'Today' Surprises Viewers with Phone Call from Hoda Kotb with Adoption Announcement
Jenna Bush Hager officially started her new job as a co-host of the “Today” show just over one week ago, but that’s not the only exciting change for the “Today” show team.
On April 16, during the show, Savannah Guthrie stepped into the conversation to say they had someone special on the phone and that her co-anchors were going to want to hear the news.
Guthrie told viewers she had some important and exclusive information to share about a major celebrity who was on the phone and then asked, “Hoda, are you there?”
Hearing Kotb’s voice on the phone, Guthrie asked her to reveal the big news.
“Do you have something you want to tell us?” Guthrie asked.
Enthusiasm shone in Kotb’s voice as she said, “Hi guys! It’s a girl! And her name is Hope!”
“I’m feeding her and I can’t believe it,” an emotional Kotb said. “I’m so happy she’s here!”
Hello, Hope! @HodaKotb introduces baby daughter No. 2 https://t.co/XcHJ2rHMDr
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 16, 2019
Baby Hope Catherine Kotb is the second baby that Kotb, 54, has adopted. She welcomed her oldest daughter, Haley Joy, in 2017.
Haley Joy is already thrilled about taking on her new role as big sister, Kotb told viewers.
“This morning at breakfast [Haley] was trying to feed [Hope] her raspberries and I was like, ‘Not yet, babe,’” Kotb said. “She was literally marching around saying, ‘I’m a big sister!’”
Kotb said that her heart grew yet again after the addition of Hope to her family alongside boyfriend Joel Schiffman, who she has been with since 2013.
“You know what’s funny? You think that you’re full,” Kotb said. “That’s exactly how I felt with Haley and Joel and everything.”
“Joel and I were standing there when they hand you the baby, and it’s the closest thing to a live birth you’ll ever see, but in that moment I was like, ‘Oh my God, my heart just grew.'”
“It’s amazing,” Kotb gushed. “I can’t believe it’s happening.”
Kotb went on to explain that her daughter’s middle name, Catherine, was chosen in honor of her best friend, Karen Swensen. Swensen has a 15-year-old daughter named Catherine.
Kotb’s on-air colleagues were left wiping away tears at the joyous announcement, even joking that tissues were not going to be enough — someone had better bring in a mop.
Previously, Kotb shared that she has always yearned to be a mom, and stands proudly as an advocate for child adoption.
“I always had this thing inside me like a voice that I couldn’t quiet,” she said, according to Entertainment Tonight. “It was a voice that [told me I] wanted to be a mom, but I thought it was too late.”
Now, she’s the happy mother of two little girls, and many have shown their support and expressed their happiness for her, too.
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