Kimmel and his wife Molly McNearney overcame a heart-wrenching first year when their baby son, William “Billy” John, had to undergo two heart surgeries — one when he was just 3 days old and another when he was 7 months old — after he was born with the congenital heart condition, tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia.
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The late-night host first opened up about his son’s situation in May 2017, with a tearful monologue on his show. And in April 2018, Kimmel opened up to Oprah Winfrey about the feelings of detachment he and his wife felt, out of fear.
“There were secrets we kept from each other that we revealed only after the second surgery. The biggest one was that, I think subconsciously, we didn’t want to get too close to the baby because we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Kimmel said in an interview for
Kimmel and McNearney also share 4-year-old daughter, Jane, and Kimmel has two older children – Kevin and Katie – from a previous relationship.