Priyanka Chopra was joined by her daughter for her stunning cover shoot for British Vogue’s February 2023 issue.

The actress, 40, posed with Malti Marie, who turned one on January 15, for the shoot as she spoke out for the first time about her daughter’s tough start when she born three months premature.

The doting mother also uses the candid interview to address the criticism she and her husband Nick Jonas, 30, received for using a surrogate, insisting that ‘just because I don’t want to make my medical history public doesn’t give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were.’

Mother and daughter: Priyanka Chopra was joined by her daughter for her stunning cover shoot for British Vogue’s February 2023 issue.

The first-time mother was accused by some critics of ‘outsourcing’ her pregnancy so she could focus on her career.

Priyanka told Vogue that while she didn’t wish to go into detail about her and Nick’s reasons for choosing a surrogate, she would defend her right to privacy.

‘I had medical complications so this was a necessary step, and I’m so grateful I was in a position where I could do this,’ she said

‘I’ve developed a tough hide when people talk about me,’ she added. ‘But it’s so painful when they talk about my daughter. I’m like, ‘Keep her out of it.’

Speaking out: The doting mother uses the candid interview to address the criticism she and her husband Nick Jonas, 30, received for using a surrogate

‘I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying to find her veins. So no, she’s not going to be gossip’.

‘I’ve been really protective of this chapter of my life with my daughter. Because it’s not about my life only. It’s hers too.’

Malti had a tough start after being born a whole trimester before her due date.

Explaining how she was in the operating room when her daughter was delivered, Priyanka said ‘she was so small, smaller than my hand.’

Mom: Priyanka told Vogue that while she didn’t wish to go into detail about her and Nick’s reasons for choosing a surrogate, she would defend her right to privacy

‘Nick and I were both standing there as they intubated her. I don’t know how they even found what they needed [in her tiny body] to intubate her.’

For the next three months, the new parents travelled daily to the neonatal intensive care unit to be with their daughter, a tough chapter which happened to fall during the first omicron wave in the US.

‘We spent every single day with her on my chest, on my husband’s chest,’ Priyanka recalled. ‘I didn’t know if she would make it or not.’

Malti has happily been at home with Priyanka and Nick since last Spring, with the actress taking a year off work to be with her little girl.

‘It’s been 20 years of hustling and working at breakneck speed. I’ve always been like, ‘What’s the next thing?’ […] ‘But now I feel I have a centre, a sense of calm, because every decision ends up being about her,’ the star said of her new approach to work and life.

The February issue is available on newsstands and digital download on Tuesday 24th January.

Family: Malti had a tough start after being born a whole trimester before her due date. Priyanka said ‘she was so small, smaller than my hand’ (pictured when they bought their daughter home after 100 days)