Hoda Kotb has revealed she fears missing out on her daughters' important milestones because she's an older mom raising young children.
The Today star, 58, admitted that she "sometimes" struggles with anxiety when she thinks about not being around to see her children, Haley, six, and Hope, four, get married or have kids because she welcomed them later in life.
Hoda became a mom at age 52 in 2017, when she adopted Haley Joy with her fiancé at the time, Joel Schiffman. They adopted Haley's little sister, Hope Catherine two years later. Though Hoda and Joel broke up in 2022, they have continued to co-parent both their daughters.
Despite Hoda's concerns, she admitted she tries to not get too caught up "in the math" during an appearance on Bethenny Frankel's Just B podcast. "I look at my mom, who's 86, and I think to myself, 'OK, what's the difference here between me and her? Thirty [years]. OK, that's kind of good, so let's see, 30 years.
"So, I add 30 to Haley and I add 30 to Hope. And I think to myself, won't that be spectacular? I can do that."
Trying to remain positive, Hoda said that she tries to focus on how "special" it would be to see her daughters tie the knot or meet her grandchildren.
"Wouldn't that be amazing? Do I get to see them get married? Maybe," she added. "That would be really good. Or do I get to see them have a child? Maybe. That would be really good."
As a mother of two, Hoda has embraced the joys and challenges of parenthood. Reflecting on her journey to adoption, the TV anchor admitted she was initially hesitant to voice her desire for children.
Hoda said: "I remember never saying out loud that I wanted kids, never, because it was too late... For girls that it's too late for, you don't say it because if you say it, you're expressing something that you're never going to get."
However, Hoda's life took a remarkable turn when she reached out to an adoption agency. The moment that forever changed her life arrived when she received a phone call.
"I took a yellow pad out, and I wrote, '11:55. This is the moment everything changes.' I knew it," Hoda shared, recounting the pivotal conversation with Ashley, the woman at the adoption agency.
"And I took a deep breath and dialed the number, and I said, 'Ashley?' and she said two words to me. She said, 'She's here.'"
Expressing the profound impact of that moment, Hoda likened it to the miracle of childbirth. "I don't know what birth feels like, and I bet it was amazing, but this was really close... I remember that feeling like it was yesterday."
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