Rani Mukerji, a Bollywood luminary, in a recent interview opened up about the emotional upheaval she endured following a heartbreaking miscarriage five months into her pregnancy during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Mukerji, renowned for her roles on the silver screen, disclosed that she and her filmmaker husband, Aditya Chopra, were attempting to conceive their second child.
The couple had welcomed their first child, daughter Adira, into the world in 2015. Mukerji shared that they embarked on the journey to expand their family when Adira was around a year old. Despite persistent efforts over seven years, they faced disappointment, grappling with the sorrow of feeling time slipping away and the uncertainty of Adira growing up without a sibling.
“It’s been challenging,” confessed the star of “Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway.” “I spent nearly seven years trying for a second baby. When my daughter turned one or one-and-a-half, I began trying again. After many attempts, I finally conceived, only to suffer a miscarriage. It was an incredibly trying time for me. Moreover, considering my age, despite my youthful appearance, turning 46 isn’t conducive to childbirth.”
Nevertheless, Mukerji emphasized that amidst her trials, she has come to cherish her daughter more deeply than ever, referring to Adira as her “miracle child.” “It’s heartbreaking not being able to give her a sibling,” she reflected. “But we must be grateful for what we have. Adira is my blessing, and I find solace in that. She’s enough.”
Mukerji had previously broached the topic of her miscarriage at the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne last year, choosing not to discuss it publicly during her recent film promotions, fearing it might overshadow the film’s message. “I didn’t want it to seem like I was exploiting a personal experience to promote the film,” she clarified.
Once dominating Indian cinema as one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actresses in the 2000s, Mukerji exchanged vows with Chopra in a private ceremony in 2014, a year before embracing motherhood with Adira. She has often expressed that “being a mother has been the most fulfilling phase of my life.”
