You’ve got to hand it to celebrities who are keeping their birth announcements under wraps. Take Tommy Hilfiger for example. On the same day it was reported that he and his wife were expecting a baby, there came another news report that his wife had given birth to a baby boy. The initial news reports claimed that Dee Ocleppo was only three months pregnant.

A publicist for the designer had actually confirmed the news of the impending birth but declined to provide further details. No doubt many people were surprised by the second set of news reports which said the baby had arrived. The baby’s name is Sebastian Thomas and he weighed 9 lbs., 8 oz at birth on August 4, 2009. He already has a big family to love and nurture him. Tommy Hilfiger has four children from his first marriage.

Hilfiger’s marriage to his first wife Susie produced Alexandria (Ally), Richard, Elizabeth and Kathleen, whose ages range from 13 to 24. Ocleppo, who was previously married to Italian tennis star Gianni Ocleppo has two children. Hilfiger’s daughter Ally appeared on the aptly titled MTV reality show Rich Girls.

Of course the idea of blended families is certainly nothing new in Hollywood. Many well known figures have moved on to happy marriages with their children in tow.

It is not always easy to get used to stepparents let alone stepbrothers and stepsisters. The relationship between parents and their biological children is complicated enough. I think the entire family is probably already united over the birth of the new baby. Of course there is no reason to believe they were not already united.

I must commend Mr. Hilfiger and his publicist on that little bit of media sleight of hand. Pregnant celebrities should be allowed the space and worry free environment they are not usually given. In short, when the woman is pregnant, the paparazzi and the rest of the media should think about backing off for the sake of the baby.

At 58-years old Hilfiger is edging into the older celebrity daddies category. His wife reported to be around 41-years old is one of the growing list of advanced maternal age mothers. There is no challenge posed by this particular situation that can’t be overcome with love and patience. Congratulations to Hilfiger and his wife Dee Ocleppo on the birth of little Sebastian Thomas.

According to recent online reports, Kate Winslet’s ex-husband is expecting a child with his second wife. This means that her daughter Mia will soon be a big sis. In a refreshing change from all the bitter custody battles we keep hearing about, Winslet and Jim Threapleton have remained good friends since splitting.

Winlset is now married to director, Sam Mendes, and they have a four year old son, Joe along with eight year old Mia, her daughter with Threapleton. As the story goes they all spend time together when they can. Let’s face it, the family as we know it changed a long time ago. Winslet’s little group is only one example of what seems to be the reshaping of the concept of what constitutes a family.

Blended families, once the domain of sitcoms, are now widely accepted. Take a look at Ashton and Demi, who frequently attend events with her children and ex-husband Bruce Willis. Isn’t that what we would all like to see, as opposed to bitterness and public battles that are drawn through the courts for years?

Studies show that extended families now outnumber traditional nuclear families in the US. This is not surprising. Divorce has become relatively common, and sometimes, even people who marry for the first time, have a spouse who already have a child or children. It is not an easy road to travel for some, but being a stepparent is no less important than being a biological parent.

I think most people would agree that an environment that fosters harmony is important for the children involved. It’s tough enough to be a stepparent I’m sure without having to deal with hostile exes, too. Anyone struggling with these issues should know that there are support groups that can help.

For those of you who are having success raising your blended family, you and Ms. Winslet are in good company. Blended families in Hollywood include, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Parenting was never meant to be easy, and being a stepparent brings its own challenges, but the rewards are all the same if a good bond and love is involved.

Recently, I’ve found numerous articles about the new trend – you know, the large family ‘trend’. According to all the statistics, families with more than 2 children are increasing. Most of the articles site the 2004 study where 11 percent of US births in that year were to women who already had three children. This was up from 10 percent in 1995. Large families, it has been suggested, are the new status symbol.

Articles like these make me chuckle because I personally have five children. I am not a status symbol and I did not decide to have my children based upon current norms or because of what other people would think of me. In fact, after I crossed the ‘two child’ threshold, I noticed a distinct change in the attitudes of family and most of my friends when I’d announce subsequent pregnancies. What was I doing?

I love being a mom and I always wanted a big family. I never set out to have five children, it just sort of happened. As I look around me, I notice that yes, there are an ever increasing amount of large families, but most of those families, like ours, are blended families. ‘She’ has children and ‘he’ has children and then ‘they’ have a child of their own. If ’she’ has two, and ‘he’ has two, that’s four children right there! If ‘they’ have a child together, you have a family with five children.

Parenting a large brood is not for the faint hearted–even if you don’t factor in the obvious worries about the budge and the sheer amount of time and energy it takes to effectively parent a bunch of kids. Since we’ve moved to the southern USA, I don’t notice the distain and negative public sentiment directed towards mothers of large families that I noticed when we lived in the north. On any outing, it was almost a given that someone would approach me and spew some sort of negative comment at me. I actually had one ‘gentleman’ inform me that I needed to find myself a new hobby! I politely informed him that I was very happy with my hobby and saw no need to find a new one. It’s one thing for a journalist to define me as a status symbol. It’s another thing all together to be living that status out in real life. Having said this, would I change a thing about my life if I could do it all over again? Never. I consider myself blessed to be a mother of a large brood.

Are large families the new trend? A new status symbol? I would say no, there’s no ‘new’ trend and I know of no one who is thinking about having a large family because it’s fashionable. Absolutely no one. Instead, I would suggest that large families have never gone away – the media is just behind on the reality curve.