Khloé Kardashian didn’t have the same surrogacy experience as sister Kim Kardashian.
In the season 3 premiere of The Kardashians, the newly minted mom of two, 38, admits that relying on a surrogate to welcome her son Tatum with Tristan Thompson was “hard for me” while chatting with Kim and Scott Disick.
The SKIMS co-founder, 42, notes that Khloé “had a really hard time accepting the whole process.”
Khloé went on to admit that she felt less connected to her newborn son than she did to daughter True, now 5, after she was born.
“It’s a mindf—. It’s really the weirdest thing,” Khloé says.
“I do think there is a difference when your baby is in your belly, the baby actually feels your real heart,” Kim says to the two. “Think about it. There’s no one else on this planet that will feel you from the inside like that, your heart.”
Kim notes it’s easier for some people to connect with babies after surrogacy than others, with Khloé admitting she was having a hard time, adding, “Kim said hers was easy, and this is not easy.”
Last summer, a source told PEOPLE that Kim encouraged the Good American co-founder to pursue surrogacy after welcoming her younger two children, Psalm, 4, and Chicago, 5, via surrogacy after experiencing complications in her pregnancies with Saint, 7, and North, 9.
“Khloé tried to get pregnant for a while. When this didn’t work out, they decided to explore other options. Kim supported and encouraged Khloe to find a surrogate,” the source said at the time.
The insider said that Khloé was “elated” to learn her surrogate was pregnant in December, but the situation became “bittersweet” when she discovered the NBA player fathered a child with Maralee Nichols during their romantic relationship. Khloé and Thompson had been in an on-again, off-again relationship since 2016 and welcomed daughter True in 2018.
Thompson is also dad to son Theo, 16 months, with Nichols, and Prince, 6, with his ex-girlfriend, model Jordan Craig.
“It was a bittersweet situation for Khloé,” the source noted. “She was so excited about the baby but incredibly disappointed in Tristan. Like Khloé always does though, she turned it around and focused on the good.”
The former couple’s surrogate was already pregnant with their baby when Thompson’s cheating scandal surfaced in December 2021, a source told PEOPLE.
Season 3 of The Kardashians is now streaming on Hulu.