No to parenthood 'OUR SHOCKING TV CONFESSION'

Creative couple Ankita and Calvin reveal why they're boxing on without kids

- Hayley McLarin

The project was their baby and potentially the only baby this couple is likely to have - if you don't count their dog Maple!

Aucklanders Ankita Singh and Calvin Sang have created an episode for the TVNZ+ Motherhood Anthology series. It examines a woman's wish to not have children and potentially disappoint her mother, choosing instead to pursue a mixed martial arts (MMA) boxing career.

Give Me Babies was written by Ankita, 28, and directed by her partner Calvin, 29, after a walk with Maple during Covid lockdowns. TVNZ had called for pitch ideas and the pair felt inspired to explain their stance on parenthood from a cultural perspective.

"We were thinking about ways to combine our Chinese and Indian cultures, and thought we could make something 'Chindian"," says Ankita. "In a lot of South-Asian cultures, there is that pressure for daughters to have kids. I've never wanted children.

"Luckily for me, my parents are super-chill. My mum Vandna is like, 'Live your life because kids will ruin your life.

Just get everything out of your system before you have kids.' I think she's hoping... I think she wants grandkids, but it's not as intense as the pressure in the episode."

Calvin is grateful his parents Mel Ling Lee and Darryl Sang don't put any pressure on him, "but they do babysit Maple quite a lot"! he jokes.