Anderson Cooper Says He Misses His Late Brother Every Day While Raising His Little Look-Alike

• Anderson Cooper honored his brother Carter Cooper with an emotional tribute 35 years after his death.
• Anderson revealed the impact Carter's death had on his life, including his career choice.
• The CNN anchor is now a father of two and said becoming a dad was a dream come true.

Anderson Cooper recently honored his late brother Carter Cooper with an emotional tribute on Instagram. Carter died by suicide in 1988 at the age of 23. It has been over three decades since his death.

Anderson once opened up about how he was dealing with the loss of his brother. He revealed that he had to find a way to live without knowing or fully understanding why he lost his brother in such a tragic way.

On June 22, 2023, Anderson reflected on Carter's memory in an Instagram post. Carter's death was heartbreaking as he jumped off the terrace wall of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt's apartment.

Carter jumped from the 14th floor of the Manhattan Apartments and died. His demise came a decade after the death of his father, Wyatt Emory Cooper. In 2019, Anderson experienced loss again when his mother died.

How Did Carter's Death Impact Anderson?

Anderson shared three pictures alongside the emotional tribute he wrote for his brother. In one of the photos, Anderson and Carter posed in matching shirts, while the other two pictures were black and white shots of Carter.

The broadcast journalist captioned the post, "It is 35 years today since my brother, Carter Cooper, died. I think of him and miss him every day."

Anderson revealed when his son was born that, he and his ex-partner Benjamin Maisani would co-parent. The ex-couple dated publicly for four years but had been involved with each other for a decade.

Anderson was comforted by several kind comments, with most people sending love to him. CNN commentator Ana Navarro-Cárdenas told Anderson that the feeling of absence when one loses a loved one never goes away. Rather, the pain dulls.

Actress Molly Shannon also commented, "The memory of your brother Carter Cooper lives on....❤️ And such an honor to be on your podcast about grief."

When Carter died by suicide, Anderson and his mother struggled to understand why their beloved family member's life had to end that way. Anderson wrote an essay where he confessed that "not a day goes by when I do not find myself thinking about what happened and asking, 'Why?'"

Anderson had previously described his brother as sensitive and gentle. He revealed that before his death, Carter was anxious and distracted, but he wasn't worried because his brother was in therapy. Later, Anderson learned that Carter was uncooperative during therapy as he preferred to keep his pain to himself.

Gloria also tried to make sense of her son's death. She wrote in her book "A Mother's Story" in 1996 that she blamed the side effects of the asthma drug salbutamol for the death of Carter. In 2021, Anderson said he and Gloria's bond became stronger after Carter died.

However, Anderson was sad that he never got to experience adulthood fully with his brother. He said it was inconceivable that he had lived more of his life without Carter than with him. Anderson confessed that when he was young, he imagined himself and his brother as adults with their own families:

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about what he would be doing, who he would be, and I still think about his death and have questions about it."

The political commentator said he was sad he never had the opportunity to get to know his brother as an adult. He added that after Carter's death, holidays with his mom never felt the same.

Anderson admitted that he would never know what went through his brother's mind, leading to his death. He speculated that maybe Carter was depressed over the breakup with a girlfriend, but he could never be sure.

Still, Anderson said Carter's death shaped the trajectory of his life as an adult. He credited Carter's death as part of what inspired him to pursue investigative journalism. Gloria said that because of the pain Anderson went through when he lost his brother, he was able to practice investigative journalism with compassion and maturity beyond his years.

So as to cope with the loss of his brother, Carter went to practice investigative journalism in places such as Somalia and Bosnia, where he felt that people spoke the language of loss and pain that he was feeling. He recalled:

"I think that's how I learned to survive, but I still find it hard to talk about my dad and my brother. It's been 34 years since Carter's suicide, and the violence of it, the horror of it, it stuns me still."

However, the TV anchor advised people going through mental health issues to always reach out for help. He said there is always someone ready to help, even when people can't see this due to the darkness that surrounds them.

Today, Anderson is a dad. He once revealed that he knew he was gay at the age of 12 and thought that he would never become a father due to his sexual orientation, but he was wrong.

How Does Anderson Regard Fatherhood?

Anderson is a father of two sons. He welcomed his first son Wyatt Morgan Cooper on April 27, 2020, via a surrogate. The TV anchor named his first son after his father, Wyatt Cooper, who died when he was 10. Wyatt is a look-alike to Anderson's later brother Carter.

Anderson revealed when his son was born that, he and his ex-partner Benjamin Maisani would co-parent. The ex-couple dated publicly for four years but had been involved with each other for a decade.

The pair split in 2018 but live together as they co-parent their two sons. In 2022, they welcomed their second son Sebastian Luke via a surrogate. Anderson said Benjamin was a great dad, and that's why he chose to co-parent with him.

Anderson revealed that all his life, he had dreamt of having children and that he was enjoying fatherhood, a journey that put everything in perspective in his life and expanded him in wonderful and magical ways.

The TV anchor welcomed his first son at 53 and said he felt like his life had just begun. Having kids was a dream come true, and fatherhood felt so special, intimate, and really extraordinary.

He wished he had had kids sooner. "I just love every aspect of it, and it's just truly the greatest thing ever. And I sort of just feel like I, what was I doing before?" he questioned.

The birth of Anderson's first child also inspired him to write a book about his family's history so that he could document the Vanderbilt history, which he admitted to not knowing much about before he researched.

The book "Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty" was released in September 2021. The TV anchor confessed that he wanted the book to be, in a way, a letter to his son.

Anderson said in September 2022 that he was open to having more kids down the line but that he hasn't planned anything yet. He noted that fatherhood feels right to him and is absolutely something that he should be doing.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "help" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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