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Her mother tried to abort her by consuming harmful herbs, paid midwife Rs 60; she grew up and bought her Rs 1.6 crore house

In an appearance on Raj Shamani's podcast, comedian Bharti Singh opened up about her childhood, and said that her mother did everything that she could to try and abort her.

By: Entertainment Desk
New Delhi | Updated: August 20, 2025 11:04 AM IST

3 min read

Bharti Singh opened up about her childhood on Raj Shamani's podcast. (Express Archive)

Comedian Bharti Singh’s mother did everything that she could to abort her. Bharti nearly wasn’t born. When she arrived in the world despite her mother’s efforts, the midwife was paid only Rs 60 to cut her umbilical cord. “I cost Rs 60,” she said in an appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast. Bharti survived a childhood that was filled with poverty, but lacked a father figure. Her mother worked as a house help to make ends meet. But even though she has no memory of her father, who died when she was just two, Bharti adores her mother. To her, she is a goddess.

She recalled, “In those days, women wouldn’t even come to know that they were pregnant. It was only after around three months that she realised that she was pregnant with me. She already had two kids by then, and didn’t want another. She tried so hard to abort me. She would eat strange herbs on the advice of godmen; she would deliberately put herself through physical strain; she would consume food that she knew she shouldn’t. All to abort me. But I was destined to be born. She gave birth to my by herself; she was alone at home. She paid a midwife Rs 60 to cut the umbilical cord. I always say, ‘I cost Rs 60’.”

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Also read – Bharti Singh says ‘main kaam waali ki beti hoon’; would eat three-day-old leftovers, doesn’t recognise dead father in pictures: ‘Ajnabee hain’

She laughed that she has now bought her mother a house worth Rs 1.6 crore. “I was an unwanted child. They knew that they couldn’t raise another kid, being in the situation that they were,” she said, adding that she adores her mother. Bharti said that when she got the call to appear on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, her relatives warned her mother not to take her to Mumbai. They feared that she would be abused, or that the city would corrupt her. But, Bharti said, to her mother’s credit, she agreed to take the chance and see what happens. “If she hadn’t made that decision then, I wouldn’t be here,” Bharti said categorically.

She continued, “To put it plainly, I don’t want my mother to die. I wouldn’t be able to live if she dies. She was very ill last year; she had a kidney transplant. Since then, I’ve started manifesting. I have succeeded. When they took my mother into the operation theatre, I manifested that one day, I would visit Puri with her, and it happened. I am a God-fearing person, and for me, there are two Gods; my mother and the Almighty. And I’m really terrified of losing her. Even my dreams are all about her.”

In the same interview, Bharti spoke at great length about her childhood, and her journey in the television industry. Married to writer Haarsh Limbachiyaa, Bharti now also runs a YouTube channel with over 7 million subscribers.

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