Khloe Kardashian says she had hard time bonding with son Tatum and was ‘on the fence’ about holding him as she went through surrogacy process in secret

Khloe Kardashian opened up about the struggles she faced when she welcomed her son Tatum.

She appeared on the SHE MD podcast on Tuesday where she talked about how hard the process was for her.

The Good American founder, 39, is a patient of the podcast’s co-host Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi and she told her she had a hard time bonding with him before he was born via surrogate in July 2023.

‘I wasn’t carrying him, I didn’t really feel anything,’ she said, which was exacerbated by the fact that no one knew about the upcoming 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 – not even her family.

‘And then the first week of December, I found out that my ex was actually having a 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 with somebody else,’ she said, referring to her ex, Tristan Thompson.

Khloé Kardashian opened up about the struggles she faced when she welcomed her son Tatum

She appeared on the SHE MD podcast on Tuesday, May 7, where she talked about how hard the process was for her

‘And I never told my family I did the transfer. I wasn’t going to tell anyone until it took, because I wanted to surprise everyone. So no one knew.’

And the reality TV star also had to fend off the press and social media posts and comments when news of her impending 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 broke.

‘It devastated me because that’s when all the judgment and the knives were thrown at me,’ she recalled.

The mom of two had planned one last Mommy and me trip with her daughter True before her son’s arrival. But her plans were foiled when her doctor called.

‘I remember, Dr. A. called and said she just had a checkup with my surrogate, and she said, “Khloe, we have to deliver within 24 hours,”‘ she explained.

‘The 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 wasn’t due for another week or two and this was my last weekend with my daughter True. I just needed the weekend,’ she said.

Khloé started to panic in the moment as her careful plans were being thrown into chaos.

‘And so I go, “No, we can’t do this.” And [Dr. A’s] like, “No, there’s no fluid in the sac. We need to do this.” And I go, “I’m having a weekend. I’m having a weekend with True,”‘ Kardashian recalls.

‘And she goes, this is the Mother Theresa, she goes, “Okay,” because I started hysterically crying because it wasn’t even about the weekend, it was about now this is real.

‘She goes, “You know what?’ I’ll deliver the 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢. I’ll take the 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 and you let me know when you’re ready to pick him up,”‘ Kardashian said.

‘And I was like, “What?” I’m like, “Who does this? Who even offers that?” And she did. And I remember I was like to myself, “Khloé, snap out of it. This is life. We got to do this.”‘

She added that she was able to get through that moment thanks in part to her sister Kim Kardashian, who welcomed two of her four children via surrogate.

Khloe also shared how she came up with Tatum’s name on the podcast.

‘So Tatum’s a little different of a story. I like unique names, but not off-the-wall names,’ the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star began.

‘I think our family has enough off-the-wall names. I didn’t want to have just too much craziness,’ she explained.

The Good American founder, 39, is a patient of the podcast’s co-host Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi and she told her she had a hard time bonding with him before he was born via surrogate in July 2023

‘I actually didn’t legally name Tatum, I think for maybe eight months,’ she added, noting that it was a long time.

In the meantime, she gave him a nickname, saying: ‘So Papa was a lot that I would use, but that was tough for me naming him because it’s interesting because I wasn’t carrying him, I didn’t really feel anything.

‘With True, I could feel things about her or when I would pray at night, I would pray and we would have our conversations, and I don’t know, I just felt True’s spirit. It’s weird and kooky,’ she explained.

She noted that everything is fine now, saying: ‘I am obsessed with Tatum now, of course.’

‘I wasn’t carrying him, I didn’t really feel anything,’ she said, which was exacerbated by the fact that no one knew about the upcoming 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 – not even her family

‘And then the first week of December, I found out that my ex was actually having a 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 with somebody else,’ she said, referring to her ex, Tristan Thompson

Khloé also shared how she came up with Tatum’s name on the podcast. ‘So Tatum’s a little different of a story. I like unique names, but not off-the-wall names,’ the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star began

‘I think our family has enough off-the-wall names. I didn’t want to have just too much craziness,’ she explained

She also wants to share her experience with surrogacy in the hopes that it might help someone else going through that process.

‘Anyone going through surrogacy, don’t compare yourself to somebody else’s journey,’ she said, emphasizing that her experience was vastly different from Kim’s.

‘I think it is such an incredible blessing that we have this option and I’m so grateful for the women out there who are giving up their bodies to carry someone else’s 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 to then give it back to their mother.

‘It’s such a beautiful thing. But give yourself grace. Give yourself patience,’ she advised.