# Parineeti Chopra opens up about the pain of first leaving her son Neer for work

Published 2026-09-28T05:05:39Z

> Parineeti Chopra says leaving her baby son Neer for her first work trip felt like crippling physical pain, and she questions why society expects mothers to put their careers on hold.

Parineeti Chopra has spoken openly about how hard it was to step away from her son Neer and go back to work for the first time. In a recent interview, the actor said the separation hit her far harder than she expected. She described it not as simple guilt but as "crippling physical pain".

The moment came after many months at home following the birth, when she had been with her baby day and night. Parineeti said she has almost no memory of the trip to Bombay that followed. She cannot recall walking through the airport, boarding the plane, landing or reaching home, and said she spent the entire journey in tears, "only sobbing for three hours".

She admitted that at the time she feared she would never be able to work again. What makes the feeling so hard to explain, she said, is that everyone back home was perfectly fine. The baby was safe and the family was having a great time. According to reports, her family even told her she could stay away a little longer, yet the guilt refused to go.

Parineeti believes the pressure new mothers feel is partly biological and partly created by society. She said women often come up to her while she is out working and ask where her baby is. To her, the question reflects an expectation that mothers should put their lives on hold, and she asked why women apparently cannot return to a normal life once they have a child.

She reportedly added that she and her husband, Raghav Chadha, are making a conscious effort to change that narrative, and hope others can learn from their journey. She also feels this kind of worry never fully fades, joking that even at 90 her own mother will still ask whether she has eaten.

Parineeti and Raghav married in September 2023 and welcomed Neer in October 2025. She reportedly found out she was pregnant while shooting Shaque: Trust No One, which marks her web series debut.

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Source: https://clapnumber.com/news/parineeti-chopra-opens-up-about-the-pain-of-first-leaving-her-son-neer-for-work
Retrieved: 2026-09-28