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Hoda Kotb Says It Was Sandra Bullock Who Told Her 'Don't Be Scared' to Adopt a Baby in Her 50s

Hoda Kotb and Sandra Bullock
Hoda Kotb and Sandra Bullock

Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Hoda Kotb has close friend Sandra Bullock to thank for helping her along the adoption process.

The Today co-host, 57, appears on the first-ever episode of PEOPLE's newest podcast Me Becoming Mom, where she speaks candidly about her journey to parenthood and how Bullock gave her guidance before welcoming daughters Hope Catherine, 2, and Haley Joy, 4 via adoption.

"On the way there, this sounds so weird, but Sandra Bullock was really helping with some guidance about like, 'Don't be scared,' " Kotb says of flying to meet daughter Haley for the first time.

"She was one of the people who I looked to, to realize that someone like me of the same age could do these things," the mom of two tells host Zoë Ruderman, Head of Digital at PEOPLE.

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"She described the most beautiful part of her life began when her kids entered it," adds Kotb, who shares her kids with fiancé Joel Schiffman. "She sent me some texts and I was reading them, and I was playing music by Ingrid Michaelson."

Bullock, 57, adopted her daughter Laila at 3½ years old in 2015 and brought home son Louis at 3 months old in 2010.

Hoda Kotb Instagram
Hoda Kotb Instagram

Hoda Kotb Instagram

The 12-episode weekly Me Becoming Mom podcast explores the various roads to motherhood through different interviews with both celebrity guests and experts in the field. Topics on the show include IVF, adoption, surrogacy, single parenthood, same-sex couples, home births, pregnancy loss, unexpected and surprising birth stories, among other subjects.

Upcoming guests on the show include Alyssa Milano, Padma Lakshmi, Tamron Hall and more.

New episodes of Me Becoming Mom drop weekly on Thursdays wherever you stream podcasts.