Day: August 10, 2025

• Liz Walton from Canberra, Australia, is 55 and has a 9-year-old daughter.
• After 10 years of trying IVF, she got pregnant naturally and became an older mom.
• She says being an older parent is a gift because she is the very best version of herself.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Liz Walton. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Getting pregnant for me was a 10-year journey from age 36, with six rounds of IVF treatment. None of it worked.

Then, my sister-in-law got pregnant from her first round of IVF. That was emotionally difficult for me. My reality was, I was out of money and out of chances.

I realized I needed to figure out how to give up, how to let go of my dream of parenthood. I did lots of inner work on myself to heal. I stopped drinking and smoking and began reconnecting with my husband. I’d unfairly projected some anger onto him; he had anti-sperm antibodies, which were preventing me from getting pregnant.

When I turned 46, I actually thought I was going through menopause as I was feeling so dreadful, so I went to the doctor. I discovered — to my utter shock — I was pregnant. I think all the inner work I did on letting go and de-stressing helped me fall pregnant naturally. I also think it has made me a better mom.

Like many older moms, I faced worries about the health of my baby

At my 12-week scan, the doctor said, “I’m sorry, but things don’t look well.”

There was too much fluid in the womb, meaning my baby may not make it, and if she did, she may have chromosomal issues like Down syndrome. I’d cried so much. I realized I had to be OK with not knowing, keeping stress down, and focusing on my determination to love my baby no matter what.

In the end, my daughter, Willow, was born healthy. She’s now 9, and I’m 55. I’m one of the oldest moms at the school pick-up — about 15 years older than most other moms, which I really notice.

I love being an older mom

I bring more years of life experience and understanding to the table. After my 10-year fertility journey and deep introspection, I really know who I am. I have a healthier state of mind, and I’m more mentally balanced and happier than I was when I was younger. I now use my journey to help others as a fertility coach.

That said, Willow is a little bundle of energy, often wanting to run around and cycle. I’m very aware of managing my energy levels. It involves lots of time management and making sure I create time and preserve energy for “play dates” with Willow because sometimes, I am a bit exhausted. I do ask myself if that actually is my age, though. Other much younger moms who are balancing employment with being a parent tell me they also feel exhausted.

If I sense that younger moms are getting stressed or unhappy, I’m often the one who steps in and asks if everything’s OK and if I can help in any way. It’s like I’m an all-around mom, even to the younger moms. At Willow’s school, I’m the coordinator; I get everyone together and check in on everybody. I’ve worked hard to become this version of myself, so I’m happy to use it to support others.

Having older parents has affected my daughter

My husband’s mom, Willow’s grandma, died eight weeks ago. Willow said to me, “Oh, I don’t have any grandparents left.” It led to an interesting conversation about older parenthood, mortality, grief, and life cycles.

Willow has had to say goodbye to all her grandparents before others her age have even considered it. I explained that we’re each given a different path in life. Willow has taught me about the importance of acceptance, which I’m now imparting to her, too.

Ultimately, as long as I’ve done my best to create a little individual who is strong, knows her voice, and is healthy in this world, then I’ve done my best.

Through having my miracle daughter, I became the best possible version of myself. Now I see it as my life’s mission to help Willow become the best version of herself, too. I want her to be strong and to speak up when something’s not right. I want her to find her glimmers and make them into gifts.

If she can do that, I’ve done my job as a parent — regardless of my age.

• Apple is famously secretive about what it’s working on.
• Tim Cook has dropped some subtle hints at future products or categories during earnings calls and interviews in recent years.
• He’s also said that he doesn’t envision a world where the iPhone doesn’t exist, and sees it as a complement to AI devices.

On the rare occasions Apple has allowed visitors inside its secretive product design labs, gray blankets covered the tables, shielding any future products from prying eyes.

So what might be under the cloth?

Apple is famously secretive about what’s around the corner, but it’s left some breadcrumbs here and there for the careful observer. CEO Tim Cook and other executives have dropped subtle hints in recent years on earnings calls and in interviews.

Other times, Cook or other execs will be asked about the competition or what Apple’s role in a future product category could look like, and their answers help signal how the company may position itself in the coming years.

The iPhone’s role in a world with AI devices

During Apple’s recent fiscal third-quarter earnings call on July 31, for example, Cook was asked about a potential future where screen-based devices become secondary to AI-powered gadgets without screens. To that, Cook highlighted some of the iPhone’s most essential uses, like the camera, Apple Pay, and available apps.

In short, Cook appeared to suggest the iPhone isn’t going anywhere.

“It’s difficult to see a world where iPhone’s not living in it,” Cook told investors.

“That doesn’t mean that we are not thinking about other things as well, but I think that the devices are likely to be complementary devices, not substitution,” Cook said.

The elephant in the room, of course, is that Apple’s former design chief and the man behind the iPhone, Jony Ive, left the company and has since joined OpenAI’s efforts to create a non-wearable AI gadget.

Smart glasses

Other companies are exploring or launching AI devices that you can wear, investing heavily in the space. Meta’s AI Ray-Bans are the most successful smart glasses so far, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying sales have exceeded expectations.

While Meta and other tech giants like Google are looking into AI eyewear, Apple is also reportedly exploring a rival set of smart specs.

Interestingly enough, Cook was once a skeptic of smart glasses for years.

“We always thought that glasses were not a smart move, from a point of view that people would not really want to wear them,” Cook told the New Yorker in 2015.

By 2023, he’d changed his tune. When GQ asked about his quote from 10 years ago, Cook said his “thinking always evolves,” as he learned from his predecessor Steve Jobs.

Cook continues to hype up augmented reality, with the Apple CEO launching the $3,499 Vision Pro in 2024 and saying it was the “early innings of AR” and that “it will only get better.”

When asked about smart glasses on its most recent earnings call, Cook used the opportunity to talk about the Vision Pro but hinted at further innovation in the wearables space.

“We continue to be very focused on it,” Cook said. “I don’t want to get into the road map on it, but this is an area that we really believe in.”

Apple is widely believed to be hard at work shrinking down the form factor and making future iterations more affordable, with the ultimate goal of smart glasses with integrated lenses. Meta has publicly shown off a prototype of such a device, called “Orion,” though the tech is too expensive to mass-produce.

A foldable iPhone or iPad

While competitors, like OpenAI, work on their own secretive new products, Apple is taking its signature approach to not rush into a new product category.

“Not first, but best,” as Cook likes to say.

It’s a strategy that worked for devices like the iPod, the iPhone, and the Apple Watch, but it comes with risk. Apple was notably late to the AI arms race with the rollout of Apple Intelligence, and its overhauled AI-powered Siri has been delayed.

Foldable phones are another product category that Apple’s rivals including Google, Huawei, and Samsung have already entered. Apple is reportedly working on foldable devices but has so far demurred when publicly asked about it publicly.

When Apple executives Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak were recently asked in an interview about it, Joswiak replied, “Who’s to say?”

When Cook was asked during Apple’s fiscal first-quarter earnings call about the iPhone’s form factor and opportunities to innovate, he hinted that there was.

“I think there’s a lot of innovation left on the smartphone,” Cook said.