Katie Couric Talks Aging and Kids

Newscasters and journalists are like movie stars; we often think of them as a character or a staple, and don’t associate them with human attributes like aging. They do age, however, and as one of the most recognizable female news journalists, Katie Couric was happy to talk about her experience in a recent interview with Good Housekeeping magazine.

Couric admitted turning 55 was humbling and a bit scary for her, as it really hit home that she was not “young” anymore. “Being in the last half of your life is very scary. Turning 55 was more of a wake-up call on that front for me than 50 was.”

Couric is one of the most accomplished female journalists in the history of television, but that professional success also came with some personal sacrifice.

“Sometimes I think I should have had six kids. Or I wish I’d had one [more] at 37, but I was busy. My career,” Couric said.

Couric is the mom of two daughters, 21-year-old Elinor and 16-year-old Caroline, and insisted, “I love being around my kids. I’m not a particularly solitary person. I like a big, chaotic house – noise, commotion, laughter!”

It looks like Couric will have to wait for grandchildren to get her kid fix now, however, as she is also open to talking about menopause, which she is currently going through.

"I think emotionally and psychologically, it's weird to feel like, 'Gosh, my childbearing years are over.' And of course they've been over for a long time, but still, they're officially over now. It's kind of a head trip, to tell you the truth,” Couric said.

"I was happy to stave [menopause] off until I was 55," she continued. "When you're younger, you dread your period, and when you're older, you want to give it a big hug. You think, 'I've still got it goin' on!' Anyway, I think those days are over."

Couric has moved on professionally now to a far less hectic schedule than covering the news and, beginning September 12, she will be hosting her own daytime talk show, called Katie, aimed at women. With Oprah’s show gone, there is a gaping hole in the daytime talk show circuit; Couric may be the perfect woman to fill it. Couric even described the show herself to Jay Leno as a mixture of Oprah and Today.

Congrats to Couric for aging and adapting gracefully while keeping her family balanced, career moving forward, and most of all for being so open to talking about it all, as that helps the rest of us work toward figuring it all out.