Why ‘Empty Nesters' Keep Reaching the Same Realization
Lauren Sánchez Bezos has revealed she is open to expanding her family with husband Jeff Bezos.
The 56-year-old writer and vice chair of Bezos Earth Fund reflected on married life with the Amazon founder and their blended family in an interview with The New York Times. “I would have another one tomorrow,” she said. “I would have a baby tomorrow.”
Sánchez has three children from previous relationships. Nikko Gonzalez, 25, is her eldest son with former NFL star Tony Gonzalez, and she has two children with her ex‑husband Patrick Whitesell: Evan, 19, and Ella, 18.
Bezos, meanwhile, has four children from his previous marriage to MacKenzie Scott, making the couple's household a blended family of seven children.
Experts say Sánchez's comment suggests a broader demographic shift. For the first time in U.S. history, more babies are now being born to women aged 40 and older than to teenagers, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Births among women in their 40s have surged dramatically since the early 1990s, while teen birth rates have fallen to record lows.
Indeed, in 2023, women aged 30 and older accounted for just over half of all U.S. births-up from roughly 30 percent three decades earlier.
Dr. Iris Insogna, a fertility expert at the Columbia University Fertility Center, said the desire to have children later in life often has as much to do with emotion and timing as biology-particularly for parents whose older children are already grown.
“There are many reasons why an ‘empty nester' might feel compelled to expand their family later in life,” Insogna told Newsweek. “As their younger children grow, there is a sense of a chapter being complete, of a door being closed. Having another child keeps that door open.”
Insogna added that this sense of urgency can intensify as people approach the end of their reproductive years. “The biological drive to reproduce is undeniable,” she said. “As the time approaches when reproduction may become impossible, a strong desire to try again may emerge before it's simply too late.”
While those emotional factors play a powerful role, Insogna said delayed childbearing also reflects modern pressures rather than a lack of interest in parenthood.
“Many women today may choose to delay childbearing due to competing demands on their time,” she added, pointing to education, career advancement, financial stability and other personal priorities. “In the past, delaying childbearing often meant sacrificing the ability to have a biological child.”
By a woman's mid‑40s, spontaneous conception-and even IVF success using eggs-drops to below 5 percent. However, Insogna said the growing use of fertility preservation has dramatically reshaped what is biologically possible.
“Women can now carry pregnancies in their late 40s or 50s using eggs or embryos that they froze at a younger age,” she said. “This is an example of reproductive autonomy, allowing for much greater flexibility and control over the timing of family building.”
That combination of emotional readiness and medical possibility, Insogna said, helps explain why more parents are openly discussing later‑in‑life pregnancy as a realistic option rather than an exception.
Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, our Al assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.
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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 10:07 AM.