The longtime CNN host announced the birth of baby son Wyatt Morgan Cooper via surrogate on Thursday night as he posted a photo on Instagram: “As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth.”

He added: “He is sweet, and soft, and healthy and I am beyond happy.”

Cooper, 52, told viewers about his son at the end of Thursday’s televised weekly global town hall on the coronavirus pandemic.

“It has been a difficult time in all of our lives, and there are certainly many hard days ahead,” Cooper said. “It is, I think, especially important in times of trouble to hold on to moments of joy and happiness. Even as we mourn the loss of loved ones, we are also blessed with new life. New love.”

He then told viewers: “On Monday, I became a father. I’ve never actually said that before, and it still kind of astonishes me. I am a dad. I have a son.”

He said he is “eternally grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, watched over him lovingly, tenderly, and gave birth to him.”