Who Is the Father of Mindy Kaling’s Children? Kaling Has a Specific Reason for Staying Mum
Mindy Kaling has been known to balance multiple things at once. Though she was introduced to most people as Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Kaling has done much more than just act. She’s also a writer, producer, and as of 2017 a mother.
Kaling announced in 2020 that she gave birth to her second child, a son named Spencer, which has raised questions about who the father of both her children is. Some people believe it could be her Office co-star B.J. Novak.
Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak’s off-screen relationship mirrored their on-screen one
On The Office, Kaling played Kelly Kapoor, the Dunder Mifflin customer service representative. Throughout Kaling’s time on The Office, Kapoor often found herself in an on-again-off-again relationship with co-worker Ryan Howard. Howard was played by Novak, who also worked as a writer, executive producer, and director on The Office.
Kaling and Novak’s relationship offscreen resembles their tumultuous on-screen relationship, though it was never as formally defined as Kelly and Ryan’s. Novak admitted as much in a 2012 interview with Vulture, saying he didn’t even know whether they were officially dating despite them spending so much time together.
Mindy Kaling is a single mother
As a result of their long history, many people have speculated that Novak is the father of at least one of Kaling’s children. However, Kaling has repeatedly clarified that Novak is the godfather of her daughter and newborn son.
Since giving birth to her daughter Katherine “Kit” in 2017, Kaling has prided herself on being a hardworking single mother raising her kids on her own. She told a story about her realization with what being a single mom meant in a commencement speech to graduates from Dartmouth University the following year.
“According to movies and TV, this is traditionally the time when my mother and spouse are supposed to be here, sharing this experience with me. And I looked around, and I had neither. And for a moment, it was kind of scary. Like, ‘Can I do this by myself?'”
Mindy Kaling values her privacy
Despite living a life in the public eye, Kaling has surprisingly kept much of her personal life under wraps — especially when it comes to her children.
Kaling has frequently posted photos of Kit, but in every photo, her daughter’s isn’t visible. Kaling also has been silent about who Kit’s father is, even to Kit herself.
Kaling discussed this parenting approach in an interview with The New York Times in 2019: “My feeling is that until I speak to my daughter about [her father], I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it.”
Kaling seems to be taking the same approach when it comes to her son.
Mindy Kaling’s pregnancy was a total secret
Kaling recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and announced the birth of her son, Spencer. She acknowledged in the interview that it was “news to a lot of people” as she kept her pregnancy entirely secret, including her baby bump.
Kaling discussed the relationship between Kit and Spencer, saying her daughter at first “was really worried about her toys getting taken,” but became “a huge fan” after meeting her brother.
When Colbert asked how she kept the secret, she had a simple answer. “No one saw me!” she said, having spent most of 2020 in lockdown at home. The paparazzi did catch her one day when she was eight months pregnant, but no one put together that Kaling was pregnant in the photo. Kaling even joked she felt insulted no one speculated about her pregnancy after the photo surfaced.
