How DID Naomi Campbell welcome a daughter at 50?

Naomi Campbell introduced her daughter to the world in a new British Vogue cover story yesterday, sparking fresh interest in the supermodel’s journey to motherhood. 

The 51-year-old confirmed for the first time that her nine-month-old daughter, whose name was not been revealed, was not adopted, adding: ‘She’s my child.’ 

The comment has renewed interest in how the baby was conceived, carried and delivered, with widespread speculation that Naomi used a surrogate. 

However there is also the possibility that Naomi secretly carried the baby herself and concealed a petite baby bump in flowing clothes or fabric that tricked the eye.   

Naomi Campbell introduced her daughter to the world in a new British Vogue cover story, sparking fresh speculation about the supermodel’s journey to motherhood

In May 2021 Naomi stunned the world when she announced the arrival of a baby girl, sharing a photo of her feet on Instagram with the caption: ‘A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother. 

‘So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love.’

Speaking to British Vogue she revealed just a small number of her wide circle of friends and family knew she was becoming a parent. 

‘I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her,’ she said. ‘But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.’

Miss Campbell hinted at the joy to come in an interview with i-D magazine in spring 2021.

She said: ‘2021 is going to be a great year, we’ve just got a few more bumps to get through first. I believe that this is going to be an amazing year. Actually, I don’t just believe it will be – I feel it will be.’

However the lack of details on the baby’s birth have led to questions. Here, British fertility and parenting experts discuss the different routes to motherhood Naomi might have taken… 

MAY 2021: Naomi announced she is a mother in May, four years after crediting science with giving her the opportunity to start a family ‘whenever she wants’

DID NAOMI CARRY THE BABY?  

At the time of her daughter’s birth, fans and commentators noted that Naomi’s apparent lack of baby bump in the months leading up to her daughter’s birth meant it was unlikely she carried the baby herself. 

The model appeared on at least two catwalks in the four months before her baby’s arrival: Fendi’s Spring/Summer show at Paris Fashion Week in February and Michael Kors at New York Fashion week on April 8, five-and-a-half weeks before the birth.

‘It looks to me as if she really could have been pregnant,’ explains baby and parenting author and expert Rachel Fitzd, looking at photos.

‘Some women barely show at all until the later stages of pregnancy, especially if they are tall, and the way a baby is lying and the clothes we choose to wear can have a big impact on how pregnant we look.’ 

NATURAL CONCEPTION

Statistically, the least likely option is that Naomi Campbell conceived naturally. She would have fallen pregnant at 50, which, while not impossible, is highly, highly unusual.

After the age of 30, the rate of decline in both quality and quantity of eggs rapidly speeds up.

In a woman’s 20s, there’s a one in three chance of fertilisation per cycle, compared with a one in five chance in their 30s. 

At 40, this drops to roughly one in 20 per cycle. 

Between the ages of roughly 40 and 55, there is the added issue of the menopause, during which a woman stops having periods. In the UK, the average age for a woman to reach the menopause is 51.

This means it is very unlikely for a woman in her 50s, like Naomi, to conceive without any scientific intervention. 

JANUARY 2021: Naomi with supermodel BFF Christy Turlington outside a Paris Fashion Week show. Her daughter was born in May that year

PREGNANCY VIA IVF

It is equally likely that a 50-year-old woman can fall pregnant using IVF using her own eggs. 

‘In truth, although the success rates for IVF and other forms of assisted fertility have improved over the decades, the success rates are still not as good as some might think,’ explains Rachel, who is a speaker at The Baby Show at London Excel next month. 

‘The younger the woman undergoing treatment the higher the likelihood of success. 

‘So, a woman aged under 35 has somewhere in the region of a 30 per cent chance of success whereas for a woman aged 35-40 this is nearer 20-25 per cent chance. 

‘Once women reach 43 and over then success drops off markedly and is at about 5 per cent.’

Celebrities have been criticised for giving ‘ordinary’ women false hope about the success of IVF treatment for older mothers.   

