Khloe Kardashian has been applauded for her honesty after she confessed that she felt “guilty” about bringing her and former partner Tristan Thompson’s baby son into the world via surrogate.
The Good American founder opened up about the “transactional process” during the third series of The Kardashians and said she had been in a “state of shock from the entire experience”.
“I buried my head in the sand during that pregnancy,” she said in a confessional on the show.
“When I went to the hospital, that was the first time it really registered, and it has nothing to do with the baby.
“I felt really guilty that this woman just had my baby, and then I take the baby and I go to another room and you’re separated,” she recalled. “It’s such a transactional experience because it’s not about him.
“I wish someone was honest about surrogacy and the difference of it. That doesn’t mean it’s bad – it’s great, but it’s very different.”
Kardashian, 38, also admitted that the connection between her and her now-nine-month-old son has been more difficult to forge compared to her five-year-old daughter True, who she gave birth to.
“It’s a mindf***,” she said. “It’s really the weirdest thing.
“I do think there is a difference when your baby is in your belly, the baby actually feels your real heart. Think about it. There’s no one else on this planet that will feel you from the inside like that, your heart.”
She added that sister Kim Kardashian, who welcomed her third and fourth children via surrogate, found it “easier” to connect with them.
“Kim said hers was easy, and this is not easy,” she said.
Fans praised Kardashian for opening up about the experience, with one person writing: “I respect her honesty about the situation though.”
Another said: “I love the honest and realness of it.”
“It’s completely normal that Khloe Kardashian is feeling less bonded to her child born by surrogacy than the child she birthed,” one person commented on Twitter. “That is hormones. It just [means] she will have to work harder at developing that bond and that’s fine. Maybe just stop the mom-shaming.”
During the premiere, Kardashian also revealed her son’s name, Tatum, remarking: “Naming a human is really hard.”
In December 2021, it emerged that Thompson – who is also father to True – had cheated on Kardashian and fathered a baby with personal trainer Maralee Nichols. The scandal emerged just a month after Kardashian and Thompson’s son was reportedly conceived.
Last year, in the second series of The Kardashians, Kardashian opened up about her feelings around expecting her second child while dealing with Thompson’s paternity scandal.
“It’s supposed to be a really exciting time. And it’s just a different experience,” she said, tearing up.
“It was just a great thing, I thought, to expand our family. Thinking it was like this real, healthy, loving, protective type of family.”
The pair are no longer dating. Earlier this month, Kardashian shut down rumours that they were together again, after Kim attended one of the Lakers player’s basketball games.
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