Anderson Cooper opens up about why he asked his ex Benjamin Maisani to help raise his son

Anderson Cooper has revealed he asked his ex, Benjamin Maisani, to help raise his newborn son because he thinks ‘it’s good to have two parents’.  

Anderson, 52, dated nightclub owner Benjamin, 47, for a decade before they split in 2018 –  but the former couple will be co-parenting Anderson’s son, Wyatt, who was born through a surrogate in late April.

‘I don’t really have a family, and so my friends become my family,’ Anderson explained Tuesday during an interview on  The Howard Stern Show. ‘This is somebody that I was involved with for 10 years, he’s a great guy.’

Anderson has no full siblings. His brother, Carter, committed suicide in 1988. 

Anderson’s mother, fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, passed away last year at the age of 95.

She became a single mom when Anderson was just 10, after her husband, Wyatt, died during open heart surgery. 

‘When I was a little kid, it was just my mom and my brother, but my mom she was not the most parental person,’ Anderson told Howard Stern Tuesday. 

‘I wish some adult, after my dad died, had stepped in and just been like ‘I’ll take you to a ballgame, lets go out to lunch, let’s just talk’. But no one ever did that’.

Anderson explained that experience helped him to realize he wanted his newborn son to have more than one parent. 

‘If something happens to me or even if something doesn’t happen to me, the more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that,’ he stated. 

‘My ex is a great guy and I think it’s good to have two parents, if you can’.  

Anderson went on to reveal that he will be called ‘dad’, while Benjamin will called ‘papa’.   

‘My ex is French, so he’s gonna speak in French to the kid,’ Cooper explained.   

Last week, Anderson revealed that Benjamin was in the delivery room with him when the surrogate carrying Wyatt gave birth. 

While Anderson told Howard Stern that they ‘didn’t work out as a couple’, Us Weekly recently reported that the pair are trying to rekindle their romance. 

‘They very quietly got back together and are planning ahead. Ben is selling one of his clubs and cutting back on how much he does at night so he can spend more time at home with Anderson and the baby,’ a source told the magazine. 

Anderson announced he had become a first-time father in a heartfelt Instagram post penned on April 30. 

‘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 wrote. 

‘Most of all, I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him. It is an extraordinary blessing – what she, and all surrogates give to families who cant have children. 

‘My surrogate has a beautiful family of her own, a wonderfully supportive husband, and kids, and I am incredibly thankful for all the support they have given Wyatt and me. My family is blessed to have this family in our lives.

‘I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him. I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues.’