Everyone’s so tense about women who get pregnant after 31, 32: Sonam Kapoor

Bollywood's style icon, Sonam Kapoor, recently embraced motherhood after she welcomed her first child, a baby boy, with husband Anand Ahuja. The actor, who tied the knot with her boyfriend of two years in 2018's extravagant wedding, revealed in an interview with Vogue that it was a conscious decision to wait before trying for a baby. 

"We wanted to wait two years after we got married to start trying," Kapoor shared with the publication. "Then, the pandemic happened. We were in Delhi at Anand’s [Ahuja] parents’ home at the beginning of the pandemic and we just decided that the timing was right because we didn’t understand the severity of Covid. We went into lockdown soon after and things just kept getting graver, so we decided to wait."

Recalling her previous interview with the outlet, the Neerja star added, "I remember doing the interview for Vogue India’s June 2021 issue in April and when my birthday came around in June, I told Anand, 'This is it, I don’t think we can wait anymore.' We’d already done all my check-ups with multiple doctors in Mumbai and London and everything looked fine, so we decided to go for it."

The actor then added, "I found out I was pregnant on Christmas Day. Anand was in the other room of our London apartment since he had Covid and I basically Zoomed him and gave him the news. Then we called our parents and told them as well." Remembering how she also had a Covid scare around the same time, Kapoor went on, "We had all decided that I would be extra careful since a lot of people in London were getting Covid around that time, but exactly a month later, I came down with a fever, cough and cold. I was terrified and immediately started googling 'What happens if you have Covid when you’re pregnant?' It was tough." 

The actor also spoke about women getting pregnant after their 30s. "Everyone’s so tense about women who get pregnant after 31 or 32. They tell you don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t get gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia. I was like, 'Wait, hang on, I still feel very young. I’ve got my dad’s genes, I look very young. It’ll be fine.'"

Talking about her career, Kapoor shared she did have two things that she was supposed to work on this year, but said that she will start them next year. "I’m giving myself a six-month break after my pregnancy to resume work, even though it seems like I haven’t worked in longer because I haven't had a release in two years," she continued. "I remember having this internal conflict about whether or not I should take time off but then I realised I have been working since I was 20, so it will be well earned."

Responding to whether she had taken a break during Covid, Kapoor asserted, "No, I worked during the lockdown too. I shot a crime thriller produced by Sujoy Ghosh, titled Blind, whose rights have been picked up by a streaming platform. I actually haven’t kept abreast of what’s happened to the film since I got pregnant but it was completed exactly a year ago."

As the child of famous parents yourself and having dealt with being in the limelight since a young age, Kapoor also spoke about her stance on bringing up your kid in the public eye. 

"Rhea, Harshvardhan and I were kept out of the public eye. Growing up, nobody really knew what we looked like, even though one of my closest uncles, who is also my godfather, was Khalid [Mohamed] mama, the editor of Filmfare," she said. "Sure, I was surrounded by media all the time, but it was a very different generation and I wasn’t really ever published. We were very protected and that gave us a shot at a normal childhood. I didn’t attend one of those high-flying schools; I was a regular kid studying where there were no star kids." 

She went on to comment, "I was even embarrassed to have my car drop me off. After that, I was sent away to boarding school for junior college and I think it made me a little more world-aware and gave me a viewpoint about things. To be honest, I haven’t decided whether I’m going to school with our child here or in London, but I definitely know I feel more at home in India. I’m a proper Bombay girl. There will be the issue of privacy if I raise my child here, but I see many star kids leading completely regular lives so we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Being touted as a style icon, Kapoor also made headlines for bringing her A-game to maternity fashion. But with appreciation, comes criticism as well. "I think the one thing I have grown out of is reacting to things I don’t need to react to. Thankfully, a lot of it has come with age, but it’s also because I understand that I live a very charmed life," she responded. "I come from a place of extreme privilege and I literally have nothing to complain about, so if someone is saying something negative about me from behind a keyboard, it really is none of my business. If I put out something to celebrate my body and my womanhood today, it shouldn’t come as a surprise."

Kapoor concluded her tell-all with an insight into what her career in the near future holds. "I always was a little picky. I’m not really in the rat race, I’m just doing my own thing," she said. "I don’t think that will change, but priorities do change and I think that the child will become mine. The truth of the matter is that they didn’t choose to come into this world. You decided to bring them here, so it’s a very selfish decision. I will try to do the best I can as a mother, which means that acting will definitely take a backseat, but I don’t think I will ever stop working completely."

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