Priyanka opens up on surrogacy, being accused of ‘renting womb’

BOMBAY TIMES (January 21, 2023)

Priyanka Chopra Jonas welcomed her first child with her husband, Nick Jonas, through surrogacy in January last year. The actress recently revealed that while there were many messages congratulating her on the arrival of her baby, Malti Marie Chopra Jonas, some trolled her for opting for surrogacy. While some accused her of “outsourcing” her pregnancy, others said that her busy schedule was the reason behind the decision.

In her recent interview with British Vogue, talking about the trolling, she said, “I’ve developed a tough hide when people talk about me. But it’s so painful when they talk about my daughter. I’m like, ‘Keep her out of it. ’ I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying to find her veins. So no, she’s not going to be gossip. I’ve been really protective of this chapter of my life with my daughter. Because it’s not about my life only. It’s hers too. ”

Opening up about her decision to opt for surrogacy, Priyanka said, “I had medical complications. This was a necessary step, and I’m so grateful I was in a position where I could do this. Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months.”

She further added, “You don’t know what I’ve been through. And just because I don’t want to make my medical history, or my daughter’s, public, doesn’t give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were.”

Priyanka’s daughter was born a trimester before the due date. She said, “I was in the OR (operating room) when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand. I saw what the intensive-care nurses do. They do God’s work. Nick and I were both standing there as they intubated her. I don’t know how they even found what they needed (in her tiny body) to intubate her.”

Their baby spent the next three months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Due to the pandemic, only the couple could visit their child. “We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husband’s chest. I didn’t know if she would make it or not,” said the actress.

PC and Nick celebrated Malti’s first birthday recently. “People say she looks like Nick. I don’t believe it,” she said.
-----------------------------------
HINDUSTAN TIMES (January 21, 2023)

A year after welcoming her daughter, Malti Marie, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has addressed why she opted for surrogacy and how she dealt with the hateful social media comments that followed her decision.

Speaking to British Vogue in a recent interview, Priyanka, who is married to singer Nick Jonas, said her daughter was born a trimester too early, in January last year. “I was in the OR [operating room] when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand,” she said, adding, “I saw what the intensive care nurses do. They do God’s work. Nick and I were both standing there as they intubated her. I don’t know how they even found what they needed [in her tiny body] to intubate her... I didn’t know if she would make it.”

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) actor further revealed that she went the surrogacy route due to certain “medical complications”: “This was a necessary step, and I’m so grateful I was in a position where I could do this. Our surrogate was so generous, kind, lovely and funny, and she took care of this precious gift for us for six months,” the 40-year-old said.

On being trolled for “renting a womb”, Priyanka added, “I have developed a tough hide when people talk about me. But it’s so painful when they talk about my daughter. I’m like, ‘Keep her out of it’.”