Actress Shweta Tripathi has spoken about the emotional toll of learning that her fertility levels were low. She admitted feeling upset because she wanted to retain the freedom to decide whether or not to have children, rather than have that choice taken away from her. Shweta shared her thoughts on Soha Ali Khan’s podcast All About Her. The conversations delve into how younger generations are rethinking marriage, parenthood, and relationships in an evolving social and economic landscape.
Shweta Tripathi reflects on motherhood
Reflecting on her personal journey, Shweta spoke about how her perspective on motherhood evolved over the years. While she once always imagined herself having children, she eventually began questioning whether motherhood was the right path for her.
Addressing the realities of motherhood and the responsibilities that often fall on women, she said in the podcast: “First of all, I think once you become a mother, you become a superhuman because I have seen my friends, my own sister-in-law, and we live together. It’s easy. It’s the exact opposite of that.”
“And again, I don’t know how the generations before us did it, but now that I’m seeing it again, I’m like, and in fact, my friends also, they’re like, nobody spoke to us about this. That this is also what happens. And the list is long. So hats off to all the mothers because I think it takes a lot of courage and strength and sacrifice and it’s very tough,” she added.
Shweta Tripathi talks about fertility struggles and societal pressure
Shweta also talked about the moment she first discovered that her fertility levels were low, recalling how the news shattered her because she wanted to make the decision of having children on her own terms.
She said, “I remember I was really upset because I was like, I wanted the choice to be mine. Like I don’t want somebody else telling me that, oh, you can’t have a child. Even if, let’s say that time, I was thinking I don’t know if I want to have a child or not.”
During the conversation, Soha also asked Shweta about the societal expectations and questions she has encountered regarding marriage and parenthood. The Mirzapur actress said, “Luckily, both my families have been very supportive. They obviously wanted to become grandparents and masi and everything, but they were never pushy. They never made me feel uncomfortable.”
“In fact, when I got married at 33, before that, the question used to be, ‘When are you getting married?’ So, that pressure, not from my parents but from people around me, was there, and that used to annoy me. But when it comes to having children, I don’t know how I’ve really lucked out because I’m sure it’s not like this for most people.”
She added, “There are people who come, like women who work and take care of the household, and as soon as my sister-in-law had a baby, they started saying, ‘Madam, aap next? Aap good news kab de rahe ho?’ I used to just look at my sister-in-law, and she would be like, or my mother-in-law would say, ‘Yeah, it’s okay, it’s okay.”
