From being on drugs before discovering about her pregnancy to trying to co-parent with ex; Splitsvilla fame Anmol Chaudhary's journey as a single mom

Splitsvilla 10 Anmol Chaudhary has been a single mother ever since she found out being pregnant. The reality TV personality was processing her breakup and was on drugs, when she found out being pregnant. In a recent podcast with a leading channel, Anmol recalled what was going on in her mind, when she fled from home at the age of 14, when she tried co-parenting with ex-boyfriend, her life as a single mom and more:

In 2019 December, I was processing my break-up. I was into drugs to forget things. I was living in Mumbai but shifted to Delhi to make my relationship work. I was 14 when I left home, saw many things in life and I wanted to live for love. So at that point I thought, why am I even living. I had written a suicide note and was constantly crying. I was searching online also, how not to die. I saw a counselor and he was like an Angel. He motivated me to stay alive. Just when I was getting back my life on track, I realised I missed my periods. My friends said that it might be stress but my gut feeling said otherwise.

I heard the heartbeat during the ultra sound. My sister told me not to take any emotional decision. I told her to ‘shut up’. I wanted a sign from the universe. You won’t believe, I got an unknown call and heard a baby crying. That moment, I was reborn again.

I support abortion. I was actually thinking about it. But I heard the heartbeat and maternal instincts hit me. I know myself and I chose to keep my baby because I was fed up of living all by myself and had a lot of love in me. I was dying to give it to somebody. That is why I decided to keep the baby.

When I had changed my mind, he thought I was kidding. Then he started torturing me and did whatever he could to make me feel like losing the baby. I told him, ‘My belly, my baby, you are a nobody. You were just a sperm donor so forget about it. I don’t need anything from you.’ I remember I just had Rs 29,000 and wanted to do as much work as I could because else the belly would be visible. Then Covid-19 happened. Financially, a lot was going on my mind.

I got in touch with a friend from Roadies – Milind (Chandwadkar). He runs an NGO. My pregnancy was a secret and only close friends and family knew. A friend of mine suggested going for crowdfunding. I didn’t want any boost and wanted to keep it a secret. I wore a mask to hide my identity and used a fake name. I was also doing vlogs. I wanted people to understand me. I felt even if I raise Rs 1 lakh, my delivery will be taken care of. I was thinking in such short terms. But in four days, I raised Rs 5 lakh. My friends and all had donated around Rs 2 lakh separately.

My mom calls me 4 times a day to speak to my son. My parents are so obsessed with him. He is the same father, who didn’t see my son for two months when I went home. My mom had cursed me and said pretty terrible things. But they were hurt, so I get it. But the transition I see now is so beautiful.

Sometimes I cry, cry a lot. When I see families at restaurants, somewhere it hurts. But we are trying to fill each other’s void. Once his father came to meet him, stoned. I told him not to do drugs and then come visit the child. When he was 3 months old, we had thought of co-parenting. We saw a counselor and did a session. He told me clearly, ‘Even if I counsel him for 20 years, he won’t be able to become a father’. He advised me to be a good single mom.'

I was a very bright student. My numbers started falling. I would bunk classes and randomly roam around. My parents got furious when they got to know about this and wanted me to home school. I grew up watching Ekta Kapoor’s serials and thought of running away. I would live in a gaga land, wanted to go to Mumbai and become an actress. My mom said something to me and that was it. I took Rs 150 from mom’s wallet and took a bus. That one year was horrible for me and I don’t want to recall it.

I came to Mumbai and got print ads. When I got my first pay, I spoke to my parents. My sister told me all that my parents went through because of me. I wanted to study through correspondence. I continued with my acting projects. My parents understood that I will be able to take care of myself.