy, which she shared with host Amy Poehler.
“So, this is a funny story that I’m going to share about my best friend,” Danes said. “We had this spa day scheduled, and I admitted to her [that] I wasn’t coping very well with the heat. I was like, I’m sorry, I’m such a p---y. I’ve got to get out of here.”
She continued, “And finally, I admitted, I was like, ‘You know, I totally lost my mind last night and just decided that I was pregnant. I went down this crazy rabbit hole and finally looked up, what are the odds of naturally conceiving at 44?’ And they’re like less than one percent.”
Claire Danes at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes in January 2026.
Chad Salvador/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty Images
Given the statistics, Danes considered the possibility of being pregnant “ridiculous.” Still, she decided to take a test—though not before indulging in a few mixed drinks that evening.
“I had two strong cocktails when we had dinner,” Danes said. “And then first thing in the morning, I hit the CVS, and it was just like bold caplocks, you know? PREGNANT! And I burst into tears.”
“Did you burst into tears, like, ‘Oh no, I have to be pregnant again’?” Poehler asked.
“Yes! Totally!” Danes confirmed.
Claire Danes at "Fleishman is in Trouble" event on May 09, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.
Leon Bennett/WireImage
“I called my OB-GYN in convulsive tears,” she said, adding, “it was a pure...like, it was all meltdown.”
She and her husband, actor Hugh Dancy, 50, are also parents to Cyrus, 13, and Rowan, 7. “They’re 5 years apart, each kid, none of this was by design,” Danes said.
“I didn’t know it was physically possible. I was 44, and actually, Rowan was very hard-earned. I had to do two rounds of IVF. It just was so unlikely,” she told Poehler, referring to in vitro fertilization, a set of procedures often used by couples who struggle to conceive without assistance.
Danes said the experience of her third pregnancy was overall “deeply humbling.”
Regardless of her initial reaction, Danes admitted she couldn’t be happier with the outcome, telling Poehler, “This beautiful girl emerged, and she’s the best, and none of it was up to me, and I’m just delighted.”