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"It took my breath away because that actually was my 'ouch,'" the TODAY anchor recalled of the negative comments she received from a viewer in a nasty letter.
Hoda Kotb is opening up about being shamed for becoming a mom in her 50s.
During Wednesday's episode of "TODAY with Hoda & Jenna," the television personality -- who shares daughters Haley, 6, and Hope, 3, with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman -- revealed she once received a nasty letter from a viewer who criticized her for having kids at her age.
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View Story"I'll never forget this. I got a letter that was addressed to me in somebody's handwriting to my house," Kotb began, recalling the story to her co-host Jenna Bush Hager. "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?' It went on and on."
"It took my breath away because that actually was my 'ouch,'" she continued. "I was scared, like, 'Is this something that is smart for me to do, and am I helping or am I ultimately going to be harming?'"
The NBC News anchor went on to express her shock that someone not only spent time to write the rude comments but also put them in a physical letter and sent it to her.
"When I read it, I thought, 'Someone took a pen, and sat at a table and wrote that down and got a stamp and mailed [it], like went to all that trouble to say that to me,'" Hoda said. "I remember thinking ... online, you kind of go, 'Well, someone went like that.' This took care and time and research."
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Kotb said that when she was "feeling terrible" at that moment, she thought of her late father, who died when she was in college.
"I remember thinking, 'We have our parents for a period of time. I know the foundation he left. I know it was worth every second of that time,'" she explained. "It can hit you in a place where you're the most vulnerable."
Hoda became a mom at 52 when she adopted her first child, a baby girl named Haley, in 2017. She adopted her second daughter, Hope, in 2019.
Following Wednesday's episode, fans voiced their support for Kotb on social media. Users took to the comments section of a "TODAY with Hoda & Jenna" Instagram post that featured a clip of Hoda sharing her story about being mom-shamed.
"Oh Hoda...shame on them...you are so loving and your daughters are so lucky to have you as mom...just as you are lucky to have them....age is not relevant here...the only thing is a loving family...❤️🤗❤️," a fan commented.
"Wow! Please don’t let that person steal your joy. You're an amazing mother. Your girls are blessed to have you as a mother. All of journeys are different. ❤️❤️❤️," a person wrote, while another said, "I am so very sorry you experienced that Hoda! Your girls are so very blessed to have you as their mom. Don't ever doubt that."
