Victoria Derbyshire 56 Reveals She’d Still Love to Have a Baby I Could Have a Newborn Now Isn’t That Mad
Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire recently opened up about her enduring desire for another child and her reflections on motherhood, despite being in her 50s. In a candid discussion on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, the mother of two sons, Ollie, 20, and Joe, 17, revealed that her love for nurturing a newborn has never faded. “I feel like, obviously I can’t now, I’m in my 50s and I haven’t had a period since chemotherapy,” she shared told the Express. “But I feel like I could have a baby now, isn’t that mad? I love being the mum of a newborn.”
Victoria, 56, shared heartfelt memories from her past pregnancies, including the joy of having her first son after she and her husband, journalist Mark Sandell, endured a miscarriage. Reflecting on the loss, she revealed, “My boys know that I had that miscarriage, and they fondly think, oh, what if it had been a sister?” The presenter went on to explain that her sons sometimes wonder about the sibling they never had, imagining a sister and pondering what she might have been named, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The miscarriage itself happened unexpectedly while Victoria was on a plane, and she recalls dealing with it in a practical manner, saying, “I was just so sort of practical and pragmatic; it was like, well, this is happening now, and I’m going to work, and I just sort of carried on.” Looking back, she admitted that she may not have allowed herself enough time to process her grief but found that discussing it with her sons years later was “cathartic.”
When she fell pregnant with Ollie after the miscarriage, Victoria recalls feeling only joy. She described her pregnancy experience warmly, saying, “I was happy to go through the pregnancy, happy to eat loads of food and, you know, put loads of weight on. I loved it, I loved it, yeah.”
After 17 years together, Victoria and Mark married in 2018, and their sons walked her down the aisle, adding a meaningful touch to the ceremony. She warmly recommends others consider having their children present at their weddings, reflecting, “It was stunning. And I can recommend having your own children at your wedding, I really mean that. They loved it. They took so much from it. They were a part of Mark’s groom speech; it was just amazing.”
Throughout her conversation, Victoria Derbyshire shared her enduring love for motherhood and memories of family life, emphasizing the joy of parenthood and the meaningful connections built with her children despite life’s challenges.