After a 2007 battle with breast cancer left her unable to conceive a child biologically,Hoda Kotbthought she wouldnever be a mother.
Now with two beautiful daughters —Hope Catherine, 3 weeks, andHaley Joy, 2 — theTodayshow host tells PEOPLE for this week’s issue that she isn’t ruling out the possibility of adopting a third child with boyfriendJoel Schiffman.
“I come from three, so I’d never close a door, ever, ever,” says Kotb, 54. “When I talked to [Joel] about two, I said, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you about something.’ I said, ‘I reallyfeel like [Haley] should have a sibling… just to go through life with. It’s a long life she’s going to live.’ ”
“I want her to say, ‘That’s my brother, that’s my sister,’ ” she added. “[Joel] said, ‘What took you so long?’ ”
Brian Doben
Hoda Kotb and family.Hoda Kotb/Instagram
Kotb reveals to PEOPLE that she wasn’t sure whether Schiffman, 61, would want to adopt again after welcoming Haley in February 2017 — months after the couple moved in together.
“At first, I thought, he’s already got a grown daughter, a brand-new job and he’s traveling around,” she says. “We went to get Hope and they put Hope in my arms, and I looked at Joel’s face and he was crying.”
“One thing I do pretty well in life is I pick great people,” she continues. “I picked him, he picked me. I thought to myself, in that moment, that’s everything, that’s it.”
Bringing Hope homeand becoming a mom of twohas filled Kotb with “overwhelming joy,” she says, explaining that each time she welcomed a new daughter home, her “heart expanded.”
Hoda Kotb covers PEOPLE with daughters Hope and Haley.Brian Doben
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“Some [adoption agencies] want you to have the natural sort of rhythm of how your kids will be in terms of age,” Kotb explains to PEOPLE. “So we applied right around then and we’ve been waiting.”
For more onHoda Kotb’s new life as a mom of two, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
