July 16 (UPI) — Hoda Kotb is giving an update on the adoption of her third child.
The 56-year-old Today host said on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live that adopting baby No. 3 has been a “slow” process.
Kotb has two daughters, Haley Joy, 4, and Hope Catherine, 2, whom she adopted in 2017 and 2019, respectively. She and her fiancé Joel Schiffman now hope to adopt a third child.
On WWHL, Kotb said the process has been delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You know what’s funny about the adoption stuff that’s going on now? Apparently it’s really slow during this time during COVID,” Kotb said. “I thought it would be a different game.”
“They said that a lot of people who maybe normally would feel like it would be something they’d want to do — have a child and give it to someone to raise because they couldn’t — are holding on to things because they don’t have anything in that moment,” she explained. “So that’s what I’ve heard from our agency. Everything’s slow.”
Kotb said she and Schiffman plan to wait patiently.
“They say wait wisely and just be. So we’re just gonna be,” she said.
Kotb announced in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in October that she and Schiffman had filled out the paperwork to adopt a third child.
“You know what, Joel and I have had this conversation because — you feel like you get a limited of time on Earth and your heart expands, and sometimes you don’t realize your heart’s ability to expand until you’ve filled [it], and sometimes you think you’re at the top, and then you realize that there’s more room,” Kotb said.
“And we wondered, would our family be better with another child? Do we have enough love? Do we have enough time? Will we be a better family? And the answer to all those questions seems to be yes,” she added.
Kotb and Schiffman got engaged in November 2019. The couple delayed their wedding due to the COVID-19 pandemic.