Mindy Kaling’s ‘panic’ about being a single mom is so relatable

Ever since welcoming her first child back in 2017, Mindy Kaling has been candid about parenthood and all the anxiety that comes with it. Now a mom of two, Kaling is sharing the “panic” she feels about being a single mom and sole provider for daughter Katherine “Kit,” 5, and son Spencer, 3, as well as how she wants to “make them proud” via the creative choices she makes in her career.

Kaling recently told WSJ Magazine about how kids have changed her perspective on life. “It’s really rewarding, being a mom and spending time with these two people who look like me,” she said. “I love them, and they’re so funny.”

But it seems to weigh heavily on her that she’s the one exclusively responsible for caring for them financially, with the Never Have I Ever showrunner noting that sleeping in until 6 a.m. is a rare occurrence that makes her “very excited,” because typically, she’ll “get up between 3:15 and 4:15 a.m. and then just sit there with my worries until I hear my kids stirring.” (Relatable, indeed!)

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“In terms of my career, I’m a single mom,” she added. “I’m the breadwinner in the house. So there’s a lot of panic that comes with that, the buck stops with me, I have to earn money for them. Having kids is everything—wanting to be a good role model and wanting to produce content that doesn’t embarrass them and makes them proud is another layer to my life and a complication that I welcome.”

Of course, it’s a fear that any parent can relate to, but especially single parents, and even more so for parents who don’t have the resources—financial and otherwise—that someone in Kaling’s position might have.

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Kaling is also passionate about people making the reproductive choices that suit them in their own time and on their own terms, telling the outlet, “I’m very supportive of young women freezing their eggs. It gives them a lot of freedom in their lives. I can say that from a place of privilege—I know that egg freezing is enormously expensive, although I think the costs are coming down. Even in the last 10 years, I’ve seen it really destigmatized, so I just hope that the prices come down.”

Here’s hoping that somehow, some way, people are given more resources and support so they can both start families when they’re ready to do so and then care for them with less stress and anxiety than most experience these days.