‘Today’ Anchor Hoda Kotb Opens up About Plans to Expand Family: ‘It Would Be Nice’

Today anchor Hoda Kotb recently opened up about possible plans to expand her family, saying that “it would be nice.”

During an interview with ET, Kotb was asked if she and her boyfriend Joel Schiffman are considering adding to their family of three.

“We don’t know when, but it is something that is important to me and to Joel,” she replied. “We like the idea of Haley [having] a sibling because she has had such interesting circumstances to grow up. So it would be nice to be able to share it with somebody.”

More than two years ago, Kotb shared the exciting news that she had adopted her daughter Haley as a newborn, and has since been raising the tyke with Schiffman.

Kotb also shared a little bit about Haley, revealing that the toddler is a big fan of the bear illustrations on Kotb’s new children’s book You Are My Happy, because they are based on her very own stuffed animal friends.

“She just got a kick out of the bears cuddling. She just thought it was cute because she has a bear she calls Brownie, because we’re very original at our house,” Kotb joked. “She always cuddles up with Brownie so I think she thought it was cute that the mother bear and the baby bear were cuddling together.”

The Today host later provided some insight into why she chose to become a mom at the age of 53, saying “I always had this thing inside me like a voice that I couldn’t quiet. It was a voice that [told me I] wanted to be a mom, but I thought it was too late.”

“You can push a voice like that away for a long time but sooner or later it comes back up, and you have to address it,” she added. “I think the thing we all need to know [is] when your child arrives for you, that child is right on time. So your time may be when you are in your 30s or in your 40s or your 50s, but your child is right on time.”

The possibility of a new baby isn’t the only major milestone in Kotb’s life, as it was recently announced that Jenna Bush Hager has been tapped to replace Kathie Lee Gifford as Kotb’s co-host during the Today show’s fourth hour.

Photo credit: Instagram / @hodakotb