Hoda Kotb is opening up about the conversations she has had with her daughters about adoption.
The former “Today” co-host, 61, appeared on the Sept. 23 episode of “Today with Jenna & Friends,” speaking with Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-host Sheinelle Jones about parenting her two children, Haley, 8, and Hope, 6.
Hoda Kotb Shares How She Talks to Her Daughters About Adoption
Kotb, who welcomed her daughters through adoption with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman, explained that as her kids have grown older, she has had to figure out the best way to talk to them about where they came from.
“I think for my kids, they were asking me…I was telling them about adoption, and I thought, ‘How do you tell that story to your kids?’ ” Kotb said. “And I said at first, ‘You weren’t born in my tummy, you were born in my heart,’ and they were like, ‘Oh, okay.’”
As Haley and Hope became older, Kotb realized she needed to provide more detail. She shared that the girls began asking questions about how babies are born, which prompted her to explain their adoption story in more depth.
“She’s like your birth mother angel, and she’s there,” Kotb recalled telling her daughters. “God gave her the job to carry you so that she could give you to me. That was her job. And then they said, ‘Our birth mother angel.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ ‘Is she alive?’ ‘Yeah, somewhere out there, we don’t know who that is yet.’”
Hoda Kotb Reflects on Motherhood at 61
Kotb also opened up about her experience parenting later in life, reflecting on how age has shaped her approach to raising daughters Haley and Hope.
“Iâve often thought about being an older mom,” she said. “And it was funny. I was just reading something and, you know, a lot of moms start at 20, 25, 30, even 35, when you donât know anything about who you are. Youâre imparting your parentsâ values on your kids. Youâre just doing what we all do.”
She admitted that hearing the term “older mom” can sometimes sting. “Sometimes when people would say, âOh, youâre an older mom,â I kind of get an ouch, even though itâs true,” Kotb explained. “Sixty-one with a third grader and a first grader. Anyway, I am kind of sitting in the fact that I come with wisdom now.”
Despite that, Kotb emphasized that she sees many positives in raising children later in life. She said her daughters are “getting more from me” because of the experiences she brings as a parent at 61.
âAnd although I still lose it often, I think I lose it less than I wouldâve in my 30s,â Kotb shared. âBut I do feel like theyâre getting more from me that you wouldnât normally get from a parent who was in their 30s who hasnât lived a life to know.â
Today, Kotb continues to embrace motherhood while balancing public life, personal growth, and the joy of raising Haley and Hope. Her candid reflections highlight both the challenges and the gifts of parenting â particularly the heartfelt ways she keeps the story of adoption central to her familyâs journey.
The post Hoda Kotb Opens Up About Talking to Her Daughters About Being Adopted appeared first on EntertainmentNow.