Hoda Kotb’s Quotes About Being a Mom to Her Daughters

Today host Hoda Kotb is always gushing about her family. The NBC star and her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, are proud coparents to their daughters Hope Catherine and Haley Joy. When she’s not leading daytime television with cohost Jenna Bush Hager, Hoda is spending time with her adorable kids and radiating happiness.

Hoda and Joel got engaged in 2019. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic pushed back their wedding several times. Their wedding date remained uncertain before she announced during a January 2022 episode of Today that they had broken up. Though the couple are no longer together, there is one thing that is undeniable: Their family always comes first.

“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple, so we decided we are going to start this new year … on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends,” she told viewers at the time.

It’s clear that the girls are Hoda’s pride and joy. Both Haley and Hope were welcomed via adoption. Hoda opened up about the adoption process and how her life changed once she adopted her eldest daughter in 2017.

“You’re standing in a room waiting, and somebody walks in holding your daughter. I was exploding in tears,” she told People. “I thought they were going to take her away and say, ‘No, we have a hysterical freak here, get that baby back!’”

Hoda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and was unable to conceive after undergoing treatment. The New York Times best-selling author’s biggest dream was always to become a mother. Once she began the adoption process, she wasn’t sure how long it would take. Hoda quickly adapted to motherhood and taking care of Haley, declaring on the Today show, “She is the love of my life.”

In 2019, the Oklahoma native announced to the world that she adopted another baby girl named Hope. She revealed in October 2021 that she told both of her daughters they were adopted.

“I tell them they were adopted, and I’m not sure if they 100 percent know what that means,” Hoda said on the “Me Becoming Mom” podcast. “I always say, ‘You didn’t come from Mommy’s tummy, you came from my heart.’ And they understand that.”

Keep scrolling to read the most heartwarming things Hoda has said about motherhood.

On Telling People She Was a Mom for the First Time

In a Today segment, Hoda shared what it was like to tell someone that she was a mom for the first time. She ran out to the store to buy milk after welcoming Haley, and an interaction with a stranger left a giant smile on her face.

“People always, first question (is) ‘Do you have kids?’ That’s the first question, and I always say ‘Oh my nieces, I love them so much,’ I always talk about my nieces,” Hoda said. “And literally I dead stopped when that woman asked me, ‘Do you have kids?’ And I looked at her and I go, ‘Yeah, I do.’ Like I couldn’t believe I was saying it, I was like ‘Yes, I have a daughter, yes.’ And just to say the words out loud, we’re talking about like saying something out loud, it was so moving.”

On How Becoming a Mom Made Her Life Even Better

In a 2017 interview a few months after bringing Haley home, Hoda admitted that she missed “nothing” about life before having kids. She called the then 4-month-old a “little nugget.” She had just returned to Today after taking a two-month maternity leave.

“It’s funny because I thought I had the most perfect life, and then I realized after her I didn’t,” Hoda said. “I realized that this is infinitely better. Every single day is infinitely better than before she came.”

On Becoming a First-Time Mom at 52

Hoda has always been very transparent about never expecting to become a mom in her 50s. In a 2018 piece she wrote for Today, she described being a mom as “Christmas morning over and over and over and over.”

“When you’re a mom late in life, you realize the gift it is,” she explained. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t have realized it when I was younger, but trust me, when you’re a new mom for the first time at 52, you get on your knees and say thank you. Because you get to do something you didn’t think you had a shot at.”

In a Letter to Her Daughter Haley

In a 2017 segment on Today, Hoda, Jenna, and Savannah Guthrie got very emotional reading out letters that they had written for their daughters. Haley was only three months old at the time, but Hoda poured her heart and soul into the letter.

“Your eyes, use them to see the good in people and in each day,” she said. “Your smile, share it often. Your belly, it will be tickled by the pom poms I will be shaking for you constantly. Your heart, listen to it. Follow it. Figure out what and who makes it beat faster. Your skin, strive to be comfortable in it your whole life. Your back, I’ve got it; always.”

On Holding Hope for the First Time

In 2019, Hoda shared how Haley was adjusting to being a big sister. The then 2-year-old was happily “marching around” after seeing Hope. For Hoda, holding Hope for the first time brought up so many new emotions.

“You know what’s funny? You think that you’re full,” she 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.'”