A look at Nayanthara and Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan who opted for surrogacy

As Nayanthara's fans celebrate the arrival of their twin boys Uyir and Ulagam, we look at how Bollywood stars have also embraced surrogacy. Stars including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ekta Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and many more have adopted this method.

On January 2022, global icon Priyanka Chopra announced on social media that she and her husband, American singer Nick Jonas, have welcomed a baby via surrogacy. The actor asked for privacy during ‘this special time’ to focus on her family. The ‘Quantico’ star has been married to Jonas since 2018.

At the time of announcing the great news, Chopra Jonas wrote on her Instagram: "We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much." In her recent Vanity Fair interview this January, the star opened up about having children. She said: “They are a big part of our desire for the future. By God’s grace, when it happens, it happens.” When Priyanka was asked if she would slow down on the career front after embracing motherhood, she said: “I’m okay with that. We’re both okay with that.”

Preity Zinta is another Bollywood star to opt for surrogacy in November 2021. The actress and her husband Gene Goodenough announced on social media the birth of their twins and also thanked those involved with the pregnancy.

Zinta took to Instagram and wrote: "Hi everyone, I wanted to share our amazing news with all of you today. Gene and I are overjoyed and our hearts are filled with so much gratitude and with so much love as we welcome our twins Jai Zinta Goodenough and Gia Zinta Goodenough into our family. We are very excited about this new phase in our lives." The actress went on to thank the doctors and their surrogate "for being part of this incredible journey": "A heartfelt thank you to the doctors, nurses and to our surrogate for being part of this incredible journey. Loads of love and light - Gene, Preity, Jai and Gia. #gratitude#family #twins." Zinta married Goodenough in February 2016 and moved to Los Angeles.

Early last year, Shilpa Shetty Kundra also announced the birth of her second child through surrogacy. The actress, along with her husband Raj Kundra, welcomed their baby girl on February 15, but waited a week to make the announcement via Instagram. “Our prayers have been answered with a miracle... With gratitude in our hearts, we are thrilled to announce the arrival of our little angel, Samisha Shetty Kundra, born: February 15, 2020,” Shetty Kundra posted, along with a picture of the baby’s hand. “‘Sa’ in Sanskrit is “to have”, and ‘Misha’ in Russian stands for “someone like God”…. Please bestow our angel with all your love and blessings.” The couple also have a son named Viaan-Raj Kundra.

Bollywood's biggest star Shah Rukh Khan opted to have his third child through surrogacy. His other two children were conceived naturally. Back in 2017, Shah Rukh Khan spoke about having AbRam Khan through surrogacy back in 2013, speaking about it at a Ted Talk.

Back in 2011, Aamir Khan and his filmmaker-wife Kiran Rao, announced the birth of their first-born child, who they also welcomed through surrogacy. Releasing a statement to the media at the time, the Bollywood power couple spoke with an openness about using the IVF (in-vitro fertilization) for the birth of their son Azad.

Khan also spoke about their parenting journey and their experience with surrogacy. Khan said: “This baby is especially dear to us because he was born to us after a long wait and some difficulty,” they wrote, referring to Rao’s earlier miscarriage. “We were advised to have a baby through IVF-surrogacy, and we feel very grateful to the Almighty that all has gone well.”

In March 2017, Bollywood movie mogul Karan Johar was another public figure to become a single father to twins born via surrogacy. He named them Yash and Roohi, after Johar’s parents. In his biography, ‘An Unsuitable Boy’, the filmmaker wrote about his desire to become a parent.

Johar has always maintained that he imagined himself to be a good parent and that fathering came naturally to him. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about it but I feel like I would like to be a parent. I don’t know how it’s going to happen but I do feel the need because I have plenty of love to offer and I’d like to take it forward. This feeling needs a release and requires a platform. And that platform could be by being a parent,” Johar had said during the release of his book.

In June 2016, Tusshar Kapoor announced he had a boy via surrogacy. The actor, who is single, named the child Laksshya. “Initially, my parents were a little bit apprehensive whether I should announce the child to be one born through IVF and surrogacy or not. Because they were like, ‘you don’t know how it is going to be taken in India, why even announce it, why don’t you just tell friends, then the friends will tell more friends’,” Kapoor told reporters, as told to NDTV.

Three years later, it was his big sister Ekta Kapoor’s turn to have her own child with the help of surrogacy. The television queen announced she had opted for surrogacy and became a mother to a baby boy on January 27, 2019. Kapoor named him Ravie, which is her father, veteran actor Jeetendra’s, original name.