It’s a girl for Mindy Kaling! 
 
 The Mindy Project creator and star welcomed her first child — a daughter named Katherine Swati Kaling — at 10:50 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 in Los Angeles, PEOPLE confirms via the birth certificate. A rep for Kaling had no comment on the happy news. 
 
 Katherine’s middle name, Swati, honors 38-year-old Kaling’s late mother, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. 
 
 The actress’ pregnancy news first broke in July but it wasn’t confirmed until a very famous friend of the star spilled the beans: Oprah Winfrey. 
 
 Mindy Kaling Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic 
 
 On The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October, Kaling revealed that she was expecting a girl and dished on what it was like to have none other than her A Wrinkle in Time costar confirm the baby news. 
 
 “She did announce it,” the Champions creator told Ellen DeGeneres, stifling a laugh. “If anyone is going to announce big news about your private life, Oprah Winfrey is the person. You can’t complain that much about it. And you also can’t be like, “Hey, Oprah, zip it’ — because she’s almost like a religious figure.” 
 
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 Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney 
 
 RELATED VIDEO: Mindy Kaling Confirms She’s Having a Baby Girl 
 
 
 
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 The pregnancy was “an unexpected surprise,” an insider told E! News, which first reported the news. Shortly afterward, a source revealed to PEOPLE that Kaling had “just started telling her friends” about her little one on the way — and was staying mum on the identity of her baby’s father. 
 
 “She is not telling anyone, not even close friends, who the father is,” said the source, adding that the then-mom-to-be was not dating anyone at the time. 
 
 At the September party for the final season premiere of The Mindy Project, Kaling’s costars had nothing but supportive things to say about their showrunner becoming a mother. “She’s going to be the greatest mom in the world. I am just so happy for her,” Beth Grant, who plays Beverly, told PEOPLE. 
 
 “She’s such a fearless leader, and she’s so strong, and smart and intelligent,” added Rebecca Rittenhouse (Anna). “I want her to be my mom, because she’s so incredible. But I will settle for her being my friend.” 
 
 Mindy Kaling Mindy Kaling/Instagram 
 
 RELATED GALLERY: Not a Regular Mom, But a Cool Mom: 9 Reasons Mindy Kaling Will Be the Best, Most Hilarious Parent Ever 
 
 Kaling confessed that she was nervous about impending motherhood but hopes to be the “fun” mom during an interview with Willie Geist for Sunday Today in September. 
 
 “I’d like to be the fun mom,” The Office alum and two-time memoir author told Geist in her first interview about her baby on the way. “I know I’m gonna be the dorky mom. So it could be kind of fun too. I think that would be nice.” 
 
 In November, Kaling shared the first photo of her baby bump on Instagram to celebrate her last recording session for the sixth and final season of The Mindy Project on Hulu. Since then, the star has only shared glimpses of her growing belly, but has been snapped out and about in L.A. in adorable maternity attire. 
 
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 RELATED: Mom-to-Be Mindy Kaling Shows Off Her “Fantasy” Backyard That “Reminds Me of the Way That I Grew Up” 
 
 In her September interview with Geist, Kaling also said she is planning to look to her own mother for inspiration for her parenting style. 
 
 “My mom was incredibly fierce and so devoted to us, just loved us and really wanted us to be happy no matter what we did,” explained the Ocean’s Eight star. 
 
 “My career choice was not something that she was familiar with and she was just so supportive of that. And if I could give that to my child, just the open-mindedness, I’d be so happy.” 
 
 E! News and The Blast were first to report the happy news. 

 Congrats to Mindy Kaling! 
 
 E! News has exclusively learned that the 38-year-old actress welcomed her first child, a baby girl named Katherine Kaling on Dec. 15. 
 
 Back in July, E! News learned that Kaling was pregnant with her first child and that it was "an unexpected surprise." She broke her silence about her pregnancy the following month, saying on NBC's Today show that she is "really excited" to become a mom. 
 
 "I'd like to be the fun mom, I know I'm gonna be the dorky mom," she added. "So if I can be kind of fun too, I think that would be nice." 
 
 Kaling, who is notoriously private, has not revealed the identity of her baby's father. She is not currently publicly linked to anyone romantically.
– Mindy Kaling is now a mother. The 38-year-old creator and star of The Mindy Project gave birth to her first child last week, a girl she named Katherine Kaling, reports E! Online. The website notes that Kaling guards her privacy, and she has yet to reveal the name of the father. Nor is she known to be in a current relationship. Kaling had spoken of her pregnancy as an "unexpected surprise," and People notes that it was none other than Oprah Winfrey who actually confirmed the news publicly about her friend over the summer.