Khloe Kardashian has said she wishes people were more “honest” about the realities of surrogacy as she confirmed her newborn son’s name during The Kardashians season three premiere on Thursday.
The 38-year-old got candid about life as a mother-of-two and admitted that she felt “guilty” over her lack of connection to her baby, Tatum.
Kardashian welcomed the little one via surrogate last July with ex-boyfriend Tristan Thompson, who is also father to their daughter, True, five.
Just weeks following their embryo transfer in November 2021, the Disney Plus star learned that Thompson had secretly fathered a child with fitness model Maralee Nichols.
The Good American founder explained that she found her surrogacy experience difficult amid the fallout with Thompson during a frank conversation with sister Kim Kardashian and Scott Disick.
She said: “It was a mindf**k. It’s just the weirdest thing.”
To which sister Kim, who has had two children via surrogacy, added: “I do think there is a difference when the baby is in your belly, the baby actually feels your real heart.
“There is no one else on this planet who will feel you from the inside like that. People can connect in different ways, some cannot connect.”
The comment spurred Disick to ask Khloe: “So do you feel less connected?”
Kardashian bravely confessed that her bond with her young son was yet to blossom but also acknowledged it can take time, alluding to Thompson’s scandal, and clarified that it had “nothing to do with the baby”.
She shared 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.”
The TV star concluded that she found the experience “transactional” and wished more people were “honest” about surrogacy.
Kardashian continued: “You’re just like, ‘OK, we’re having a baby and this is my son and I’m taking him home with me’.
“I definitely was in a state of shock from my entire experience. 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 shared.
“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.”
