Mandira Bedi talks about her difficulties while adopting her daughter Tara: 'I was not ready to get pregnant for a while after marriage'

Actress Mandira Bedi recently shared her thoughts on why she chose to adopt a girl child. She and her late husband Raj Kaushal adopted a baby girl and named her Tara Bedi Kaushal. Mandira stated that she had informed Raj during their courtship that she had always wished to adopt one kid. The actor also talked about Veer's reaction to Tara's adoption.Veer was nine years old when Tara was adopted.
Mandira Bedi recalled that she didn't want to become a mother in the early years of her marriage and shared that she told Raj, "I want to have one and adopt one," early in their relationship.
During a conversation with the Bombay Humans, Mandira shared, "When we got married, I was not ready to get pregnant for a while. I was too busy doing cricket; a couple of my contracts didn't allow me to get pregnant, and then there was someone in my family who was trying to get pregnant and was doing IVFs, and the IVFs were failing. And then I realised, I do want to be a mother. I am not going to let life pass me by. I do want to be a parent."
She further added, "The day I decided, three months later, I was pregnant. It was 13 years into our marriage when I got pregnant. I was so busy running around. Once I became a mother, I realised, 'This is the best thing I've ever done.' Then I was like, I want more. So, when Veer was six years old, I put the paper for adoption."
Mandira and Raj had to wait three years to adopt and bring home a girl. In their adoption documents, they said that they were open to adopting a kid from any part of India, which added their name to the list.
"When my son Veer was about six, I put in the papers for adoption. It’s a long process, and I don’t know why it’s not easier. I mean, I understand the reasons, but when it’s clear that this is a good family, it should be simpler. It took a while—Veer turned nine, the pandemic hit, and I told Raj, ‘It still hasn’t happened. Why?’ We had gotten caught up and didn’t follow up much. So, I thought, it’s now or never, and we pushed forward.”
They eventually received images of Tara, who was born in Tikamgarh, Jabalpur, over the mail, and they decided right away that they wanted her to be a part of their family. Raj took her on a private jet flight from Jabalpur to Mumbai during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
"For a girl who never sat in a car, came in a private jet. It was naseeb, kismat. We wouldn’t have used a private jet, but it was too dangerous to fly commercially because Covid was at its peak," Mandira Bedi shared.
She also mentioned that when Veer initially met Tara, he wasn't impressed by her and wasn't ready to have a sibling. Mandira began to question her decision to bring Tara into the family as a result of Veer's behavior. She said, "I was very overwhelmed because a little human being was coming into our life and everything would change. Veer was crying, and I was crying. When we reached the airport, this little girl with a plastic hat came with Raj. She was so small. It took time for her to settle into the family, and for Veer to start liking her.” However, her two kids now get along well and argue like any other siblings.
Raj Kaushal, Mandira's husband, passed away on June 30, 2021, following a heart attack. Regarding her passing, the ‘DDLJ’ actor stated, "It's been three years and the only way out is through. My children and I, we think of him every day. It's not like we have forgotten, but I can talk about it without my eyes welling up because I have dealt with it."