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Actor Sania Saeed has never shied away from speaking about difficult subjects, and her recent appearance on Nida Yasir’s morning show was no exception. The episode, dedicated to the disturbing rise in cases of parents harming their own children, including a woman accused of violently killing her son and daughter, and a father drowning himself and his children, both in Karachi, turned into an urgent conversation on how mental health, often ignored in Pakistan, plays a critical role in parenting.

Alongside Saeed, the show also featured Karachi South ASP Nida Junaid, and clinical psychologist Dr Uzma Ali, who broke down how unchecked mental health struggles can escalate to extreme situations when left untreated.

Saeed, however, spoke directly to the root of the issue: the lack of preparedness among many parents who take on the responsibility of raising children without first addressing their own mental, emotional and relational readiness.

“Most people in our country aren’t capable of parenting. Not every couple deserves a child. Not every couple at every point deserves a child. Because are they themselves prepared for that child? Is their relationship sorted? Do they know each other enough? Are they mature enough to cope with problems and responsibilities?” she asked.

Yasir noted how societal pressures often push couples in the opposite direction, saying, “Here, we are told the opposite, that if the husband and wife don’t get along, they should have a child so they start getting along.”

To this, Saeed responded with a pointed critique: “Because we want to tie them together with a responsibility that they’re not able to or equipped to take.“

She added, “A person who can’t even be responsible for themselves, a person who is already dealing with issues, and people here don’t even go to mental health professionals, how can that person take on the responsibility of a child? Even if their mental health symptoms are manageable. I have seen so many well-educated people say things like they don’t believe in mental health, and how can someone fix you just by talking to you?”

Dr Ali also highlighted that we are all human and prone to making errors based on our ability to understand things. “We all have emotions,” she said. “We all learn how to cope with those emotions, healthy or unhealthy, by looking at the people around us, and in some families, people don’t know how to regulate their unhealthy emotions, so children don’t know how to regulate them either.”

Saeed’s comments echo what many people have long been stressing: until Pakistan normalises seeking therapy, acknowledges that mental illness is real, and breaks free from stigma, tragedies like these will continue to surface.

Parenting, Saeed argued, isn’t just about providing food and shelter; it’s about having the emotional capacity to nurture another life, something that cannot be done when one is struggling to cope with their own.

The conversation was a rare moment of mainstream television tackling mental health not as a taboo but as a social necessity. And it highlighted what Saeed put most plainly: before bringing children into the world, parents must first ask if they are ready — mentally, emotionally and relationally — to take on the responsibility.