Pakistani film and television star Mahira Khan has opened up with unusual frankness about the experience of welcoming a child for the second time at the age of 41, noting that this pregnancy has differed sharply from her first in both bodily and emotional terms.
The actress made these remarks in an interview conducted on the margins of the Toronto International Film Festival, where she looked back on how unexpectedly her life took a new turn after she had already adjusted to a very different stage of adulthood.
Mahira explained that she had pictured her life moving along a certain path as her son continued to grow and as she devoted more attention to her profession, her daily rhythms and her sense of personal independence. Because of that, the possibility of beginning motherhood all over again arrived as an unforeseen shift.
She observed that human beings frequently draw up plans for their futures, yet in the end God has His own designs. In her case, the journey has strengthened the value of embracing uncertainty and placing trust in divine will instead of attempting to govern every part of existence.
The actress said her first encounter with motherhood occurred when she was 24, and it was marked by a kind of innocence and by fewer worries about the difficulties that lay ahead. At 41, by contrast, she approaches pregnancy with more awareness and from a different vantage point. Mahira also conceded that the present pregnancy has placed greater physical demands on her. She described herself as someone who is used to working, travelling and remaining active, but she noted that there are days when her body will not allow her to do all the things she wishes to do.
The emotional dimension, Mahira said, is different as well. Age, she remarked, brings a stronger consciousness, together with a more profound comprehension of life’s uncertainties, duties and vulnerabilities. Even with these difficulties, she characterised becoming a mother again as an experience full of deep joy, while also recognising that it has introduced moments of fear, tiredness and fragility.
Mahira married actor Ali Askari in 2007, and the pair welcomed their son, Azlan, in September 2009. They later divorced in 2016. She went on to marry businessman Salim Karim in an intimate ceremony held in Bhurban in October 2023, opening a fresh chapter in her personal life.
Read more: Mahira Khan Announces Second Pregnancy at 41
