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The Today co-anchor Hoda Kotb just revealed a heartbreaking mom-shaming event that happened to her, and it’s sadly a reality for so many older moms.
Kotb recently talked about how she received an outpouring of hate mail, but one piece of hate mail really hurt her: a handwritten note criticizing her for starting a family later in life. “I opened the letter and it was something along the lines of, ‘How dare you bring a child into this world at your age? Don’t you know what you’re doing to that child?’ Like, it went on and on,” she said to NBC. “It took my breath away because that actually was my ouch. I was scared. Like, is this something that is smart for me to do? Am I helping or am I going to ultimately be harming? Like, I’ve thought about that.”
She added, “And when I read it, I thought, someone took a pen and sat at a table and put it and wrote that down and got a stamp and mailed it. Like, went to all that trouble to say that to me.”
Now, when Kotb adopted her first daughter, she was 52 years old, and people have been criticizing her for it. Let’s just say it: that’s incredibly uncalled for. Many mothers have welcomed children later in life, and have become amazing mothers to their children.
With advanced in technology like IVF, egg freezing, and surrogates, many have been having children later in life. And spoiler: that’s more than fine! In fact, studies from US News showed the overwhelming benefits of having children later in life. Kotb is a wonderful mother, and her fans have been coming to her aid to remind her that the haters are just that.
Back in 2017, the Hoda author revealed that she and now-ex Joel Schiffman adopted a daughter named Haley, now 6. They later adopted another baby girl named Hope, now 3. While Kotb and Schiffman have recently split, they continue to wonderfully co-parent their daughters.
Before you go, check out these celebrities who have talked about the joys and challenges of being older parents.