‘Celebrity pregnancies at advanced ages give women false hope about what is actually possible,’ Professor Joyce Harper, reproductive scientist and author of the book Your Fertile Years: What You Need to Know to Make Informed Choices, told the Guardian. 

‘The reality is that it is very, very unlikely for a woman to naturally become pregnant at 50. And, what’s more, it is equally unlikely that she can do so using IVF.’ 

USING DONOR EGGS 

The figures improve dramatically if a woman decides to use donor eggs from a younger woman.

A woman in her 40s ‘might reasonably hope for a 30 per cent likelihood of success or greater’, according to Rachel. 

There is also the possibility that Naomi used her own eggs which she froze when she was younger. 

Rachel explains: ‘Because our eggs deteriorate in quality as we age, it is wise to freeze our eggs when we are in our 20s or early 30s. After that, our chances of success start to drop off.

‘In order to make sure there are eggs to “harvest” women take medications to stimulate them to produce plenty of eggs. 

‘These are then taken from the ovaries under sedation using a needle guided through the vagina into the ovary to take up to 15 eggs at a time. These eggs are then quickly frozen and kept until needed.’

Freezing eggs costs between £4,000 and £7,000 in the UK.

In both instances, a woman can use donor sperm, either from a clinic or from someone known to the mother.   

JULY 2021: Naomi looked to be taking to motherhood swimmingly as she strutted through the streets with her pram in tow while looking chic

SURROGACY 

There has been widespread speculation that Naomi used a surrogate, a method which is becoming increasingly common. 

Over the last 20 years in the UK, the number of parents choosing surrogacy has quadrupled, with 413 cases registered in 2021 compared to just 117 in 2011. 

It has celebrity fans including Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jones, Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. 

Rachel explains: ‘In the UK surrogacy is perfectly legal but it cannot be made as a financial arrangement. In other countries it is different and the process is more of a business arrangement. 

‘It is legal to give reasonable expenses to a UK surrogate but there is a fair bit of debate about what is a reasonable expense. 

‘Basically it means that the surrogate should not be out of pocket as a result of her carrying a baby for another person.’  

With surrogacy there are two approaches: gestational, or host, surrogacy, and straight, or traditional surrogacy. 

Gestational surrogacy 

With host surrogacy, embryos made using the egg and sperm from the parents are transferred via IVF into the surrogate.  

The surrogate is not genetically connected the the child conceived. The embryos are either fully made up of both intended parents genetics, or made up of one intended parents genetics plus either donor eggs or donor sperm. 

In Naomi’s case, this could mean her egg and a donor sperm were used to create an embryo that was then transferred to a surrogate. 

Traditional surrogacy    

Straight surrogacy uses the surrogates own eggs to conceive.

This can take place at home using artificial insemination, using an insemination kit or via a clinic using IUI or IVF with the surrogate acting a known egg donor.

Naomi’s maternal nature: What the supermodel has previously said about motherhood 

Mix up: In 2019 Naomi denied claims she had adopted a child after fans got the wrong end of the stick when she posted a picture cradling a newborn baby on Instagram on Mother’s Day

Miss Campbell has undertaken charitable work in orphanages for more than a decade and was very keen to have children with her long-term boyfriend, Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin, whom she dated from 2008 to 2013, but Doronin was married.

A friend told the Daily Mail: ‘She was devastated not to have a baby with Doronin and he was her great love, but he didn’t want to commit, so in a way this is no surprise.

‘She has talked a lot about having children, and feeling very maternal, but did say that it just was not going to happen for her.’

Recently she dated rapper Skepta and had a fling with former One Direction star Liam Payne in 2019.

In 2017 she told ES magazine: ‘I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want.’

Asked if she would have the child herself rather than adopt, she replied, ‘Maybe’, but she went on to add: ‘I do want a father figure. I think it’s important.’

In 2018, she said: ‘I’d love to have kids. I don’t discount anything in life. I love kids and always will.

‘When I’m around children, I become a child myself. That’s the little girl I don’t ever want to lose.’    

The model has kept her daughter out of the spotlight and only offered a partial glimpse of the baby’s face in the British Vogue shoot. 

She has also been spotted taking her daughter for strolls in New York.