{"id":1961894,"date":"2025-08-15T11:01:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1961894"},"modified":"2025-08-15T11:01:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:01:49","slug":"i-became-a-dad-at-58-its-not-too-old-to-be-a-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/i-became-a-dad-at-58-its-not-too-old-to-be-a-father\/","title":{"rendered":"I became a dad at 58 \u2013 it\u2019s not too old to be a father"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While there were times in my younger years when I would have liked to become a father, there&#8217;s no way it would have worked because of my career as a film director. My job involved a lot of travelling and working anti-social hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I had my own production company and worked with the likes of Pink Floyd and Sir Paul McCartney. At one point, I ran Elstree Studios. I was always busy, so having children back then would have been very difficult as I was never at home. A lot of marriages in my industry didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I was with my partner, Joan, for 20 years, having got together when I was 36 and she was 57. Sadly, she had a massive stroke and I was her carer for five years. I later went on to marry my second wife when she was 28 and I was 56.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Being in my late 50s when I became a dad, I didn\u2019t have to go to work. Michael was born when I was 58 and Rosie when I was 61. My family had moved to Northern Portugal by then, where I still live. By this point, I was lucky enough to be financially comfortable \u2013 I realise this isn\u2019t the case for everybody.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The number of babies born to fathers over the age of 60 went up by 14.2% in 2024 compared to the year before, according to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/peoplepopulationandcommunity\/birthsdeathsandmarriages\/livebirths\/bulletins\/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales\/2024\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:ONS figures;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">ONS figures<\/a>, and this doesn\u2019t surprise me. In some cases, like with me, older men may have better financial circumstances and be less tied to their career than younger men.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal dialogue\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Having children in later life, Barry found he was able to spend plenty of time with Michael and Rosie. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"having-time-to-raise-young-children\">Having time to raise young children<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When the children were small, my now ex-wife who was half my age, was running her own business, and I was able to put time and effort into raising the kids. I would take them to the nursery school in the town where we lived and would often take the neighbours\u2019 children too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Once Michael started school, I would run through the times tables with him on the way there. I\u2019d take him to tennis lessons and we&#8217;d also play football and cricket, as well as going swimming and fishing together.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Barry, pictured with daughter Rosie, says where he lives in Portugal, people are less judgemental about older parents than in the UK. (Supplied)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1280\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/kltOaWAyWGRp_ZgX4SlE7w--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-08\/c39c8480-73a8-11f0-bdff-6c5a9e70042a\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal dialogue\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Barry, pictured with daughter Rosie, says where he lives in Portugal, people are less judgemental about older parents than in the UK. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"mistaken-for-their-grandfather\"><strong>Mistaken for their grandfather<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I was lucky that I didn\u2019t find the physical demands of having young children too much. I have plenty of energy and I\u2019ve always managed on a few hours\u2019 sleep a night anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When I married, my sister asked, &#8220;Can\u2019t you find anyone your own age?&#8221; But I\u2019ve never had any judgemental comments about becoming a father at 58. To the people who ran the local nursery school, I was just the strange old English guy with two young children who couldn\u2019t speak much Portuguese. In a place where most people are holiday-makers, people just accepted me. I think guys are older in Portugal when they get married anyway.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"my-6 text-lg md:my-10 md:text-xl mx-auto max-w-[80%] text-center md:max-w-[500px]\">\n<blockquote class=\"relative\">\n<p class=\"font-semibold md:font-bold\">I have plenty of energy and I\u2019ve always managed on a few hours\u2019 sleep a night anyway.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The only difficult time was once being mistaken for the children\u2019s grandfather. We were on a fairground ride in the UK and when the man who ran it mentioned me being their grandad, the kids had a quick answer \u2013 &#8220;No, he\u2019s our dad and our grandad (my ex-wife&#8217;s father) is six months younger.&#8221; To be honest, I found it funny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I\u2019ve never noticed the children being embarrassed about me being an old bloke either. Their biggest pleasure seems to be pushing me in the swimming pool. A couple of years back they made me watch Clarkson\u2019s Farm, telling me that\u2019s what I would be like if I ran a farm, i.e. making tons of mistakes and then joking about it. The nature of my work has made me used to being adaptable. I hope the kids are like that too.