Anderson Cooper says his mom Gloria Vanderbilt wanted to carry his child for him

• Anderson Cooper welcomed his son Wyatt in 2020 via surrogate.
• But his mother Gloria Vanderbilt visited a gynaecologist in 2009 to see if she could carry a child.
• Vanderbilt wanted to carry Cooper's baby for him, although Cooper said her plan was "nuts."

Anderson Cooper has revealed that his "nutty" mother, the late fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, tried to convince him to let her be the surrogate for him and carry his baby.

In an interview with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show," Cooper said that when she was 85, 10 years before her death in 2019, Vanderbilt visited a gynaecologist to see if she was still able to carry a child. The gynaecologist said that she was able, and CNN anchor Cooper was worried that Vanderbilt wanted another child of her own.

It turned out, however, she wanted to carry her son's baby.

"Sometimes people wonder how, during interviews, I stay stone-faced and listen to people say bat-s--- crazy things - I grew up with Gloria Vanderbilt," Cooper said. "She says to me, 'Honey, I'm not talking about having a child of my own. I mean, that's crazy, I'm 85. I was thinking, you get an egg and fertilize it with a sperm, and I'll carry your child.'"

Anderson said he was "stunned" by his mother's proposal and told her the idea was "just nuts."

"That is so weirdly oedipal on a whole new level. That kid would be on the front page of the New York Post for the rest of his life," Anderson told Colbert.

However, Vanderbilt didn't let the idea drop that easily. Two years later, she sent Cooper a newspaper clipping about a 65-year-old Italian woman who carried a child for her gay son and his husband.

"And my mom has circled it, and then written in a note, 'See!'" Cooper said.

Cooper did indeed end up having a child, although his mother was not involved in the process. In April 2020, Cooper welcomed his son, Wyatt Cooper via surrogate. Although he and his ex-boyfriend Benjamin Maisani split up in 2018, the pair plan to co-parent Wyatt, who is named after Cooper's father.

Cooper's mother died in 2019 after learning that she had "very advanced cancer" in her stomach. Cooper broke the news himself on his network, CNN.