Hoda Kotb adopts a second daughter at 54
Surprise — Hoda Kotb has a new baby.
On Tuesday’s Today show the co-host, 54, called in to the show to share that she adopted a second daughter. The baby’s name is Hope Catherine Kotb and she joins big sister Haley Joy, 2.
“It’s a girl!” the elated new mom gushed, through tears, to her colleagues.
When Jenna Bush Hager asked how “life with two” has been, Hotb replied, “Oh, my gosh, you guys. She is laying on the Boppy pillow right now, I'm feeding her and I can't believe it.”
She continued, “Look — in life you think maybe you’ve gotten what you deserve, but, man, I’m so happy she is here.”
For the record, Haley is “digging” being a big sister. She’s trying to help by offering to feed the newborn raspberries for breakfast to which Kotb told her “not yet, babe.” And she was “marching around saying, ‘I'm a big sister.’” She also tried “to crawl into [Hope’s] bassinet.”
Kotb said she and her longtime partner, Joel Schiffman, were there when the baby was born. “Joel and I were standing there when they hand you the baby,” she recalled. “And it's the closest thing to a live birth I think you'll ever see. In that moment ... my heart just grew 10 times. It’s amazing.”
She added, “I just can't believe it's happening, y'all. I can't.”
There have been hints that Hoda was expanding her family. The biggest one was Monday when she posted what many perceived just to be an inspirational Instagram: “Choose Hope.”
On Kathie Lee Gifford’s last day co-hosting with Kotb, she said something about Kotb expanding her family as well.
For now it remains unclear how long Kotb’s new parent leave will be — or who will be filling in for her. Yahoo has reached out to a rep for the Today show and will update this story when we hear back.
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