Khloe Kardashian Acknowledges That It Took ‘Months’ to ‘Connect’ With Son Tatum

Khloe Kardashian openly discussed her difficulty naming her kid, whom she had via surrogate with her ex-partner NBA star Tristan Thompson, on the SHE MD podcast on May 7. The reality TV star revealed to co-anchor Mary Alice Haney and presenter Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi that she had substituted a cute moniker for the baby's true name. She also talked about her challenges communicating with her surrogate son Tatum before his birth.

As reported by The Mirror, Kardashian revealed how difficult it was for her to choose her son's name since "I wasn't carrying him, I didn't really feel anything." She maintains that she had kept the pregnancy a closely guarded secret, even from her family. She told the anchor, "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." Before Tatum was born, the reality star had planned a last, special trip to Disneyland with her daughter True. However, she received a call from her OB-GYN informing her that the moment had come. 

Kardashian went into total panic, but Dr. Aliabadi ended up being her savior. She added, "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'. 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.'" Kardashian said that she was in 'denial' about the whole thing looking back. She said, "So I didn’t get to really attach during the pregnancy part." Later in the trio's conversation, the hosts reassured Kardashian that a lot of moms who became mothers via surrogacy also had trouble bonding with their infants at first.

On July 28, 2022, Tatum Thompson was born via surrogacy. In California, if a newborn isn't given a name before leaving the hospital, their mother's last name is used on official papers until the child's parents submit the paperwork to change it. During the third season premiere of The Kardashians in May 2023, Kardashian revealed that she was going to name her kid Tatum. She also explained her struggle to choose a name for her kid throughout the program.

As reported by Today, she explained at the time, "At first, I really did not know what I was going to name him. I wanted to meet him and feel him out a little bit. And so, at first, he didn’t have a name. Then, he’s been named, but I’ve been waiting for the premiere of our show, and I didn’t know it was going to be this far out, so now, if my daughter outs me, I’m screwed." In July 2023, Kardashian celebrated Tatum's first birthday on her Instagram page. In the post, she addressed the little kid by the name of Tatum.