Bollywood star Preity Zinta on Thursday, November 18 announced that she and her husband, financial analyst Gene Goodenough have become parents to twins -- a son and a daughter -- through surrogacy. Zinta, who has been away from the big screen, said they have named their newborn babies Jai and Gia.

“Gene & I are overjoyed & our hearts are filled with so much gratitude & with so much love as we welcome our twins Jai Zinta Goodenough & Gia Zinta Goodenough into our family,” she wrote on Twitter.

Hi everyone, I wanted to share our amazing news with all of you today. Gene & I are overjoyed & our hearts are filled with so much gratitude & with so much love as we welcome our twins Jai Zinta Goodenough & Gia Zinta Goodenough into our family. pic.twitter.com/wknLAJd1bL

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) November 18, 2021

The actor also thanked the medical staff and their surrogate "for being part of this incredible journey”. "Loads of love and light," Zinta, 46, added in another tweet.

The actor, who made her acting debut in 1998 with Mani Ratnam's Dil Se, got married to her American boyfriend Goodenough in a private ceremony in Los Angeles in 2016.

Her film credits include titles like Soldier, Kya Kehna, Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Koi Mil Gaya, Veer-Zaara, among others.

Zinta was last seen in 2018 action-comedy Bhaiaji Superhit, which marked her return to the screen after a seven-year hiatus.