No, Diana Ross Is Not Pregnant, But It’s Not Exactly Impossible At Her Age

It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you’re a woman who’s put on a few pounds, people are always going to wonder if the reason is pregnancy. And that’s true even for Diana Ross — at the ripe age of 71.

Rumors swirled after a photo of the legendary singer was posted on Instagram, the International Business Times reported.

The picture captured Diana on a routine jaunt to an organic grocery store in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Several pictures were snapped as Ross had an employee, whom she tipped, load her items into her car.

For 71, Ross looks incredible. Decked in black and casually dressed in a cardigan, t-shirt, and leggings — per the Daily Mail — Diana looks much as we’ve known her for decades: fashionable with her large sunglasses and trademark hair.

But people on the Internet took a closer look at Diana’s middle and couldn’t help but ponder the paunch they found there.

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Of course, it couldn’t be aging, a hefty meal, or poor lighting that caused Ross to look like she was with child — she must be pregnant. So Twitter exploded with the rumor of Diana’s purported baby bump.

But, alas, Diana won’t be breaking any records this week, Gossip Cop noted. They actually checked with a source close to the singer and she laughed off the theory. The speculation that Ross is with child is simply “not true.”

In fact, the supposed baby bump is likely just the product of an unflattering photo of natural, and forgivable, weight gain.

But it’s not as though Ross would be achieving the impossible by becoming pregnant at her age, and if she was, she’d be breaking a world record. A woman named Rajo Devi Lohan from India has the honor of being the world’s oldest mom when she gave birth at age 70.

Rajo had IVF treatment to get pregnant with a daughter, named Naveen, and nearly died after the delivery of complications from both the labor and fertility treatment. By 2013, the new mom had outlived her doctor and credited having a young child with her long life.

But she isn’t the only aged mother in India. Omkari Singh is now 76, but had twins at age 70 — a boy and a girl. The girl, named Barsaat, died at age four, but Akashvani is still doing well and is now in school. She and her 89-year-old husband were widely criticized for undergoing IVF treatment in the hopes that they’d have a son. They already had two daughters, and five grandchildren, but needed a male heir.

And over in Germany, a 65-year-old woman named Annegret Raunigk was pregnant in April with quadruplets — which she conceived via in vitro. She wanted to have another baby when her daughter, 9, asked for a sibling.

As Rajo, Omkari, and Annegret prove, it’s not impossible for Diana Ross to become pregnant at her age — though perhaps not recommended. Pregnancy over 45 is considered high-risk, and over 60 is extreme.

Besides, Diana has better things to do.

Ross’s music career is still going strong — and it won’t be interrupted by having to change diapers and nurse a newborn. She has an ongoing show in Las Vegas at the Venetian hotel called “Diana Ross: Some Memories Never Fade.” The first show has sold out.

“We will all take a musical journey of love. Each song reminds me of something special, somewhere special or someone very special. Music is magic like that.”

Ross is one of Motown’s most successful singers, with 70 hit singles starting with 1964’s “Where Did Our Love Go” with the Supremes. Among her other hits: “Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Love Hangover,” “Upside Down,” and “Chain Reaction.” Diana is also an accomplished actress.

[Photos Courtesy Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images, Andrei Shumskiy / Shutterstock]