Priyanka Chopra has opened up about why she and her husband Nick Jonas used a surrogate.
Last year, the couple welcomed their daughter, Malti Marie Chopra Jonas, via surrogate and revealed that the child spent “100 plus days in the NICU”, referring to a newborn intensive care unit.
Both parents posted the same photograph of Chopra holding the baby to her chest as Jonas holds her tiny hand on their Instagram accounts.
In a new British Vogue cover story, Chopra has revealed details of her motherhood journey and her experience with surrogacy.
“I had medical complications,” the Quantico star revealed. “[Surrogacy] 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.
“I’ve developed a tough hide when people talk about me,” Chopra continued, addressing the negative response. “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.”
Jonas and Chopra’s daughter was born prematurely at six months and spent three months at the NICU.
“I was in the OR when she came out,” Chopra recalled. “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.”
Jonas and Chopra married in 2018 after less than a year of dating.
In May 2022, on Mother’s Day, Jonas revealed that Malti spent her first 100 days in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Reflecting on the first three months of Malti’s life, he wrote: “Every family’s journey is unique and requires a certain level of faith, and while ours was a challenging few months, what becomes abundantly clear, in retrospect, is how precious and perfect every moment is.
“We are overjoyed that our little girl is finally home, and just want to thank every doctor, nurse and specialist at Rady Children’s La Jolla and Cedar Sinai, Los Angeles, who were there selflessly every step of the way.
“Our next chapter begins now, and our baby is truly a badass. Let’s get it M! Mommy and Daddy love you.”
