When Mindy Kaling got pregnant, everyone was thrilled for her. The former The Office star and writer is such a hard worker and admirable person, so the thought of her passing along these traits to a child was just amazing. Of course, there was one major question: who was the father of her baby?
There was a strong possibility that the father was her long-time best friend, and former boyfriend B.J. Novak, as the two have been so close for so many years. It then came out that Novak was actually the godfather of Kaling's daughter, Katherine, and our collective heart broke at the chance of him being the actual father. Kaling actually acknowledged the rumors about her and Novak sharing the baby, and admitted that she understands why people think that.
“If I was on the outside looking at it, I would think the same thing. But the truth is that B.J. is so much more like family now than a platonic friend,” Kaling explained. “He’s the godfather to my daughter; he comes over like once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her. In the When Harry Met Sally version of platonic friends, I too think that’s strange. But when you’ve known someone for as long as I’ve known him — the time that we met each other, which was like 24. Now, we’re both almost 40.”
Some people thought the paternity of little Katherine would come out eventually, but shockingly it's been kept under lock and key so far. Kaling gave an interview with The New York Times, and explained why keeping the identity of her daughter's father quiet is so important to her.
"My feeling is that until I speak to my daughter about that, I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it," she put quite frankly.
It's a very admirable way of looking at things. Imagine having everyone else in the world know something so personal about your life before you did? Kaling has been very careful to not show pictures of Katherine's face, only ever showing her from behind on social media.
Kaling also opened up about how surprised she is that motherhood is enjoyable to her, considering how much she loves her work, too.
"Right now I’m surprised at how much I enjoy being a mom. I did not think I had a big maternal instinct," she admitted. "I’m very impatient, and having a baby requires an amount of patience that I was worried about. But they don’t tell you that the thing will look so much like you, and do things that are so sweet and adorable, that you’ll naturally not have the same impatience that you would have with a stranger or someone who works for you."
Seeing Kaling balance work and motherhood is very inspiring. She's paving the way in the entertainment industry, and she's doing so while being a full-time single mom.