--- title: Today Show Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopts Baby Girl description: See pictures of Today Show anchor Hoda Kotb's new adopted daughter and find out the inspiration behind her name. canonical: https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-21T17:50:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:53.183Z og:title: 'Today' Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopted a Baby Girl og:description: 'She is the love of my life' og:url: https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ba923a9ef98b52/6988bb31bc6cfcaecc3e03c5/hoda-kotb-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2777 og:image:height: 1562 og:image:alt: 14th Annual Woman's Day Red Dress Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Today' Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopted a Baby Girl twitter:description: 'She is the love of my life' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ba923a9ef98b52/6988bb31bc6cfcaecc3e03c5/hoda-kotb-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Today_ Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopted a Baby Girl by [Dave Quinn / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Dave Quinn / People Contributor Feb 21, 2017 5:50 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 07: Hoda Kotb attends the 14th annual Woman's Day Red Dress Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center on February 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 07: Hoda Kotb attends the 14th annual Woman's Day Red Dress Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center on February 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)Michael Loccisano—Getty Images by [Dave Quinn / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Dave Quinn / People Contributor Feb 21, 2017 5:50 PM UTC Hoda Kotb surprised Today audiences on Tuesday when she announced she had welcomed a daughter — Haley Joy — through adoption. “She’s a Valentine’s baby,” Kotb, 52, said, calling in to the NBC morning show to discuss the big news. “She is the love of my life.” Calling back into the show’s fourth hour, which she normally co-hosts, Kotb explained the inspiration behind her daughter’s name — all while feeding Haley Joy! “Haley is because of Halley’s Comet,” Kotb told a tearful [**Kathie Lee Gifford**](http://people.com/tag/kathie-lee-gifford) and [**Jenna Bush Hager**](http://people.com/tag/jenna-bush-hager), referencing the famous short-period comet — which is visible to the naked eye from Earth every 75 years. “It was one of those things where I just picture her sailing through the sky.” _Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs?_[_Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter_](https://pages.email.people.com/moms-babies/?%20Thanks%20source=in-article)_._ The name was something Kotb discussed with her sister, **Hala**. “My sister and I were talking on the phone and she was saying, ‘You know, I’m Hala, you’re Hoda, our niece is Hana — what about Haley?’ ” As for Haley’s middle name, Joy, that one is pretty self-explanatory. “Joy just because she brings us joy,” Kotb said. “She’s got a beautiful way about her.” > [](https://twitter.com/hodakotb/status/834043173735428096) Kotb — who [moved in with her boyfriend](http://people.com/tv/hoda-kotb-announces-shes-moving-in-with-boyfriend-joel-schiffman/), **Joel Schiffman**, last year — was previously married to former University of New Orleans tennis coach **Burzis Kanga**. The couple divorced in 2007 after two years of marriage and had no children. But Kotb said she always wanted to be a mother. “You know how many times I walked down the street and one of the questions people always ask me is, ‘Oh do you have kids?’ ” Kotb remembered. “And I always say, ‘No, I don’t.’ And it’s one of those things where it’s kind of always a little bit of an ouch and an ache.” That won’t happen anymore — though Kotb admitted it did happen just this week. “The other day I was walking down the street to get some cream for her, and someone asks, ‘Are you a mom?’ I couldn’t say it out loud for her, but in my head I was like, ‘I am a mom! I am!’ ” she joked. > [](https://twitter.com/KathieLGifford/status/834030787364319232) > [](https://twitter.com/JennaBushHager/status/834031760711245825) “Can you believe I have a daughter?” she asked. “I didn’t know that my heart can feel like this. With all the love I’ve ever had in my life — I’ve had the love of a wonderful mom, a wonderful man, the best siblings — I never ever imagined that I could feel this kind of … it’s like a warm hand on my heart. She’s learning up against me and I’m over the moon.” “This is a moment in my life I never thought would happen,” Kotb continued. “And here it is happening to me. Wow.” _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/babies/hoda-kotb-daughter-haley-joy-name-meaning/) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/"},"headline":"Today Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopted a Baby Girl","datePublished":"2017-02-21T17:50:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:53.183Z","description":"'She is the love of my life'","url":"https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ba923a9ef98b52/6988bb31bc6cfcaecc3e03c5/hoda-kotb-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dave Quinn / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1ba923a9ef98b52/6988bb31bc6cfcaecc3e03c5/hoda-kotb-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"14th Annual Woman's Day Red Dress Awards","caption":"14th Annual Woman's Day Red Dress Awards","creditText":"Michael Loccisano—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4677353/hoda-kotb-adopts-baby-girl/","name":"Today Anchor Hoda Kotb Adopted a Baby Girl"}}]}] ```