Hilary Swank, 52, has revealed the secret behind keeping her third pregnancy under wraps until her surprise announcement on October 15. The actress, who welcomed twins Aya and Ohm in 2023 at age 48 with husband Philip Schneider, credits her hometown for her recent pregnancy's discretion.

"I live in a very small town. It's a town I grew up in, and everyone there has been so just respectful of my privacy, and it hasn't leaked," she shared on a podcast. She added that her work schedule also helped, stating, "Clearly, I don't stay at home all the time. I was working up until about 17 weeks pregnant, so no one really knew on set either."

Swank, a self-described "pretty private person," explained that she saw "no reason" to share her pregnancy news earlier. The Oscar winner chose to announce it publicly when she decided to appear for the signing of a "wonderful diaper bill." She recalled, "And so I was like, 'Well, hello everybody and meet the baby in my belly.'" The "diaper bill" refers to the California law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 28, requiring children's diaper manufacturers to disclose all intentionally added ingredients on packaging. Swank initially announced her third pregnancy via a social media video, captioning it: "A lot of people have been asking what project I'm doing next, this one releases in December."

The star has also spoken out about the "backlash women get for having children older but not men," a sentiment she experienced both with her twins and her latest pregnancy. "This was the right time for me. Not everything happens in our own time. We have ideas for timelines for ourselves, and getting pregnant isn't always in our own timeline, right?" she questioned.

Swank elaborated on her decision to have children later in life: "You can hope and pray for certain things, and things happen when they're supposed to happen. I was very excited, and it was a good time for me because I feel like I had this career that was a 'baby' of mine that I really wanted to give to and devote my time to and not share. And now I can totally devote [myself] to my children."

She also believes her age has made her a more patient mother. "I was 47 when I got pregnant, and I feel like I have a lot more patience, and I've done a lot of my own personal work to be the type of mother I want to be, whereas it would've just been different in my 20s and 30s," she explained. "I don't think I would've had the patience and the grace that I hopefully can bestow a little bit more [of] now, and a self-awareness in a different way that I don't need to focus on myself anymore in the way that I did at that point."