Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes share two daughters together, both of which they gave the same name. Although Mendes gave birth to both kids, she didn’t always believe she’d start her family the traditional way.

Eva Mendes thought time would run out for her by the time she was ready for kids

Mendes’ husband Gosling played a huge part in convincing her to have children. The pair met on the set of Place Beyond the Pines and started dating not too long afterwards. It wasn’t until they became serious that Mendes started entertaining the idea of getting married and having kids.

“I met Ryan Gosling, I fell in love with Ryan Gosling, and then I was like ‘Oh right. I want your babies,’” she said in an interview on Today.

Apart from Gosling’s own influence, Mendes felt there couldn’t have been a more perfect time to have kids than in her older years. She was 40 years old when she had her first child, and 42 when she had her second.

“I just didn’t feel — really it wasn’t until I met Ryan and fell in love. But also as a woman, I just wasn’t ready. It’s such a personal choice for a woman, obviously. Then you run the risk of… you’re always running a risk. When I was pregnant there was always something to worry about. But thankfully I had really healthy pregnancies and I was happy I waited,” she added.

Years prior to having her kids, however, Mendes wasn’t sure she’d be able to give birth in her 40s. So adoption seemed like the likelier option for her back then if she wanted to become a mother.

“Because I’m already 32 and I don’t have a maternal bone in my body and I figure the clock is going to runout at some point so what if I’m 45 and I can’t physically have a child then I’d adopt one,” Mendes once said according to Female. “I don’t want to put that pressure on myself saying I have to have a kid by 35. I don’t like those rules so I like to leave it open that if I still feel this way if I don’t want a baby inside of me then that’ll be okay because I’ll just adopt one.”

Eva Mendes once recalled the most sorry reason she ever heard about why she should’ve had kids in her 20s

Speaking with People, Mendes went into a little more detail about why she didn’t want kids at any point during her 20s. Although she might’ve had youth on her side, she would’ve lacked the maturity required to raise kids properly.

“It takes more patience,” she said. “In my 20s, I shouldn’t have even been around a child. I was just foul-mouthed and smoking. I could not have raised kids in any other era of my life but now, for sure.”

But not everyone agreed with her decision. There were some who gave Mendes the usual reasons as to why she should’ve had kids in her youth.

“When I was 40, it was a big deal for people when I was pregnant, and it wasn’t for me,” Mendes said. “And then I was 42, and I was pregnant with my second one and people were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to be so tired. That’s why people have kids in their 20s.’ I was like, that’s the most sorry, asinine thing I’ve ever heard.”

Another benefit to having kids later on in life was that Mendes wasn’t as focused on her career as she used to be. In her 20s and 30s, the actor was at the height of her star power. Her 40s would be the decade she took a step back from the spotlight to invest more time in her children. However, she’s recently confided she wouldn’t be opposed to doing movies again now that her kids are getting older.

“It was the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” she added. “I was older and I knew that my kids are going to be little once, and whatever I do or don’t do right now is going to affect them the rest of their life.”