Priyanka Chopra opens up about surrogacy, daughter's preterm birth

It's been one year since Priyanka Chopra Jonas welcomed her daughter to the world and the actress is finally ready to open up about her difficult journey to motherhood. 

The 40-year-old welcomed her first child with her husband, Nick Jonas (30), via a surrogate in January 2022. They named their little girl Malti. 

Priyanka tells British Vogue in their new issue that Malti had a challenging few months as she was born prematurely - a full trimester before her due date. 

"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," she told the magazine. 

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Malti spent three months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before she went home. 

"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," Priyanka told Vogue. 

The 'Baywatch' star has decided to keep her daughter - who apparently is the spitting image of her dad -  out of the spotlight for now and is yet to share a picture of her face. Priyanka received some mean comments online when she first announced Malti's birth via surrogacy. 

Some accused her of being vain for “renting” a womb. Other celebrities, including Khloe Kardashian - who welcomed her second child with Tristan Thompson via surrogacy in 2022 - have faced similar criticism. 

Priyanka has not revealed her reasons for choosing the surrogacy route and the former Miss World did not want to get into the details, only saying that she has "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 said. 

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Her husband and her family have been with her every step of her difficult journey to motherhood. Her mother and Nick's parents have been a great help.

She recalls an incident she had when her daughter first started eating solid food. 

"The first time she had a solid morsel, she gagged and I thought I’d killed her."  But her mother and her in-laws insured her all is well. 

"They talk me through a lot of this. Like, ‘They’re gonna gag. It’s normal.’ But because I’m a NICU mommy, the stakes are so high. And I have to shed that. I will,” Priyanka said. 

Read Priyanka's full interview with Vogue magazine here. 

Main image credit: Instagram/@priyankachopra