After a long wait of 14-years, Shreyas Talpade and his wife Deepti Talpade forayed into the second innings of their life — they became parents to a baby girl through surrogacy. The couple speak with Sangeeta Yadav about how their life has changed since then
From Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao to Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan to Sohail Khan and Seema Sachdeva Khan to Karan Johar and Tushar Kapoor, the celebrities from Tinsel Town have made headlines by becoming parents through surrogacy. To join the list is actor-turned-director Shreyas Talpade and Deepti Talpade. The couple has been recently blessed with a baby girl after a wait of 14 years of their marriage.
Talpade’s joy knows no bounds. “I always wanted a baby girl. I’m extremely happy. It is a magical feeling to have a baby. It doesn’t matter if it has happened through surrogacy or the natural way. Deepti and I feel complete as a family and the baby has given us a new purpose in life now. Otherwise, we were busy pursuing our dreams and aspirations,” Talpade says adding that he regrets delaying his fatherhood phase for so long.
Not wanting to spill the beans about why the couple opted for surrogacy, Talpade tells you that one of the reasons for having such a long wait was his fear of becoming a parent. “Honestly I was very scared to have a child and had a lot of inhibitions. When I saw my cousin’s children wreak havoc, I thought parenting takes a lot of effort and in trying to discipline them, I would lose my temper. I don’t think it is my cup of tea. But I didn’t want to run away from parenthood as well. Many told me that becoming a parent is the best feeling in the world. I too wanted to have that feeling,” he tells you.
Both Talpade and Deepti agree that it is indeed the best feeling in the world. “It has been only a couple of weeks since she has come into our lives and I am only thinking about her and nothing else. You are only thinking how you can provide your child a comfortable environment to grow up in. I guess this is what the whole life changing experience is that people keep talking about,” Talpade says and believes that some men delay being a father due to the fear of fulfilling the responsibilities of a parent and the baby taking precedence over one’s career.
Taking turns at nursing baby Talpade, Shreyas hand over the phone to his wife Deepti who shares that every day both ponder on a name for the baby. “Every night before going to sleep, Shreyas and I go through baby names but have not been able to zero on one. I pester Shreyas to find a name for her. For how long will we continue to call her Baby TalpadeIJ” Deepti asks.
Talking about how they have divided the responsibilities, Deepti tells you that Shreyas doesn’t leave the baby alone even for a minute and that is what they end up fighting over. “Someday, he will have to go back to work. There will be times when Shreyas will be away for work. It is natural that he would want to be a part of the baby’s life as much as I am. But this is not going to be so all the time. We both need to divide the work so that the baby gets the best of parenting. I know that with Shreyas working, a lot of parenting will come on me. I would like to bring up my baby girl the way my parents have brought me up and teach all the values that I was given. Whatever is best for her, I hope we are able to do it,” Deepti opines.
Be it AbRam or Taimur Ali Khan, being a star-child automatically brings you into the limelight and the shutterbugs don’t let go of an opportunity to capture them. But Talpade feels that he would like to give an environment to the child away from the limelight so that she can live her life as freely as possible and to the fullest.
“This industry has given us a lot and it is not that I am going to guard my child from the limelight as much as I can. We are a very private couple and don’t like to be in the limelight all the time. My parents have always let me do whatever I wished. My mother always supported me and was concerned about me joining the film industry without knowing anyone in the industry. I would want to give the same freedom to my child — to do whatever she feels passionate about. If she wants to follow my footsteps, I would fully support her. I hope that I can be a friend to her so that she can share things fearlessly or without any inhibitions,” Shreyas says.