Hoda Kotb is a doting mum to two young daughters, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, who she shares with fiancé Joel Shiffman.
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And on Monday's Today with Hoda & Jenna, the presenter recalled an emotional story about her oldest child as they marked World Adoption Day.
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After watching a montage of families talking about how adoption had changed their lives, Hoda – who adopted both her children – recalled an emotional conversation she had with her three-year-old.
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She told co-host Jenna Bush Hager: "I always tell Haley, like she will see someone who is pregnant and she will ask 'Is there a baby in that tummy?' and I will tell her there is.
"And then she will ask me if she came from my tummy and I tell her 'No, you came from mommy's heart.'"
© Photo: InstagramHoda Kotb opened up about her conversation with daughter Haley
Hoda then explained that Haley sometimes points at her mum's heart-shaped necklace, asking if she came from that.
"She sometimes points at my necklace and asks 'That heart?' And I'm like no," the star said smiling. "But you came from there," she continued, pointing to her chest.
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"I think it's such a beautiful thing as families come in all shapes and sizes," Hoda told Jenna.
"And isn't it so funny, that adoption used to be the thing in movies where you would learn about it in your twenties and it was always a shock, and now people… they hand you the baby and you start telling your child from the beginning that we chose you. It's beautiful," she said.
© Photo: InstagramThe Today show host adopted Haley as a baby
"The fact that it has expanded the way that families look all across our country, and also just the hearts, she may not have come from that specific one, but she's expanded it," Jenna responded.
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Chatting to People magazine in October, the 56-year-old star revealed she's said "yes" to the idea of adopting a third child on numerous occasions.
"It's funny," she told People magazine. "I think to myself - and I've obviously had a conversation with Joel about it, many conversations - but I feel like, well, can we? Yes.
© Photo: InstagramHoda's fiancé Joel with their daughters Haley and Hope
"Will our family be better with it? Yes. Do we have enough love in the house? Yes. All the answers seem to say yes."
But Hoda isn't rushing into anything, especially during the current coronavirus pandemic.
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