Diane Kruger Reveals What Made Her Change Her Mind About Having Kids in Her Mid-Thirties

Diane Kruger was looking into becoming a mom on her own when she began dating Norman Reedus, with whom she later welcomed daughter Nova, 4

Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty

Diane Kruger didn't always picture having kids.

Speaking on Dear Media's Divorced Not Dead, hosted by Caroline Stanbury, the actress, 46, explained that she went through life expecting to be child-free until she felt a shift in her mid-thirties.

"You know, I don't know. Maybe it is what people say about women and that time clock, just all of a sudden kicks in. I mean, the truth is I would've had a kid with or without a man attached," she shared.

"I remember starting to feel like [it] in my mid-thirties. Like, 'What am I doing all this for? Why am I running so hard, trying to make money and trying to live this life? What's it all worth it?'"

"I was in a very serious relationship at the time. We tried very hard to have a child, which didn't work out. And then, I was single, and I thought, 'Oh, you know what? Maybe it's just easier to do it on your own anyways.'"

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Kruger recalled reasoning, "You don't have to ask anyone for permission on schooling or where you're gonna live. Let's do it on your own."

The actress went on to share that she was in the process of exploring the different ways she could become a mom on her own when she began "casually dating" fiancé Norman Reedus, 54, with whom she shares daughter Nova Tennessee, 4.

"When we realized we were gonna have a baby, and naturally, it just became this. I mean, Nova truly happened when I was least expecting it and most needed it in my life," she said. "She was the absolute best thing that's ever happened to me, to us, to my life."

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The pair have always kept their relationship private and don't put their daughter's face on social media. Back in May, Kruger revealed her daughter's name while discussing her new children's book, A Name From the Sky, which hit shelves in October.

In an interview with PEOPLE in May, Kruger opened up about how she and Reedus decided on the name Nova Tennessee.

"I had her late in life at 42, and [Norman] had a child when he was much younger," she said. "'Nova' in Latin means new beginning, and a nova star keeps changing and is reborn. And we love Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains; we do motorcycle trips there."