Late motherhood at 52: How it was for Katey Sagal

Katey Sagal (72) became a mother again at 52. The actress has now revealed how it happened on Ted Danson's podcast "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". It all started with a clear no from her now-husband. When the two met, Kurt Sutter (66) told her: "I don't want children."

Sagal, who is six years older than the "Sons of Anarchy" creator, then set him a clear deadline. "I said, 'Okay, because I have about five minutes left if you want to have kids'", she recalled the conversation from back then.

The change of heart came after five years

Her husband actually changed his mind. "About five years later, we really started talking about it, and then we went through the whole surrogacy process", Sagal remembers. This resulted in a daughter: "That's Esmé, my sweet Esmé, who is 19. She's my favorite right now. Kids, I love you all."

The actress had already written about the painful journey of her desire to have children in her memoir "Grace Notes". In October 1991, she lost her daughter Ruby in the eighth month of pregnancy. After earlier complications, she was later unable to carry a child herself, as "People" quotes from the book. So the couple decided on artificial insemination. The embryos were "not really strong", but on January 10, 2007, Esmé Louise Sutter was born.

Two adult children from first marriage

Esmé is Sagal's third child. Musician Sarah Grace (31) and actor Jackson (30) are from her marriage to drummer Jack Cameron White, who passed away in July 2024. The two were married until 2000, before which Sagal had already walked down the aisle twice.

Katey Sagal became known for her appearance in the sitcom "Married... with Children" and the drama series "Sons of Anarchy", most recently appearing in "One Piece". She also works as a singer and voice actress.

However, her children don't quite understand why their 72-year-old mother keeps taking on one job after another. "Their only issue with me is: Mom, you've been working for so many years, why don't you just take a break for a while?", Sagal reported on the podcast. But she enjoys working too much for that: "For me, that's chilling. I don't like all the free time. And I wouldn't even know what else to do." Her children are nevertheless "really proud" of her.