Kristen Welker is a mom!
The NBC News chief White House correspondent and her husband, John Hughes, welcomed their first child, a girl, with the help of a surrogate on June 12.
Margot Lane Welker Hughes was born at 2:12 a.m. and weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces. The surrogate is doing very well following the birth and was discharged from the hospital on Sunday.
Kristen and John explained via email to TODAY that baby Margot is named in honor of Kristen’s grandmother, Margaret, who paved the way for Kristen and her mom "to live a life she could only dream about!" Margot's middle name, Lane, is a family name in John's family as well.
Kristen also shared that she helped catch Margot and John cut the cord.
"We stayed in rooms next to each other and visited throughout so that we and little Margot could thank her for bringing Margot into the world," Kristen said, referring to the family's surrogate. "Also, Margot is truly the love of our lives. Seeing her precious face and looking into her eyes had made every minute of our journey worth it.”
TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie expressed her happiness for the couple's new addition Monday on Instagram.
"Welcome to the world, Margot Lane Welker Hughes!!" she wrote. "So thrilled for beaming mommy @kristen.welker who never gave up hope. Margot, you won the mom lottery!!!!"
Kristen, 44, and John, a marketing executive, announced during an appearance on TODAY in April that they were expecting a baby after a nearly three-year struggle with infertility.
“I was 40 years old when I married John in March 2017. And we immediately started to try to have a baby,” Kristen revealed. “It didn’t work immediately. So we thought, ‘Let’s just go to a doctor as a precaution.’”
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Kristen's fertility specialist, Dr. Rafat A. Abbasi, recommended in vitro fertilization, commonly referred to as IVF, and Kristen was hopeful. But soon after, she learned that the lining of her uterus was too thin to carry a child.
“I felt as though I had let you down because I couldn’t carry you myself,” the Weekend TODAY co-anchor wrote in a heartfelt letter to her unborn daughter.
But Kristen and John refused to give up on their dream of becoming parents, and after researching their options, they decided to grow their family through surrogacy. Kristen called the experience of being matched with their surrogate, "one of the most extraordinary experiences" she has ever had.
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“It’s OK to ask for help; in fact, it can be empowering,” Kristen told her daughter in her letter. “Families are made in all different ways, come in all different shapes and sizes, and all families should be celebrated. And, finally, while I didn’t carry you in my body, I have always carried you in my heart and I will be your mommy.”
Kristen recalled on TODAY how she was overcome with emotion the first time she saw her daughter in an ultrasound.
“I wasn’t expecting to feel such a strong connection to her already, just from seeing her in a monitor,” Kristen explained. “All of tears and the sadness and the setbacks were worth it because she’s worth it. And we cannot wait for that day when we can actually meet her and hug her and hold her.”
Finally, that day is here.
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