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Family dynamics

19th Sep 2018

‘I hope I live long enough to see him grow’: Maura Derrane on becoming a mum in her 40s

The presenter has a four-year-old son.

Anna O'Rourke

'I hope I live long enough to see him grow': Maura Derrane on becoming a mum in her 40s

There are lots of benefits to waiting a little later to start your family.

You know yourself better, you have more time to advance your career – but it does also mean that you’re a little older as your kids grow up.

Maura Derrane has admitted that this is a concern of hers with her four-year-old son Cal.

The RTÉ presenter became a mum when she was 44 and says that she hopes she lives to see Cal well into adulthood.

A post shared by Maura Derrane (@mauraderrane) on

“As an older mother, the only thing you can hope for your child is that you’ll live long enough to see them grow up,” she told the RTÉ Guide.

“Sometimes I think ‘Oh Lord, I’ll be 80 and Cal will be in his 30s’ or at least I hope I will.”

Maura, who is married to Waterford Fine Gael TD John Deasy, said recently that even though he’s four, the couple have decided to keep him from starting school.

“I’m an Irish mother, I won’t let him go!

“I think he’s too young and my husband thinks he’s too young.

A post shared by Maura Derrane (@mauraderrane) on

“There’s an innocence about him so I’d rather keep him for another year. He’s in montessori now and he will be long enough in school.

“I also think socially Cal has a little bit of growing up to do. Academically, he’s writing and reading for some time, he was always a bookish child.”