Dancing With the Stars alum Maria Menounos is opening up about the deeply personal and emotional experience of bonding with her daughter Athena, who was born via surrogacy in 2023.
In a new episode of her podcast, “Heal Squad,” the journalist and TV host spoke candidly with YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo about navigating fears around connection and motherhood through surrogacy.
In the exclusive interview, Zamolo, who is expecting her second baby—and her first via surrogacy—voiced her apprehensions about not feeling the same connection she did during her previous pregnancy.
Surrogacy Fears and Shared Vulnerability
In the clip shared with People, Zamolo expressed her concerns, saying, “So my question is, was it hard for you to feel a connection? Because for me, the first pregnancy, I felt every kick, every movement. I felt prepared, not prepared but like it had been nine months in the making,” Zamolo asked. “But in this one with surrogacy, I forget what week we’re on, and all of a sudden, the baby’s coming. I worry that I’m not going to feel the connection. How did that feel, the day you had her?”
Menounos reflected honestly on her experience, sharing that while she had fears, she was fortunate to have guidance from someone who had been through it before.
“But I was really lucky. Kim Kardashian really helped me on this journey because it’s really scary to give up control to do all of this, to have somebody else carrying your child,” Menounos said. “And she was so chill about everything that she made me more chill about everything because I saw that it worked.”
Preparing for the Bond
To foster early attachment, Menounos recorded her voice so her surrogate could play it for the baby during pregnancy. As the delivery day approached, she traveled to Wisconsin, where her surrogate was based, and waited on “baby watch” for three weeks.
“And then, yeah it’s weird. Time just flies and you’re like, ‘Okay, we’re getting close.’ And then when it was time to get close, they lived in Wisconsin,” she explained. “So we had to go to Wisconsin and we were on baby watch for like three weeks because we thought she was coming early and then she just really enjoyed the womb and stayed a little longer.”
Recalling the day Athena was born, Menounos said, “My husband woke me up and he’s like, ‘It’s time.’ And I’m like, ‘Wait. What?’ You know when you wake up from the dead and you’re just like, ‘I don’t even know where I am and now you’re telling me we’re having a baby?’ I was just literally spinning in a circle, didn’t even know what to do or where to go.”
The “DWTS” star went on to explain that her daughter Athena was born still in her embryonic sac—an uncommon phenomenon.
“I watched her come out. They peeled it off of her. And so they say that those babies have a vision that nobody has. They see things no one can see. It’s really special,” Menounos recalled. “And so I grabbed her, with a little towel, with a little blanket thingy, and I had her on my chest instantly. And it was unbelievable. And I just kept kissing her and telling her I loved her, and it was so. I mean, it was like part shocking, part joy, part just like. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Letting Go of Fear
Despite her initial worries, Menounos said her connection with Athena felt completely natural.
“It was really special, and I don’t think I could be more connected to her. But I also don’t know any better,” she admitted. “So I have to leave space for the fact that you have had the other experience. And I know Khloé Kardashian’s talked about it and said she didn’t feel it. Did you hear that? So I’m sure that scared you.”
Zamolo responded, “Yeah, you know there’s not a lot of people that talk about the surrogacy, so definitely.”
To wrap up the conversation, Menounos offered reassuring advice to others navigating similar fears.
“So I mean, the best thing I could say is just try to release any of those fears because … and if you can just stay in gratitude, they say that fear and gratitude can’t live in the same space,” she said. “So if just stay in gratitude — you’re having a baby. It’s a miracle. And just stay focused on that.”
“Imagine how good that feels, whereas the fears of ‘Am I going to be connected?’ Now you’re also potentially manifesting more of that because you’re staying in that vibration,” Menounos continued. “So just stay in this vibration as much as you can because it’s your son. Or your daughter, whatever it is, I don’t know. It’s your baby. And you’re going to foster that connection and you’re going to be close no matter what.”
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Maria Menounos Reveals ‘Very, Very Rare’ Factor in Daughter’s Birth