Meredith Vieira's Decision to Have Children Was Controversial in the Newsroom

Following the news that Meredith Vieira's husband Richard Cohen had died after battling multiple sclerosis for 50 years, many wanted to learn more about the TV legend's personal life. Richard and Meredith were married for 38 years, and the two of them had three children together.

Meredith and her kids are undoubtedly in mourning following the news of Richard's death, and many want to know more about exactly each of those kids. Here's what we know about them.

Meredith and Richard had two sons, Ben and Gabe, as well as a daughter named Lily. All three kids are now in their thirties, and it seems like Meredith has maintained a close relationship with each of them. While not much is known about what each of them do for a living, Meredith has confirmed that Gabe was engaged in 2020 and also said that she talks with Lily on the phone every day.

“It has reached the point, I was saying to a friend … [Lily will] call me or I’ll call her and say, ‘What’s new?’ And I’ll say, ‘Nothing, what’s new with you?’ And she says, ‘Nothing, OK bye!’ We no longer do all the little small talk, but we talk every single day,” Meredith explained at the time.

When Meredith left the Today show in 2011, she explained that she was doing it chiefly so that she could spend more time with her family.

“Time is one of those weird things. You can never get enough of it, and it just keeps ticking away. And I know that I want to spend more of mine with my husband, Richard, and my kids,” she said.

Meredith has never been shy about talking about her relationship with her kids, and explained that she actually faced a major career decision during an earlier stage of her career.

When she was working at 60 Minutes, Meredith explained that she was forced to choose between her job and raising her children. At the time, she was pregnant with Gabe and had a newborn at home.

"And to be a woman in the industry at that moment was big," Meredith explained during an interview with Hoda Kotb. "But then to say to the boss and all the women out there, 'I've had a change of heart…' " She ultimately decided to leave her job to focus on her kids.

"But my back was up against the wall, literally," she continued. "I was picking between my family and my job at that point, so it was an easy call the minute that it happened."

Meredith also recalled being cornered by a woman at a party and told that her decision had set women back.

"And I said, 'Wait a minute, first of all, I don't want to be a poster child for anybody. Secondly, if I wasn't true to myself, doesn't that send a worse message?' But that really threw me and it came from a woman," she continued. "And I get where she was coming from, but it was sort of like, 'Whoa.' "