Despite being told it was “too late” to have a child at 54, actor Donna Mills refused to give up on her dream of becoming a mother.
The Knots Landing diva “realized there was something missing” from her life, inspiring her decision to step away from a thriving Hollywood career to raise her adopted daughter, Chloe.
Recently, the proud octogenarian announced that her “darling girl” is having a baby,” and the 83-year-old star “can’t wait to meet the little guy.”
Since her breakthrough role in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 directorial debut Play Misty for Me, Donna Mills continued to enjoy a successful and steady career in Hollywood.
She became a household name with her award-winning portrayal of the iconic villain Abby Fairgate on the popular primetime soap opera Knots Landing.
In 1989, after stepping away from the role that audiences loved to hate, the actor appeared in several other TV series, including the two-part series finale in 1993.
When she was 54, Mills realized there was a “big hole” in her life and decided to pursue a more personal dream.
“I was very concentrated on my career, but at a certain point, I realized there was something missing – It was a child,” Mills, now 83, told People in 2022. “So, I went after it. I adopted [Chloe] when she was four days old.”
But she faced a wave of skepticism and judgment, many questioning her decision to raise a young child at her age.
“By that time, I was 54 and people said, ‘You’re going to be so old [to] have a little toddler running around.’ I never felt that,” she recalls. “I never felt older than the other mothers who were probably in their 20s.”
Mills was fully committed to being a present mother and took an 18-year hiatus from Hollywood to raise her little girl.
“I didn’t work,” Mills says. “Well, the first couple of years, I did work. I did some movies for television and stuff like that, because I could take her wherever I went. But then when [Chloe] started school, I wasn’t going to go out of town for two months at a time. And I didn’t become a mother to give her to a nanny.”
Today, the NOPE actor and Chloe are very close – the two even have matching heart tattoos on their wrists – and Mills says that motherhood is an absolute joy.
“Being a mother gives you a depth of feeling you didn’t know existed until you hold that baby in your arms. And now I feel it every time I see her, every time we hug and laugh and do silly stuff together,” the doting mother shares in an Instagram post dedicated to her daughter on Mother’s Day 2023.
The post continues, “As she said to me when she was two years old, ‘Mommy, our heartstrings are tied together.’ They are my darling girl, and they always will be.”
On October 6, 2024, the Gunsmoke actor shared an Instagram post, announcing that her stunning “baby girl” is pregnant with Mills’ first grandson.
“My baby girl is having a baby!!” Mills writes in the post that includes a series of images from Chloe’s baby shower. “And we gave her the shower of her dreams. Can’t wait to meet the little guy. I know I’ll love him as much as I love her.”
A few days before Mills’ shared her post, Chloe, 30, and her husband Travis Collings also shared an announcement on social media.
“Baby Boy Collings coming in 2025,” the couple captioned the post, which includes an image of Chloe on the beach, cradling her baby bump.
Over the years, Mills has spoken about how adopting Chloe was the best decision she ever made, finding fulfillment in motherhood despite societal expectations or norms. She has proven that age is not a barrier to nurturing a meaningful and loving relationship with a child.
And, she says she’s happy she didn’t listen to all the noise about her being too old at 54 to have a child.
Encouraging other career-driven women to consider waiting before they start a family, Mills adds, “If you want to give to your career, I say having a child later in life is better than having a child early,” she says.
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