CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announced on Thursday that he is the proud new father of a baby boy.

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

“On Monday, I became a father,” Cooper revealed. “I am a dad, I have a son, and I want you to meet him.

He introduced Wyatt Morgan Cooper to his CNN audience.

“He is sweet and soft and healthy and I am beyond happy. As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I am so grateful for all those who paved the way and for the doctors and nurses and all those involved in my son’s birth.”

He said he was “eternally grateful” for Wyatt’s surrogate.

CNN’s @AndersonCooper is a dad.

“On Monday I became a father. I’ve never said that out loud and it astonishes me,” he said Thursday at the end of the #CNNTownHall.

Wyatt Morgan Cooper was born on Monday, weighing just over 7 pounds. https://t.co/oJbtbPmDxV pic.twitter.com/Ihek1IuZdH

— CNN (@CNN) May 1, 2020

Cooper said he named his son in honor of his late father, who passed away when he was just 10, saying, “I hope I can be as good a dad as he was.”