Tamron Hall‘s sonMoseswas worth every bit of time, effort and patience it took to bring him into the world on April 24. But there was a time when his mom wasn’t sure his arrival was even possible.
“I was high-risk, not just because of my age, but there were other medical factors too,” the formerTodayhost, 48, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview for this week’s cover story, where she poses with her newborn son.
Melanie Acevedo
“I just wasn’t mentally prepared to deal with that,” Hall continues. “That’s why I waited. And trust me — if I could’vegone the whole way to delivery, I would’ve.”
Hall tells PEOPLE she initially tried fertility treatments in her 30s, which failed, and had an “eye-opening” experience when she entered a fertility clinic again.
And while she realized, looking around at the other women there, that she wasn’t alone, it made her feel more “sad” than “empowered” knowing “that some of us will have to give up along the way.”
“I knewthat the clock was not on my side,” Hall admits. “When I tried in my 30s, I still felt like I had some time, and the fertility clinic felt like a bright room. In my 40s I saw all the gray: The faces looked gray, the walls were gray, nothing seemed shiny and optimistic.”
“Just like with my job search during that time, there were so many frustrations: I’m putting in the work, I’mtaking care of my mind and my bodyand I’m being rejected,” she continues. “I’m thinking, ‘Wait a minute. What have I done wrong here?’ Somehow, like Rocky, I kept getting up.”
Hall is nowset to host her own syndicated talk show, premiering Sept. 9. But after she “lost her spot” onToday‘s third hour in 2017, she says she felt like she “didn’t have anything to wake up to” — a sobering thought that afforded her “an opportunity to look at my life.”
“My story is not one I could’ve ever expected,” the star tells PEOPLE. “Two and a half years ago when I walked out of that NBC building, I was in a fog, not knowing that so many of us lose things we think are important, and we have no idea that something better is right there.”
For more from Tamron Hall, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
