Hoda Kotb's 2 Kids: Everything to Know

Hoda Kotb Instagram

Hoda Kotb is a mom of two.

The Today show co-anchor surprised viewers in 2017 when she announced that she had adopted her first child, a baby girl named Haley Joy. (Kotb was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, which left her unable to conceive.) The TV personality's family grew in 2019 with the adoption of her second child, Hope Catherine.

"I tell them they were adopted, and I'm not sure if they 100 percent know what that means," Kotb shared on PEOPLE's Me Becoming Mom podcast in 2021. "I always say, 'You didn't come from Mommy's tummy, you came from my heart.' And they understand that."

Kotb shares Haley and Hope with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman. (The former couple called off their engagement in early 2022.) "I have two incredible children I share with him. And it's because of Joel that I have Haley and Hope, without question. I think I might have been too afraid to do it alone," she previously told PEOPLE.

Prior to welcoming her daughters, Kotb used to think having a family of her own wasn't in the cards for her. "Family to me is everything — and having one of my own is something I never thought I'd have," she told PEOPLE in 2022. The news anchor explained, "I always imagined family as my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister. I envisioned it that way until I was 50. Imagine someone saying, 'Hey, guess what? You're actually going to have a whole other family.' It still surprises me! It delights me to know that I have Haley and Hope."

Hoda Kotb Instagram

In late February 2023, Kotb took a two-week absence from the Today show to deal with a "family health matter." After returning to her anchor duties on March 6, Kotb told viewers that her younger daughter Hope spent time in an Intensive care unit and the hospital after health complications.

"My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU ... and then in the hospital for a little over a week," Kotb shared with her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. "I'm so grateful she's home, she is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely."

Later on in the broadcast, Kotb told co-host Jenna Bush Hager that the experience was "really scary" but she is "over the moon" to have Hope home. She added, "I feel blessed and grateful, really, really, really grateful. And also anyone who's ever gone through an illness with a child, boy I thought I understood you. But I didn't. You don't until you're sitting in that position. So for every single person going through some stuff, I get it."

Here is everything to know about Hoda Kotb's two daughters.

Haley Joy Kotb, 6

Hoda Kotb Instagram

Haley Joy made Kotb a mom in 2017. The Today star's older daughter was born on Feb. 14, 2017.  "She's a Valentine's baby so she's a little nugget," Kotb told her Today co-workers after announcing that she had adopted a baby. "She is the love of my life!"

Kotb later revealed on PEOPLE's Me Becoming Mom podcast that she named her daughter after Halley's Comet. "I knew her name was Haley. My sister and I, we'd talked about like Halley's Comet. It's like a once in a blue moon, you know, that something beautiful like that happens," she explained.

In 2018, the Where We Belong: Journeys That Show Us The Way author told PEOPLE that Haley's first word was "Bob." "We don't know who Bob is," Kotb admitted. "Every time she said it we kept laughing going, 'Who is Bob?' I'm sure it was a combination of bottle and some other thing."

The same year, Haley turned 1 while her mom was in PyeongChang, South Korea, for the Winter Olympics. Although they were apart for Haley's actual birthday, Kotb made sure to celebrate her daughter before she left. "It is already Valentine's Day here in South Korea —- and i am missing my valentines baby👶🏼. We celebrated her bday before I left. Could have been better w camera placement. Love you little one," she wrote on Instagram.

Hoda Kotb Instagram Hoda Kotb with her kids

Haley served as Kotb's inspiration for her children's book I've Loved You Since Forever, which Kotb called a "love letter" on Today.

The 6-year-old has also joined her mother at work on the Today show. Haley first visited the NBC show as a baby in 2017 and joined Kotb, Guthrie, Michelle Obama and Kelly Clarkson for an appearance on International Day of the Girl in 2018.

Haley embraced her role as a big sister after Hope arrived. Kotb spoke about her daughters' bond while giving an update on baby Hope in May 2019. "They're in love,'' the doting mom said during a call on Today. "They're just hanging out. She wakes up in the morning and kisses Hope, and when she goes down at night, she wants to give her a good night kiss."

At the time, Kotb revealed that Haley had recently called Hope "my friend." The news anchor added, "I just feel like she's got a life partner, and I can't tell you how that fills my heart to know that there's somebody [who is] gonna hold her hand all the way through life."

In March 2023, while hosting Today, Kotb shared that Haley has struggled to "feel seen" by her parents amid her sister's health struggles.

"You know, Hope hasn't been feeling great, and all the attention's on Hope and Haley wonders too. Like, 'I'm here, see me. I need something, too. Carry me. Do what you're doing for Hope,' " the mom-of-two said. "It's weird, but I feel like I got most of my resilience in life because of that. You didn't expect to always be seen and heard."

Hope Catherine Kotb, 3

Hoda Kotb Instagram

Kotb announced in April 2019 that she had adopted her second child, Hope Catherine Kotb. She later recalled in an interview with PEOPLE, "When I talked to [Joel] about two, I said, 'Hey, I want to talk to you about something.' I said, 'I really feel 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.' " As Kotb recalled, Schiffman replied, "What took you so long?"

She applied to adopt again nice months after Haley's arrival.

"Joel and I were standing there when they hand you the baby, and it's the closest thing to a live birth I think you'll ever see, but anyway in that moment, I was like, 'Oh my God, my heart just grew,' " Kotb told her Today co-hosts after announcing that she had adopted again. "It's amazing. Anyway I can't believe it's happening."

Kotb and Schiffman had already decided on their baby's name before Hope's birth. "The name came because there are a lot of women out there who are hoping that their day is coming too, you know, and I know the feeling of it not happening for a long time," Kotb said on Today.

Meanwhile, Hope's middle name is a tribute to Kotb's best friend Karen's daughter, whose name is Catherine.

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Hope celebrated her 1st birthday on Easter in 2020. Kotb commemorated the occasion with pictures on Instagram, which she captioned, "As my best friend @karenswensen said.. Hope blooms this Easter! Happy bday Hope! #1 ❤️❤️."

Kotb has described Hope as a "dream child." On PEOPLE's Me Becoming Mom podcast, the Today host said, "She is a dream child. It is as if they share the same blood. The same everything. She and Haley, they are intertwined. They hold hands. They don't let go." She admitted that she is "blown away by the love" her daughters share.

In early 2023, Hope experienced health complications, causing her to spend time in the Intensive care unit and the hospital.

"My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU ... and then in the hospital for a little over a week," Kotb said on the March 6 broadcast of Today after a two-week absence from the show. "I'm so grateful she's home, she is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely."

She continued, telling co-host Guthrie, "You know what I realized too, Savannah? It's like, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out. So I'm grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I'm grateful for my family and I'm grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you."

While Kotb did not provide further details of Hope's diagnosis, she added that she's "over the moon" to have her daughter home.