Tatiana Schlossberg Announces Terminal Leukemia Diagnosis

New York, NY – Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, announced Saturday that she has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia. The news comes just months after she gave birth to her second child.

Schlossberg, 35, revealed in an essay that she has acute myeloid leukemia, which includes a rare mutation. She described the moment her doctors informed her of her diagnosis, occurring just hours after the birth of her child in 2024.

“A few hours later, my doctor noticed that my blood count looked strange. A normal white-blood-cell count is around four to eleven thousand cells per microliter. Mine was a hundred and thirty-one thousand cells per microliter,” Schlossberg wrote.

In her heartfelt essay, she reflected on the impact of her diagnosis. “Maybe my brain is replaying my life now because I have a terminal diagnosis, and all these memories will be lost,” she shared. Accompanying the essay was a powerful image of Schlossberg, who has recently cut her long brunette hair short and has greyed.

Doctors have speculated whether her illness might be linked to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, as many first responders have developed similar blood cancers. “Every doctor I saw asked me if I had spent a lot of time at Ground Zero,” Schlossberg said. She confirmed she was in New York City on 9/11 but did not visit the site until years later.

In a moment of disbelief, she recounted her reaction to the diagnosis. “I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick. I was actually one of the healthiest people I knew,” she expressed.

The announcement was made on November 22, coinciding with the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination in 1963. Schlossberg’s brother, Jack Schlossberg, is currently running for Congress in the 12th District, a seat vacated by Manhattan Rep. Jerold Nadler (D-NY). This story is still developing.