Motherhood and parenting are extraordinary journeys that bring with them the full gamut of emotions—from unparalleled joy to immense anxiety. For birthing people experiencing new motherhood and parenthood later in life, often defined as 35 and older in the United States, the adventure carries its own set of unique challenges and considerations. The 2024 Doula Expo, Mama Glow’s culture-shifting festival that stands as a celebration of mothers, birthing people, and the birth workers propping them up in the United States and beyond, is committed to spotlighting and honoring motherhood journeys in their full scope. On Sunday, October 6th, American broadcaster, journalist, best-selling author and Emmy Award-winning talk show host Tamron Hall and Mama Glow Founder Latham Thomas joined forces for a captivating fireside chat on the unique demands, strategies, challenges, and joys of new motherhood.
The Power of Telling Your Own Story
While motherhood stands as an all-encompassing and uniting force, there exists a wide array of experiences that bring people to the journey. The fireside chat begins with Tamron Hall detailing her own personal experience of becoming—an extension of her heightened transparency about motherhood since the birth of her first son, Moses. “I became pregnant at 48 years old,” she explained. “I kept my pregnancy quiet for 32 weeks because it was a high risk pregnancy. And then, one day, my publicist at the time called and said they knew I was pregnant, and they were going to go public with the story.” Upon learning of this, Hall leaned on an important, life-governing principle. “I have to take control of my destiny. That’s a big part of how I was raised. Who gets to tell your story?”
Honoring her agency allowed her story to stand as one of great success and joy for many women. In addition to her entry into the journey at advanced maternal age, Hall’s story mirrored that of a growing number of women and birthing people in the United States in another significant way. Reproductive technology is surging in popularity as many individuals and couples turn to science to assist with building their families amid various social, economic, and health challenges.
“l posted it ahead of the tabloid, and then people started calling from around the world asking about me being pregnant for the first time at 48. So, I felt that it was my responsibility and my joy, honestly, to share that I had gone through multiple rounds of IVF, and all the other things that had gone along with it. But also, three women in my family had given birth past the age of 45, so it was a conversation I was always willing to have.” In this way, Hall’s willingness to embrace transparency in her journey, both on the Doula Expo stage and on her own platforms, stood as a model of honoring motherhood and the various legacies carried through the journey. Hall’s powerful assertions about her road to motherhood compelled Latham to recall a story of a trip to Costa Rica, where she encountered a group of multigenerational pregnant people. When asked about their various ages and the nature of matrescence with regards to age, one of the women named a truth which the Doula Expo upholds. “No one ever told us we couldn’t.”
Embracing Her Pathways to Motherhood
In coming into motherhood, Hall was willing to embrace various options, a receptiveness rooted in an upbringing that treats the natural, mystical, and scientific as potentially convening, rather than countervailing forces. “I grew up in this hybrid of traditional medicine, or what we refer to now as holistic,” she explained. “There are things that impact our bodies holistically that we do not have conversations about.” In addition to IVF, Hall found herself open to the possibility of adoption, another choice in which her upbringing plays a role. “I was raised by my step father, which is the father that God meant for me to have.”
In a beautifully ironic string of events, the specific moment of learning that she would become a mother not only exemplified the above principles, but also stood as one of surrender. Hall drove through her Harlem neighborhood one day, where she saw a sign for adoption. At this point, she had been presented with a slew of events disheartening enough to diminish anyone’s sense of faith. She had gone through two or three rounds of IVF that were not successful, and at this point, adoption was already a part of the constellation of options she was willing to embrace in her personal path to motherhood. Rather than sinking into a sense of shame and powerlessness, Hall turned to the spirit of empowerment. She would embrace her birthing story, no matter how it presented itself. Shortly after that moment, Hall received the call that her last round of IVF was successful.
On Lessons Learned in Motherhood
Tamron Hall celebrated Moses’ fifth birthday this past April. When asked about the lessons accompanying the journey, Hall and Thomas agreed that the list is innumerable. One thing that was particularly surprising, explains Hall during the chat, is how maternal legacy shines through, even in the silliest moments. To Hall, it stands as the “knowing look”, passed from mothers and other family members, that urges her son to settle down amidst a tantrum. It looks like the phrases and mannerisms that often shaped her childhood weaving their way into her daily experiences as a mother.
“I wish early on, I knew that power. I was trying to seek it through things,” she expressed. “I thought that parenthood came through things, but it’s in you. It’s in the women around you. It’s not that I wasn’t listening, but I got obsessed with gadgets. I was seeing the power of motherhood through articles and things, versus leaning on my instincts, and I didn’t realize that. But now I do.”
In a world where mothers are often bombarded with content about the latest device and developments that will enhance their child’s lives, Hall sits with the knowledge that what children need most is their parents themselves.
Along with learning through the journey of motherhood itself, Hall finds herself fascinated at what she learns as she heightens her knowledge of others’ motherhood journeys. Upon telling her friend, who is the mother of her child’s best friend, about her appearance at the Doula Expo, Hall learned of her friend’s birthing story, and her use of a doula. What she found particularly significant, she explained, was not just what birth workers do to honor set plans, but also their continual presence in the face of the unanticipated. “You can have a plan, but we know plans go awry. She said if it were not for her doula, she would not have had this experience.”
Tamron Hall and Latham Thomas’ fireside chat was the final event of the Doula Expo, and it left attendees on an optimistic and equally beautifying note. While Hall’s journey to motherhood is a unique one, the named complexities and adjustments point to what sits at the heart of thriving during any transformational time period—utmost confidence, generational wisdom and tools, and unwavering support from an equally resilient network.
Hall’s new children’s book, Harlem Honey: The Adventures of a Curious Kid debuts in March of 2025, it’s an endearing story about young Moses, inspired by her real-life son and his adventure visiting Harlem, New York’s most iconic spots, learning a valuable lesson about the profound meaning of home.
