The journalist also reveals that although he refused Gloria Vanderbilt's offer, she tried to convince him once again that she could bear his child two years later.
- Sep 25, 2021
AceShowbiz - Anderson Cooper knows exactly how much his late mother loved him. When appearing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", the journalist revealed that Gloria Vanderbilt had offered to serve as a surrogate for his child when she was 85 years old.
The 54-year-old, who is now co-parenting his son Wyatt with ex Benjamin Maisani, shared the "crazy" story on Thursday, September 23. He first recalled that his mom told him that she'd been to the gynecologist, who told her she could still carry a child.
Feeling familiar with his mom's strange ideas, Anderson told host Stephen Colbert, "You couldn't be 'negative,' meaning you couldn't be realistic and tell her what you actually thought or try to talk sense into her... You had to be 'supportive.' " He later quipped, "Sometimes people wonder how during interviews I just stay stone-faced and listen to people say bats**t crazy things. I grew up with Gloria Vanderbil."
Back to the story, the "Anderson Cooper 360°" host recounted, "I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, 'Don't be negative, but, how do I convince my 85-year-old mom not to have a child right now?' " He then added, "I started saying things, like, 'First of all mom, I find that fascinating and incredible that a licensed gynecologist told you that you could have a baby at 85."
" 'But, I think you need to think about it. I think you need to take some time with it. It's very labor intensive, no pun intended, and let's do some math," he further noted. "Let's see, you're 85. When the child goes to college, you will be, oh, 105. How does that math sound to you?' "
When his mom insisted that she'll carry his child with another woman's egg, Anderson admitted to feeling "stunned." He divulged, "I finally said to her, I was like, 'Mom, I love you, but even for you, that is just bats**t crazy. That is just nuts... I was like, 'That is so weirdly oedipal on a whole new level. That kid would be on the cover of 'The New York Post' for the rest of its life.' "
What's most surprising, Anderson disclosed that Gloria, who died in 2019 at the age of 95, kept pushing the subject two years later. "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.' " He said she circled the picture and attached a written note that simply said, "See!"
