Tusshar Kapoor is a single father to his son Laksshya. In June 2016, the actor surprised the industry by announcing the birth of his son through IVF and surrogacy, becoming Bollywood’s first single father. Years later, he chronicled that deeply personal journey in his book ‘Bachelor Dad’.In a recent interview, Tusshar has spoken about his decision and revealed that he never thought marriage was his path but always was inclined towards fatherhood. The actor opened up on being a single parent and how he has managed that. He said in an interview with ‘Meri Saheli’, “I am very old school—similar to my father—but at the same time, we are extremely different from each other. After staying in the US for five years, I learnt to live independently. I haven’t even married. I have a child as a single father. However, my father is not like this. He believes in marriage and having a family, he is very old school Indian,” he said.For Tusshar, stepping into single parenthood at 40 felt timely rather than daunting. “One kid is not all that challenging. I am not a very social person and don’t particularly enjoy travelling. I became a father at 40. I was mature. It was the right time to embrace fatherhood, unlike how our society starts putting pressure on you from the age of 25.”Addressing marriage, he made it clear that his decision was personal rather than ideological. “I completely believe in marriage as an institution, but it wasn’t for me. My calling was to become a father. When I realised that, there were divine interventions. I bumped into someone, got information, met the doctors, and things just fell into place. It wasn’t planned, I went with the flow. I believed in God and kept faith.”At a time when single fatherhood through IVF was still uncommon in India, Tusshar did not feel compelled to seek validation, even from his own family. “I had no pressure from my parents because I never thought of asking them. I was 39. I met Prakash Jha on a flight to Tirupati. We weren’t friends but knew each other socially. While returning, our flights were cancelled and we carpooled. On the way, he asked me, ‘If you’re not destined to be a married man, why not think of being a single parent?’ He knew a single woman in his family who had become a parent around the same age.”That unexpected exchange became a turning point. “I then called up doctors. They counselled me. We took it one step at a time, and eventually, I became a father.”
