Granted, I don’t know much about babies. But little Wyatt Cooper seems especially startled to be on the cover of People Magazine, right? He is very focused on the fact that someone (probably behind the camera) is waving something or making a squeaking sound or perhaps calling his name and Wyatt is all “what do you want, PEASANT?” I love this. People Mag gave Anderson Cooper the cover this week with a lovely interview about what it means to him to have gone through this process as a gay man:
On the air, Anderson Cooper is the epitome of a serious newsman. Off-camera, he’s a seriously besotted new dad. On April 30, the CNN anchor, 53, surprised the world with the emotional announcement on Anderson Cooper 360° that he had become a father three days earlier to baby Wyatt Morgan. Now, he seems like a completely different man, talking with his co-parent and former partner Benjamin Maisani, 47, about feedings, sleep schedules and diapers. It’s an experience he never imagined he’d get to have.
“When I was 12 years old and knew I was gay and thought about my life, it always upset me because I thought, ‘I will never be able to have a kid,’” he says in this week’s PEOPLE cover story for the magazine’s first-ever Pride issue. “This is a dream come true. It feels like my life has actually begun. And I sort of wonder, what was I waiting for? This is a new level of love. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced, and yet it’s also very familiar and incredibly special and intimate. It’s really extraordinary.”
Becoming a father has also given Cooper new perspective as he works from home, covering momentous news like the coronavirus pandemic and national protests following the death of George Floyd. “I feel invested in the future in a way I hadn’t really before,” he says. “There’s something about having a child that makes you feel connected to what is happening and you want to make sure that the world this child is growing up in is a better one. You suddenly worry much more about the future of all of us.”
Like most new parents, Cooper is exhausted. “I’m more tired than I’ve ever been, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he says.
And while sleep may not be coming easily for the star, something else is: tears. “I cry at things I never cried at before,” he admits. “And Benjamin, I’ve never seen him cry, but I couldn’t believe how weepy he gets with Wyatt. I find myself being overwhelmed with emotion, and it’s a lovely thing.”
Cooper says he is also filled with gratitude for “all the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people who struggled for generations and have died never thinking this was a possibility.”
I wondered if Benjamin would get a mention in this piece and I’m glad to see it – my take is that Anderson and Benjamin have definitely reunited, and they likely reunited last year when Anderson decided to have a child. As for Anderson getting to experience this as a gay man… it’s lovely. And I’m so glad he’s comfortable talking about it because it will make a difference to a lot of LGBTQ kids out there.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, IG and cover courtesy of People.
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