There are so many strange things about this story that we don’t even know where to start. In the end, though, it is actually a story about how mothers will do anything for their children. That’s not just a saying for Gloria Vanderbilt. At 85 years old she was apparently more than willing to serve as a surrogate mother so that her son Anderson Cooper could have a child. Anderson Cooper revealed this in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There are sometimes good reasons why people bury family secrets.
A Bit of Context
To be honest we kind of wish this was one of those comments that were taken out of context. However, it seems like Cooper was dead serious when he revealed that his mother was more than willing to carry his child. Cooper recalls that at the time his then 85-year-old mother had seen a gynecologist who told her that even at that age she was healthy enough to be able to carry a child. Talk about really wanting grandkids. She then apparently proposed the idea in a serious tone to Cooper.
Having To Politely Decline
Having awkward conversations with your parents about how babies are made is something that most people go through in their pre-teen years. Going through this type of conversation in your 40’s must have been mind-blowing for Cooper. He told Colbert that he flat out told his mother that the idea was crazy to even for her standards. Cooper mentioned,
“I finally said to her, I was like, ‘Mom, I love you, but even for you, that is just bats— crazy. That is just nuts,’ “
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Gloria Vanderbilt Was Really Serious About The Idea
The story could’ve ended there, and it would have been a nice random anecdote. The kind of thing that Late Night shows particularly thrive on. Cooper then reveals that this was not a one-off thing that his mom told him. Apparently, it was something that she was seriously considering. Going as far as to mail Cooper a story of a woman in Italy who actually did bear a child for her son. Cooper detailed the story by saying,
“Then, fast forward two years later, I get a thing in the mail that my mom has sent me … and it’s a newspaper clipping and it’s a photograph, the headline is, ‘Grandmother Bears Child for Son,’ and it’s some woman, I think in Italy who was like 65 or something, or 70,” He goes on to say,
“She’s in the delivery room with her legs in the thing, and her son and his husband are right there, ready to catch,” Recreating the scene in the picture as he’s describing it he ends the bit with, “And my mom has circled it, and written in a note, ‘See!’ “
Ultimately Gloria Vanderbilt Wasn’t Able To Meet Her Grandchild
Perhaps one of the reasons that Vanderbilt came up with the idea of baring her son’s child is because she really wanted grandchildren. Sadly, she would pass away in 2019 at the age of 95 without ever seeing grandchildren from Anderson.
It wasn’t until April 2020 that Cooper welcomed his son Wyatt Morgan. Around the time of the birth of his son Cooper mentioned with a bit of regret that he had potentially waited too long to become a father. Saying,
“It feels like my life has actually begun … I sort of wonder, what was I waiting for?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kugtM9lqWE