Kathie Lee Gifford Reacts To Hoda Kotb’s Exciting News About Adopting A Second Daughter
When Today Show host Hoda Kotb was in her 40s she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She survived the disease, but the treatments took away her ability to carry a child. As the years passed by, she never gave up hope that she would someday have a child of her own. In 2017, she was ecstatic to announce that she had adopted a baby girl named Haley Joy. While Haley completely transformed her life, Kotb still longed for a second child. Earlier this week, Kotb announced that she and her partner Joel Schiffman adopted a second daughter, Hope Catherine. Her former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford reacted to the happy news, according to E! News.
Gifford recently retired from her longtime spot as Kotb’s on-air sidekick on the fourth hour of the Today Show. Throughout the 11 years they spent working together, Gifford got to witness first hand the newfound joy in Kotb upon welcoming Haley to her life. Now that Kotb is a new mother again, Gifford couldn’t be happier for her.
“Hoda’s a momma again. I’m thrilled about that. I knew that was coming, I just didn’t know when it was coming,” she said.
Gifford retired from her career on television to pursue other longtime dreams in life, including writing and starring in movies. She has since moved to Nashville as she embarks on this next chapter of her life. Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George Bush, has taken on the role of Kotb’s new co-star during the fourth hour.
Hoda Kotb has welcomed another daughter.
The "Today" co-anchor announced during a phone call into her show this morning that she has adopted a little girl named Hope Catherine Kotb. https://t.co/0ieMCpwOc7 pic.twitter.com/pL7uaDOWwY
— CNN (@CNN) April 16, 2019
Shortly after revealing her exciting news on Tuesday, Hager and fellow Today anchor Savannah Guthrie got the chance to meet Kotb’s new bundle of joy, according to Today. Guthrie conveyed that Kotb is doing well and over the moon over her new daughter.
“Jenna and I went right over right after the show. I don’t even know if we were invited, but we went in and we saw the baby. She’s adorable. Hoda is doing great and is just so happy and pleased. It’s really wonderful.”
Kotb chose the name Hope for her daughter for a very specific reason. The television personality didn’t know if it would be possible for her to ever have a second child. Nevertheless, she clung on to hope and never gave up her dream.
“The name came because there are a lot of women out there who are hoping that their day is coming too, and I know the feeling of it not happening for a long time,” Kotb said.
