Hoda Kotb reveals that she adopted a second daughter at age 54

Hoda Kotb revealed that she had adopted a second daughter at the age of 54, just two years after welcoming her beloved daughter, Haley Joy, into her life.

Today's co-presenter surprised her fellow guests with the new Tuesday morning, telling them in tears that she and her partner, Joel Schiffman, had named their new daughter, Hope Catherine.

The happy announcement of Hoda seems to have been a total surprise to almost everyone except her co-presenter, Savannah Guthrie, who interrupted Dylan Dreyer's Popstart segment with an "exclusive story" – which is 39; turned out to be a call from Hoda, had telephoned in the show to share the surprise news.

& # 39; C & # 39; is a girl! & # 39; Hoda announced in tears to Savannah, Dylan, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Willie Geist, before adding: "And she calls Hope Catherine."

Hoda's new surprise sparked loud applause from his colleagues today, while Dylan tore up and shouted, "Congratulations Hoda, I'm so happy for you," while Al just said, "Oh wow!"

Jenna, a mother of two, who joined Hoda as the official co-host of the fourth hour of the show just last week, was reduced to tears when she asked her friend, "Hoda, how is life for two? "

& # 39; Oh, my god, first of all, it rests on the pillow and I feed it, and I can not believe it! & # 39; Hoda delighted told her co-hosts, while Savannah and Jenna dabbed their eyes with tissue.

& # 39; In your life, you think you may have got what you deserve, but I'm so happy that she's here, & # 39; Hoda continued through her tears.

The new mother of two continued to say that her eldest daughter, Haley, could not be happier to have a little sister, revealing that the two-year-old had already adopted her role as big brother or sister .

"Haley is digging it," she said. "This morning at breakfast, she was trying to feed herself [Hope] his raspberries, and I was like, "No baby yet!"

"She literally walked by saying," I'm a big sister! "I mean … she tried to slip into her bassinet, but it's so much fun that you're both.

The mother of a child, Dylan, then asked Hoda if she thought his heart could give more than what he had already given, what the delighted new mother replied: "You know what who's funny, you think you're full, that's exactly what I felt with Haley and Joel and everything.

& # 39; And Joel and I were there when they handed you the baby, and it's the closest thing to a live birth, I think you'll ever see, but at that time , I was like, my god, my heart has grown ten times, it is incredible.

"In any case, I can not believe it's happening, I can not."

Hoda then recounted the comforting moment when Haley Joy met her newborn sister for the very first time, while sharing the emotional meaning behind her baby's name.

Although Hoda kept silent about her sweet newcomer, it turns out that she posted a hint on her social networking accounts on Monday – during a no-show on Today – in the form from an illustrated quote that simply said: & # 39; Choose the hope & # 39 ;.

Hoda shared the picture of his Twitter and Instagram accounts shortly before 6 am on Monday, subtitling with: Happy Monday xx & # 39;

And while at the time, the quote might seem to be nothing more than a motivational message from the long-time TV channel, it turns out that the meaning of the publication was far more great.

This happy surprise comes weeks after she revealed that she and her long-time partner, Joel, were hoping to expand their family and give their two-year-old daughter, Haley Joy, a brother or sister.

The anchor has been on Tuesday with Entertainment Tonight at today 's show studio and has announced the possibility of having another child.

"We do not know when, but it's something important for me and for Joel," Hoda said of his family's enlargement.

& # 39; We like the idea of ​​Haley [having] a brother because she had such interesting circumstances to grow up, "she added. "So, it would be nice to be able to share that with someone."

Today's anchor revealed in February 2017 that she had adopted Haley Joy, and the little girl has always been the light of her life.

Hoda, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42, came out of treatment unable to conceive and had long believed that motherhood was simply not feasible for her. .

When she told Joel that she wished to continue adopting a few years ago, he was immediately on board, which moved her to tears.

"I'm fortunate to have an incredible life partner, who has me both supported and open to this idea," Hoda told DailyMail.com last year.

However, she admitted that becoming a parent later weighs on her and that she worries for the future.

"I think that any older mother who says she did not do the math is probably lying. I have absolutely thought about it and what it means. What does this mean for the future?

"But my father died in his early 50s and I was in his early twenties. . . I was a junior in college. It was sudden, scary and terrible. But the seeds he has laid for me over these 20 years stay with me today. The things that he has learned are still part of me now.

Hoda's goal is to be with Haley as long as she can and to "help her become the person she is supposed to be."

"I will work with what I have," she says. "I will be thankful for the years that I have and thank God for having it in my life. I am so grateful for the time I spend with her.

Inspired by her experience in adopting Haley, the proud mom wrote her first children's book, "I've always loved you," last year.

She is currently promoting her second children's book, "You Are My Happy," which talks about a bear mom and her little one who think about things that make them happy while snuggling at bedtime.

The book was inspired by the nighttime routine she had with her own daughter and she revealed that Haley was a fan of her artwork.

"She just had fun with cuddly bears. She just thought it was cute because she has a bear that she calls Brownie, because we are very original to us, "Hoda told Entertainment Tonight.

"She is still hugging Brownie, so I think she found it cute that the cub and the baby bear are hugging each other."

Last month, Hoda celebrated her daughter's second birthday with a Sesame Street themed birthday party in tribute to Elmo's love for her granddaughter.

The proud mom posted a family photo of the party on Instagram while wishing a happy birthday to her baby for Valentine's Day.

"So much love today," said Hoda. & # 39; Valentine's day x2. & # 39;

In the photo, Hoda smiles brightly as she poses next to little Haley, who is wearing a custom pink t-shirt, Sesame Street, which bears her first name and the number "2" in the honor of his second birthday.

Joel and her mother, Sameha Kotb, also smile behind little Haley and all three wear a white version of the Haley special T-shirt, Sesame Street.

While the shirts of Hoda and Joel respectively say "mom" and "daddy", Sameha says Teta, "Arabic word for grandmother".

The bright yellow piece was decorated with streamers, balloons and images of Elmo and Cookie Monster, but the best decoration was to be Haley's birthday cake.

The frosted vanilla cake was topped with images of Cookie Monster, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch, as well as a green sign stating "Haley Street" instead of Sesame Street .