CNN anchor Anderson Cooper’s mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, was open to becoming a surrogate mother to her son before she died in 2019.
Cooper turned down the offer from Vanderbilt, who has died at the age of 95, calling it “the strangest Oedipal thing” in one magazine. interview and The Times of London.
Anderson Cooper said his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offered to be a surrogate mother for her baby when she was 85 years old, until she was told it was “the most opportunistic and strange thing to do.” Cooper said. https://t.co/YQbkDVhgop pic.twitter.com/HS1Bk3HgVz
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 23, 2023
“I was like, ‘Mom, that’s the craziest, most Oedipal weird thing.’ Please! That’s fucked up, even for my mom,” Cooper told the magazine. “We would have been on the cover of the New York Post for the next 18 years. Are you kidding me?”
The CNN anchor did not elaborate on whether the mother seriously considered having the baby as an older adult. (Related: Anderson Cooper reveals how he felt when Madonna slapped him on the butt and humored him on stage)
Cooper reportedly received almost all of his mother’s estate after she died of stomach cancer. Although Mr. Cooper did not give his Midtown apartment to his eldest brother, he would inherit “everything else” from Mr. Vanderbilt, who has an estimated net worth of $200 billion.
Cooper’s son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, was born on April 27, 2020, several months after Vanderbilt’s death. The CNN host announced his birth on his show three days after Wyatt was born.
“As a gay child, I never thought it would be possible to have a child,” Cooper told the audience. “I’m so grateful to all the people who paved the way for me, the doctors, nurses, and everyone involved in my son’s birth. Most of all, my amazing surrogate mother who held, watched over, and delivered Wyatt. I am sincerely grateful.”
Copper came out as gay in 2012 in an open letter to personal friend and Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan.
