Andy Cohen Gets Candid About Having A Child Later In Life

In 2019, Andy Cohen's life changed forever when he welcomed his first child — a baby boy named Benjamin Allen — via surrogate. "I'm in love," Cohen wrote on Instagram at the time. "And speechless. And eternally grateful to an incredible surrogate. And I'm a dad. Wow."

The "Watch What Happens Live" host later shared that he never thought being a father was "in the cards" for him, telling People, "When I came out to my parents in 1988, my mom said she had to mourn the life that I wasn't going to be able to have. And that life meant getting married and having kids." But he said his gut told him otherwise, adding that, when he turned 50, he decided he was ready. "I was like, 'Okay. I'm economically at a place where I need to be where I can give him or her the best life," he told PopSugar. "And I'm emotionally in a place where it's now or never. And I just realized I was ready to go."

Years later, Cohen said it's the simple things that make him grateful for having a child later in life.

Andy Cohen opened up about fatherhood while promoting his book, "Glitter Every Day: 365 Quotes From Women I Love," on "TODAY with Hoda & Jenna" on November 2. He explained that Hoda Kotb, who also welcomed her children in her 50s, made him feel better about deciding to become a father later in life when she told him, "It's right on time, man." It turns out she was right because the "beautiful" moments he gets to share with his son Benny are everything to him.

"[Fatherhood] is great," Cohen said. "You know what was really great yesterday? We were about to go trick or treating and he goes, 'Daddy I'm excited, I'm excited!' I said, 'I am too.'" (The father and son dressed up in matching astronaut costumes for Halloween.) The talk show host added, "I love it we had a movie night the other night he and I. He's like, 'I'm excited, I'm excited.' The purity of the emotion is so just brilliant. It's beautiful, yeah I love it."

Cohen previously opened up to People about what he was looking forward to the most about being a dad. "First day of school, bar mitzvah, just tucking him in, being on the beach with him," the Bravo star said. "I'm excited to go on adventures with him and show him the world."