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TODAY Show host Hoda Kotb surprises couple with finalized adoption, then reunites to meet baby
As long-time TODAY Show host Hoda Kotb closed out her 17-year run on the show, she participated in reunions with guests she had previously interviewed as part of the show’s “Hoda-bration.” Kotb had announced in September that she would be leaving the show to spend more time with her daughters, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, who were adopted in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
One of Kotb’s recent interviews was with Christina Wong and Dean Kahn, a couple whom she surprised with the news that the Gladney Center for Adoption had matched them with a baby girl.
Kotb was speaking with Wong and Kahn in their first interview when she told them how “magical and amazing” it was to get the call that said she was adopting a baby girl. Then, she gave them some news of their own.
“And I just want to have the privilege of telling both of you in this moment that it’s a girl. You guys have been matched with a baby,” she told them.
The couple was overwhelmed with joy. Married in 2022, they soon after started their paperwork to adopt and were matched twice with babies. But each time, the adoption fell through.
“It was hard,” explained Wong. “I mean, I was holding her and the birth mom was like, ‘I changed my mind.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t force you to do anything.'”
Kahn noted that they were not seeking to adopt in order “to rip a baby out of anybody’s hands.” He explained, “We want to help. And if, you know, they choose to parent, that’s wonderful.”
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The couple brought their daughter, Jacqueline, to their reunion interview with Kotb on January 7 to talk about the “whirlwind” since the previous interview. Wong said that when she was first handed her daughter, it was a “dream come true.”
“It’s been amazing,” said Kahn. “I mean, she’s been everything we hoped for and more. It’s just so surreal, like you think perfect’s not possible and then this happens.”
Wong said she has always wanted to adopt — and when she met her husband, their dreams of building a family were similar.
“[A]s I got older and I met Dean, I realized it could become a reality,” she said. “And it was just so nice to find someone that aligned with my goals.”
The couple plans to raise their daughter in Colorado.
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Human Interest·By Nancy Flanders
