Kotb adopted Haley in 2017, and in a 2021 interview for People’s Me Becoming Mom podcast, she explained what it was like to hold her newborn baby girl for the first time.

“They put her in my arms … she fit like she was born there. I looked down and these eyes were looking at me and I thought to myself, ‘Forever, for as long as I am breathing, you will be protected and loved and cared for,’” she said (via TODAY).

Haley was born on Valentine’s Day, and her mom posted the sweetest Instagram shoutout for her 1st birthday while she was away for the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

“It’s already Valentine’s Day in South Korea, and I am missing my Valentine’s baby! We celebrated little Haley’s bday before I left,” she wrote in the caption of a video of herself singing to Haley.

In September 2024, Haley had her first day of second grade after the family moved from New York City to a house in the suburbs.

Hoda Kotb’s youngest daughter, 4-year-old Hope

Kotb applied to adopt another child nine months after Haley’s birth, as she wanted to give her daughter a sibling to go through life with. Hope was born in 2019, and Kotb was present for her birth.

“Oh my God, my heart just grew. It’s amazing. Anyway, I can’t believe it’s happening,” Kotb said of the experience while on TODAY.

Much to her mother’s wishes, Haley and Hope have a beautiful bond. “She is a dream child. It is as if they share the same blood. The same everything. She and Haley, they are intertwined. They hold hands. They don’t let go,” Kotb said while on People’s Me Becoming Mom podcast. 

In 2024, Kotb published a children’s book titled Hope Is a Rainbow. In 2023, she spoke to TODAY.com about how her youngest child, who’s now in kindergarten, inspired the idea for the project.

“My daughter, Hope, is so inspiring to me. She’s a little child, but with a real kind of old spirit, an old soul. There’s something about her in how she sees magic in everything.” she said. “She’s taught me that resilience comes in all kinds of packages and that kids are incredibly strong. She’s also taught me to find wonder in the smallest things.”

In a 2024 interview with People, Kotb revealed that Hope has been undergoing health complications, explaining her two-week absence from TODAY. Although she chose not to disclose the details of Hope’s circumstances, she applauded her daughter’s outlook on the situation.

“She just demonstrates that when you have whatever she has inside of her, this will, this fight, this everything,” she said. “She can withstand anything. This child is going to have the easiest adulthood because she’s had a tough go of it early on.”

Hoda Kotb’s mother, Sameha Kotb

Now retired, Sameha was a staff member of the Library of Congress for over 30 years.

In a 2012 article for TODAY, Kotb praised her mother for her “go-getter” nature, calling her a “hero.”

“To this day, my mom’s unsinkable spirit is an inspiration to me,” she added.

Kotb also credits her mother for passing down her optimistic outlook on life. “She falls in love over and over and over again with people, with places, with a new dish. She wakes up happy. I don’t care if there’s a hurricane approaching. She’ll look outside and go, ‘Maybe not this moment, but it will be nice in about an hour,’” she said while on TODAY in 2023.