4 min readKochiMar 4, 2026 09:24 PM IST
No matter how big a star she is or how tight and hectic her schedule is, daughter Malti Marie comes first for actor-producer Priyanka Chopra. Both she and her husband, singer-songwriter Nick Jonas, have always maintained that their lives revolve around their four-year-old, and the couple has also never shied away from celebrating little Malti on social media.
A preterm baby who arrived at 27 weeks, Priyanka has often called her “miracle baby” who stepped into the light of life against all odds. During a recent interview, The Bluff star opened up about the difficult period when Malti spent months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She also hinted at the reason that prompted her and Nick to choose surrogacy to have Malti.
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‘I’m still in constant fear’
Opening up about the distressing weeks when their daughter was hanging by a thread, Priyanka told Marie Claire, “Our daughter was very coveted and very desired because I had a really tough time with pregnancies. She’s my miracle baby, so everything just stopped when she was born.”
Mentioning that it’s extremely difficult for her to be away from her daughter for long, Priyanka Chopra said, “I think it’s a preemie mom or a NICU mom thing, but I’m still in constant fear. When she’s not right by my side, or she’s at school, or when I’m in a different country, it’s this feeling that your heart is running outside of your body.” The global superstar added, “She’s the greatest gift of my life. All my priorities have changed. Everything starts and ends with her.”
When Priyanka Chopra addressed her ‘medical complications’
During a 2023 interview with Vogue, Priyanka had addressed unfair criticisms that came her way when she opted for surrogacy instead of what conservatives generally call a natural pregnancy. “I had 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 remembered, “I was in the OR [operating room] when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand. 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.” Slamming those who targeted her for the surrogacy, she said, “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. And just because I don’t want to make my medical history, or my daughter’s, public doesn’t give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were.”
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During a recent appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast, she shared more about Malti’s time in the NICU. “The whole thing was tough because our journey to Malti was itself rough. I don’t know whether I am ready to talk about it, but it was very hard on me, and she is a miracle baby, as she was my only hope at that time to be able to have a baby.”
She added, “It (her time at the NICU) was three months, almost 110 days. We stopped everything. We were in the hospital every day. We did shifts so that she could be on our skin. She was very, very desired, very coveted and treasured. It was so hard… she had like six blood transfusions.”
Priyanka Chopra and her husband, Nick Jonas, with their daughter Malti Marie. (Credit: Instagram/@priyankachopra)