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Barry leads an active life and says his kids always loved 'pushing him in the swimming pool'. (Supplied)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/7zWi9iq0AL9XmK.kLJyI_Q--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-08\/f78b5910-73a8-11f0-bd9d-3b07f9135c31\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal dialogue\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Barry leads an active life and says his kids always loved &#8216;pushing him in the swimming pool&#8217;. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"providing-an-inheritance\">Providing an inheritance<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I\u2019ve always socialised with people younger than myself. I\u2019ve got friends in Portugal whose children are the same age as my kids. I may be a generation older than the other parents around me, but we all get on well. Age doesn\u2019t matter. It never did when I was with Joan, who was 21 years older than me.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"my-6 text-lg md:my-10 md:text-xl mx-auto max-w-[80%] text-center md:max-w-[500px]\">\n<blockquote class=\"relative\">\n<p class=\"font-semibold md:font-bold\">I&#8217;ve never noticed the children being embarrassed of me being an old bloke<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Maybe one advantage of children having an older dad is that we\u2019ll die in time to provide money for them to buy a house when they need one! While I have no major regrets, I do wish I\u2019d become a father earlier as I would have loved to have more children \u2013 they\u2019re great to have around, although it\u2019s not so easy when they become grumpy teenagers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Barry's daughter Rosie, pictured, is now aged 17 and lives in the UK with her mum. (Supplied)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"607\" height=\"911\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/hLaXczK5wsR4jGWmPJ.txQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTE0NDE7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-08\/307beaa0-73a9-11f0-b94f-999a0b3deb87\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Barry&#8217;s daughter Rosie, pictured, is now aged 17 and lives in the UK with her mum. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"facing-the-future\">Facing the future<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Since my ex-wife left and moved the children back to the UK when they were 11 and eight, it\u2019s sad that I don\u2019t see them more often. Michael is doing a mathematics degree, and I do worry about what he\u2019ll do afterwards. Rosie wants to be a Formula One engineer, and I\u2019d love to see her progress. I take great pleasure in their enthusiasm and excitement about the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I\u2019m conscious of the fact that I may not be alive when significant things happen in their lives, though.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"my-6 text-lg md:my-10 md:text-xl mx-auto max-w-[80%] text-center md:max-w-[500px]\">\n<blockquote class=\"relative\">\n<p class=\"font-semibold md:font-bold\">I\u2019m conscious of the fact that I may not be alive when significant things happen in their lives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I hope I get to see my grandchildren one day, but if my children follow my example of having children late in life, the reality is I won\u2019t be here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I know some people say it\u2019s selfish to have children later in life, but I don\u2019t think it is. In Portugal, everyone around here knows Michael and Rosie are my children and they don\u2019t bat an eyelid about my age.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When I took the children to stay in a youth hostel in the Peak District, which was full of mums and dads cooking with their kids and chatting, there was me, this old bloke with my two kids, and hardly anyone spoke to us. So, I guess they found it weird.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"keeping-me-young\">Keeping me young<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">My children have impacted my career choices in the last few years. Firstly, I wrote a book for children called Freedom Cats that I\u2019m hoping to get published.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Then, when Michael was 11, he suggested I do something to tackle climate change. Finding out that the UK has the most heat-inefficient housing in the world, I founded <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/ccetv.co\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:CCETC.co;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">CCETC.co<\/a>, a TV channel that demonstrates how to make houses energy-efficient, helping save both money and the planet. It\u2019s my children who inspired me to do this. They have kept me up-to-date on what matters to young people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">They\u2019re not ashamed of me being an old dad either \u2013 in fact, a friend mentioned after a big lunch with friends how Michael seems to love listening to my film directing stories, so I guess I\u2019m not too much of an embarrassment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Read more on parenting:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.style.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While there were times in my younger years when I would have liked to become a father, there&#8217;s no way it would have worked because of my career as a film director. My job involved a lot of travelling and working anti-social hours. I had my own production company and worked with the likes of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1961895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[345778,345779,345777],"class_list":["post-1961894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-elstree-studios","tag-portugal","tag-son-michael"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/I-became-a-dad-at-58-\u2013-its-not-too.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1961894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1961895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1961894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1961894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1961894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}