EXCLUSIVE: Pregnancy at 50 was 'a breeze' says former Shameless star Tina Malone - and becoming an older mother is the best thing she's ever done

 

• Tina Malone, 50, became mother to baby daughter Flame in December
• Says she is fitter, healthier and in a better financial position at 50 than at 30
• Hopes to inspire other women to think about becoming an older mother

By Ruth Styles
  She's famous for playing brash, foul-mouthed matriarch 'Mimi' Maguire in Shameless but now Tina Malone is to appear in a drama of an altogether more intimate sort.
The actress stars in new fly-on-the-wall series, Tina Malone: Pregnant At 50, which documents her journey to motherhood via a gruelling course of IVF treatment.
Now Malone, who gave birth to baby daughter Flame in December, says she's never been happier - sleepless nights or no sleepless nights.

Happier than ever: Actress Tina Malone cradles her much-wanted  two-month-old daughter Flame

'Even when I was single, I said I wanted another baby,' explains Malone, speaking to MailOnline from her Liverpool home, Flame sleeping peacefully beside her as she chats.
'But I didn’t meet my ideal partner until I was 45. I'm not saying that every woman should go out and have a baby at 50 but because of financial implications, many women are having children later in life.'

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Malone's journey to motherhood began after she met husband Paul Chase, 31, a former army officer and personal trainer, and the couple decided that they wanted a family.
After spending a year preparing for pregnancy, Tina and Paul decided that they would make three attempts at IVF - and were thrilled to discover that Tina was pregnant after the first try.
'We said would give it three goes and on the first time, we got pregnant. I spent 12 months getting my body ready, so lucky us! It doesn’t always work that way.
'Then,' she adds, 'I breezed through the pregnancy and a 6lbs 7oz, absolutely beautiful little blondie arrived. She's just perfect. Just stunning.'

Right time: Tina says she was financially, physically and mentally better prepared for motherhood this time

 

Fame: Tina Malone shot to fame after playing Mimi Maguire in Channel 4 drama Shameless

Malone, who also has an adult daughter Danielle, 31, says she and her husband are now contemplating having another child.
'If we were going to do it, we would do within the next 12 months,' she explains. 'We've got eight embryos left and it would be nice for Flame to have a baby brother or sister.'
She does, however, admit that wonderful though motherhood at 50 is, had she left it later still, things could have been more difficult.
'Once you're past 55, its cutting it a bit fine,' she says. 'I've got good Irish Catholic genes though; most of my family have lived into their late 90s.
'It's all to do with physicality, how you are,' she continues. 'Doing the documentary has shown me how difficult having children can be for other women so our story is incredibly uplifting.
'You get out of life what you put in – nothing ventured, nothing gained.'
Malone also got a few choice words for doubters who say women shouldn't try to have babies when they're older.
'I think a lot of these scientists have a degree of the back of a cornflake packet!,' she exclaims. 'People read too much and become paranoid and insecure.
'I’m older but I have an abundance of energy. Some of my family and friends were reticent because of the age and health implications but now they’re both ecstatic.
'It's all to do with mind over matter. I’ve wanted this baby and I’m in better place now at 50. Physically, mentally, emotionally, financially better now than I was in my twenties. I'd do it all again tomorrow.'

Now for the next one! Tina says she would do it all again 'tomorrow' and would love to give Flame a sibling

Meet the baby: Tina and her husband Paul showed off their new daughter on GMTV shortly after her birth

She now hopes that her example will help inspire other women who hope to have children but for one reason or another, have had to leave it until later in life.
'I do hope to inspire older women who want children,' she says. 'There was no question for me about whether I could cope physically.
'I can work 100 hour weeks, that’s just how I am, so sitting up with my beautiful child is heaven for me.
'But I would say to older women, why would you care what other people think? For me, unless they pay my wages or my mortgage or are my close family and friends, then I really don’t care.
'People need to get a life and think about far more important things than whether Tina Malone has had a baby at 50.
'If I can inspire anyone to go to their husbands and ask to try for baby, then brilliant – I’ve done better than I ever expected.'