Tatiana Schlossberg Shares Her First Thoughts of Concern for Her Children Following Terminal Diagnosis

Tatiana Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kennedy and granddaughter of the late John F. Kennedy, has been diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer at age 35 and is sharing her immediate reflections on this news.

“During the most recent clinical trial, my doctor informed me that he might be able to extend my life for about a year,” Schlossberg expressed in a heartfelt essay for The New Yorker, published on Sunday, November 23. She revealed that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia shortly after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024.

Initially, her doctor had observed an abnormality in her white blood cell count, which he thought was related to her pregnancy. However, he later discovered a “rare mutation called Inversion 3.”

“My first thought was of my children, whose faces are etched permanently in my mind; they wouldn’t remember her,” she continued in her essay, titled “A Battle With My Blood.” “My son might retain a few memories, but he will likely confuse them with pictures or stories. I never had the chance to care for my daughter—changing her diaper, bathing her, or feeding her—because of the risk of infection following my transplants.”

She reflected, “I was absent for nearly half of her first year. I wonder what identity she has for me, and whether she will remember that I am her mother after I’m gone.”

Schlossberg shares her 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter with her husband, George Moran. The couple married in 2017.

At the end of her essay, Schlossberg discussed how she is spending her remaining time—about a year, according to her doctors—and what memories she is working to cherish about her children before parting ways.

“My son knows I’m a writer focusing on our planet. Since my illness started, I remind him often, so he understands I was more than just unwell,” she writes. “When I see him, I try to fill my mind with memories. How many more times can I watch the video of him attempting to say ‘Anna Karenina’? Or recall the moment when I told him I didn’t want ice cream from the ice-cream truck, and he embraced me, saying, ‘I hear you, buddy, I hear you’? I think about the first time I returned home from the hospital. He entered my bathroom, looked at me, and said, ‘It’s so nice to meet you here.’”

She added, “Then there’s my daughter, her curly red hair bright like a flame, squinting and flashing a gap-toothed grin after sipping seltzer. She parades around in bright-yellow rain boots, pretending to chat on my mother’s phone, draped with fake pearls, sans pants, giggling and eluding anyone who tries to catch her. She plays James Brown’s ‘I Got a Feeling’ by picking up a portable speaker and exclaiming, ‘Baby, baby.’”

Despite her desire to live in the moment, Schlossberg explained that “being present is not as easy as it seems,” adding that amidst the challenges, she allows “memories to flow in and out.”

“Many of these memories are from my childhood, making it feel like I am experiencing my kids growing up alongside myself,” she went on. “Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I’ll remember this forever, that I’ll cling to it even after death. Clearly, I won’t. But without knowing what death entails and lacking guidance on what follows, I shall continue to pretend. I will keep striving to remember.”