Hoda Kotb was taken aback to receive a letter criticising her for becoming a mother in her 50s.
The 58-year-old star adopted Haley Joy, six, in 2017 and three-year-old Hope two years later but will "never forget" receiving a handwritten letter that shamed her for choosing to become a mother later on in life as she noted that she had already considered all the potential drawbacks before making her decision.
Speaking on 'The Today Show', she said: "I'll never forget this. It was addressed to me in somebody's handwriting, to my house. It was something along the lines of 'How dare you bring a child into this world at your age!' It went on and on and it took my breath away because that actually was my ouch. I was scared. Like, is this something that is smart for me to do and am I helping? Or am I ultimately harming?"
The 'Today Show' host went on to add that she was shocked that someone had gone to the "effort" of writing a letter in the first place and recalled that the loss of her own father was a factor in her decision to adopt in her fifties.
She added: "Someone took a pen and sat at table and put it and wrote that down, got a stamp, and mailed it to me. They went to all that effort just to say that to me. I remember thinking that online you can just [type it out instantly] but this took care and time and care and research!
"My dad passed when I was in college and I remember thinking that we only have our parents for a period of time, I know the foundation he left. I know it was worth every second of that time and I thought about too."
