Shutterstock
Hoda Kotb Thought She Missed Her Window to Become a Mom Before Kids Arrived: ‘I Couldn’t Sleep’
We’re not the only ones feeling inspired by Hoda Kotb‘s New York Times bestselling book, I Really Needed This Today: Words to Live By. When she attended a recent book signing event with fans, the mom of two dished that there’s a certain quote in the novel that really moves her heart because it speaks to her role as a mother.
“I love this quote. This one’s for me, ‘It’s not too late. You’re not too old, you’re right on time,’” she said while tearing up. “For anyone who’s waiting for their moment, whatever it is. If you’re wondering, ‘When is my time?’ I wondered that my whole life. Like, ‘When is [it going to be] my turn?’ Everything in my life happened late.”
“I met the guy who I’m going to spend my life with when I was 49. I adopted my first daughter when I was 52. I adopted my second daughter when I was 54. You don’t know when your moment’s coming. Nobody knows,” she continued. “This quote about, ‘It’s not too late. You’re not too old too. You’re right on time and you’re better than you know’ is something that really resonated with me.”
This past November, Hoda and her fiancé, Joel Schiffman, got engaged after they took a weekend getaway to the beach. With so many blessings in her life, she recalled the beautiful moment her beau agreed to adopt their children — Haley Joy, 2, and baby Hope Catherine — at the event.
“After we’d been dating a few years, I’d always wanted to have children, but I just thought I’d missed my window,” she explained. “I knew I wanted to be a mom, but I knew it was too late. There was a point where I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about it all the time.”
After much contemplation, Hoda finally mustered up the courage to ask Joel about adoption and his answer blew her away. “I said to him, ‘I need to talk to you about something and it’s really important to me. And I don’t want you to answer me right now,'” she revealed. “I said, ‘I would like to explore adoption with you.’ He looked at me and he said, ‘I don’t need a week. I don’t need any of it.’ I sobbed on his chest. And I thought to myself, ‘This is confirmation that I chose the right man.'”
You sure did, Hoda!
