Official daddy Anderson Cooper reveals he and his ex-partner are co-parenting their newborn baby
Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani. (Andrew H. Walker/WireImage)
Anderson Cooper said he and his former partner Benjamin Maisani are co-parenting their new baby boy, and revealed that his friend and fellow daddy Andy Cohen encouraged him to become a father.
The CNN anchor revealed last week that he has welcomed a son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper, who was born via a surrogate in the midst of the pandemic.
In an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the journalist spoke about the new lease of life he’s gotten from his son’s birth.
Cooper said: “This is one week. He was born last Monday. It’s extraordinary, it’s astonishing. I just stare at him and hold him, and I just can’t believe, that he’s going to depend on me, and that he’s here.
“I’ve always dreamed about it but never thought I would actually be able to do it. It’s like tectonic plates shifting [in your brain], except it doesn’t leave you in rubble. It’s a good tectonic shift.”
Anderson Cooper and ex-partner not together, but co-parenting.
The TV host’s famous mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, died in June last year — and Cooper spoke about dealing with both loss and new life at the same time.
He said: “In the course of one year, just on a personal basis, to experience the loss of her life, and to have been there with her when she breathed her last breath and to witness that… and then to suddenly, last Monday night, to be in a delivery room with this amazing surrogate…”
Also in the room was Anderson Cooper’s former partner Benjamin Maisani, who he said “is going to be a co-parent to Wyatt even though we’re not together anymore”.
“To be there and to see a new human being come into existence, it was just extraordinary,” he continued.
“I thought a lot about my mum and seeing the life leave her body, and seeing the living being coming out of this wonderful woman, it’s just extraordinary.”
Andy Cohen gave Cooper ‘the final push’ to have a baby.
Cooper revealed that he has been getting plenty from help from Bravo host Andy Cohen, whose own son was born last year.
He explained: “[Andy] obviously knew about it well in advance and he’s been encouraging me all along. I figured if he can do it, that sort of gave me the final push. I went, ‘all right, if he’s got a kid, then…’
“He’s actually really helped me, because my son is entirely wearing hand-many-downs from Andy Cohen’s son.
“I’m inherently cheap, I like a good value, and it’s a pandemic – I was planning on kind of going shopping, which I hate to do. And then online shopping, how do you do that for baby clothes? Do you go to, like, Buy Buy Baby or Amazon? It just seemed weird, so, yeah, he just gave me all the clothes.”
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Cooper quipped: “I wanted my son to be a depression-era child who grows up wearing hand-me-down clothes.”
The TV host is still anchoring his CNN show despite the new arrival, making the decision not to take a leave of absence during the pandemic.
However, with a new little on in the house, the 54-year-old explained that he has discovered coffee for the first time.
Cooper said: “I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without coffee… I tried it once or twice on TV and I didn’t see the point, but now I totally get it.
“Now I think I’m addicted because it snaps your mind into focus. I wake up thinking of my son first, but caffeine is a close second.”
