Courtesy of Khloe Kardashian/Instagram
Khloe Kardashian Admits to Feeling ‘Less Connected’ to Newborn Son Due to ‘Transactional’ Surrogacy Birth
Khloé Kardashian has finally spoken about the arrival of her son, Tatum Thompson, born via surrogate in July 2022. She revealed how it was harder to bond with him than it was after giving birth to daughter True Thompson.
“A surrogate process — Kim [Kardashian] knows — is very hard for me. It’s a mindf—k. It is really the weirdest thing,” the Good American founder, 38, shared with Scott Disick on the Wednesday, May 24, season premiere of The Kardashians.
She admitted to feeling less connected to her son, adding, “People do say it takes a minute to feel connected, but Kim said hers was easy. This is not easy.”
Khloé gave birth to True in April 2018, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Tristan Thompson. When the couple reconciled in 2021, they decided to use a surrogate to give True a sibling, although the pair later split after it was revealed he fathered a child with personal trainer Maralee Nichols. Her son Theo was born one month after Khloe and Tristan’s surrogate became pregnant.
Kim, who had two of her four children with ex-husband Kanye West by using a surrogate, said during a confessional that she understood Khloé’s feelings. “She had a really hard time accepting the whole process. I do think that there is a difference when the baby is in your belly — it actually feels your real heart. Think about it. It touches your organs. There is no one else on this planet that will feel you from the inside like that.”
When it came time for her son’s birth, Khloé admitted in a confessional, “I definitely buried my head in the sand during that pregnancy and that I didn’t digest what was happening. So, I think when I went to the hospital, I really think that was the first time that it really registered.”
“You’re just like, ‘OK, we’re having a baby, and this is my son and I’m taking him home with me,” she recalled.
Khloé said that she “definitely was in a state of shock from my entire experience,” adding, “I felt really guilty that this woman just had my baby and I take the baby and I go in another room, and we are sort of separated.”
“I felt that it was such a transactional experience because it’s not about him,” she continued. After Tatum’s birth, Khloé shared an Instagram photo doing skin to skin bonding with her newborn.
The entrepreneur added, “I wish someone was honest about surrogacy and the difference of it. It doesn’t mean it’s bad or good. It’s still great. It’s just very different.”
