Hoda Kotb Questioned Her Choice to Adopt 2 Daughters After Being Criticized for Becoming a Mom in Her 50s: It Was an ‘Ouch’ Moment
12.04.2023 - 23:45
/ usmagazine.com
No more mom-shaming! Hoda Kotb opened up about a heartbreaking moment when her decision to adopt in her 50s was called into question.
“I will never forget this. I got a letter that was addressed to me in somebody’s handwriting to my house,” Kotb, 58, recalled during the Wednesday, April 12, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna. “I opened the letter, and it was something along the lines of, ‘How dare you [be] bringing a child into this world at that age. Don’t you know what you are doing to that child?’”
The journalist — who adopted daughters Haley, 6, and Hope, 3, in February 2017 and April 2019, respectively, with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman — noted how much it hurt her to read the fans’ comments.
“It went on and on and it took my breath away because that actually was my ouch [moment],” the daytime talk show cohost continued. “I was scared. I was like, ‘Is this something that is smart for me to do? Am I helping or am I ultimately harming?’ I thought about that.”
Kotb remembered “feeling terrible” while scrolling through the document, especially after thinking about the fact that someone “went through all that trouble” to get it to her.
The former Dateline NBC correspondent, however, turned to her own upbringing as a way to see the light through the darkness.
“My dad passed when I was in college. And I remember thinking, we have our parents for a [certain] period of time. I know the foundation he left. I know it was worth every second of that time,” she told cohost Jenna Bush Hager on Wednesday. “So, I thought about that too. It can hit you in a place where you’re the most vulnerable.”
Earlier this year, Kotb raised eyebrows when she missed multiple shows in February. The Emmy winner returned to the broadcast in March and revealed