Diane Kruger says she is ‘glad’ she didn’t have a baby in her 30s: ‘I would have absolutely resented it’

Diane Kruger has spoken candidly about why she is “glad” she did not have a child when she was in her 30s.

The Troy star, 45, who gave birth to the three-year-old daughter she shares with fiancé Norman Reedus when she was 42, reflected on the decision to have a child later in life during an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, where she revealed that she thinks she would have “resented” becoming a mother earlier.

“I am so glad I did not have a kid at 30. I think I would have absolutely resented it for all the things that you have to give up, because today I am happy to do so,” she explained. “I have been to every party, I have been to every country that I wanted to visit. So I’m 100 per cent ready and willing to give my kid that attention.

“But at 30, I know I would not have been ready to do this properly.”

While Kruger is glad she waited to become a mother, she also revealed that her daughter was a “surprise” and that she wasn’t sure if she was ever going to have a child.

“She was definitely a surprise. I sort of had given up on the idea of that happening. And then you know, things happen,” she told the outlet while smiling.

During the interview, Kruger also expressed her gratitude for her own mother’s involvement in her daughter’s upbringing, as she noted that they are getting to make up for lost time during the actor’s own childhood.

“I left home at 15, so we didn’t get to spend the fun years together. But now because of my daughter, it seems like we’re making up for lost times,” she said.

This is not the first time that Kruger has opened up about the ways being a mother can be a life-changing experience, as The 355 star told Women’s Health in December 2021 that “everything changed with motherhood,” and that “it’s such a cliché, but it’s true”.

According to Kruger, one of the main differences she’s noticed is how she looks at work, with the actor explaining that, although she cherishes working “more today than I did before,” she now looks at “everything from a different angle”.

“It’s not: What’s it going to do for my career? It’s more about: Could it fit into my schedule? How can I make it work? Is it going to be worthwhile?” she explained.

Kruger and The Walking Dead star welcomed their daughter, whose name the couple has kept private, in November 2018.

Reedus is also father to son, Mingus, 22, who he shares with model Helena Christensen. While speaking with the Sunday Telegraph, Kruger revealed that she does not consider herself Mingus’s stepmother, as she met her fiancé’s son when he was 16, and that they are instead “friends”.

“He was 16 when I met him. He doesn’t live with his dad, so I would only see him sporadically,” she said, adding: “I’m not his stepmom… we’re friends.”