Katey Sagal has revealed how she became a mother for the third time at 52, welcoming daughter Esmé through surrogacy after her husband, Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, reconsidered his earlier decision not to have children.
Speaking on the 5 August episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the 72-year-old actor clarified an important distinction: she did not carry Esmé, but she became her mother the moment the child arrived in 2007. 'I had a child at 52 through a surrogate, but I became a mother again at 52,' Sagal told host Ted Danson.
'I Have About Five Minutes Left'
Sagal, whose roles include Peggy Bundy in Married... with Children, Gemma Teller Morrow in Sons of Anarchy and Leela in Futurama, said Sutter initially told her he did not want children. The Golden Globe winner already shared daughter Sarah Grace and son Jackson White with her former husband, Jack White. Sutter, who is six years younger than Sagal, later became their stepfather.
'When we met, he was like, "I don't want to have any kids",' Sagal recalled. 'And I was like, "OK, because I have about five minutes left if you want to have kids".' About five years into their relationship, the couple began seriously discussing parenthood and pursued surrogacy, eventually welcoming Esmé on 10 January 2007.
Saying 'five minutes left' may sound like a joke, but it reflects a biological reality. It shows how quickly conversations about women's lives become countdowns. The NHS says female fertility declines with age and that the decline accelerates during the mid-30s. However, fertility, pregnancy and parenthood are not interchangeable, as Sagal's experience demonstrates.
Parenthood Is Already Happening Later
Sagal's experience is unusual, but the broader shift towards later parenthood is not. Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average age of mothers in England and Wales reached 31.1 in 2025, compared with 26.4 in 1975. The average age of fathers also increased from 29.5 to 34 over the same period.
Medicine still has to account for age-related risks. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine states that carrying a pregnancy later in life may increase the likelihood of complications, particularly after 45. Its 2025 guidance also notes that using a gestational carrier can avoid the health risks associated with personally carrying a pregnancy at an advanced reproductive age.
However, the organisation identifies a gender imbalance in how reproductive ageing is discussed. Women have historically received warnings and faced age restrictions when seeking fertility care, while men have not received equivalent counselling or encountered the same limits.
Its guidance says decisions about assisted reproduction must balance medical evidence, reproductive autonomy, the child's welfare and protection against bias.
A Life Beyond the Countdown
Surrogacy does not make age, health or the practical demands of raising a child irrelevant.
It also remains expensive, legally complicated and inaccessible to many prospective parents.
Sagal's story therefore cannot represent every path to later motherhood, but it does separate the ability to carry a pregnancy from the ability to parent.
Nearly two decades after Esmé's birth, Sagal continues acting while raising and supporting three creative adult children. She said her children sometimes ask why she does not stop working, but she considers work part of the life she still wants to lead. Her answer to the pressure surrounding ageing was direct: 'We continue to live life. We don't just fold up and die.'
