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In a deeply moving essay, Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, revealed her devastating diagnosis of terminal cancer. This announcement came on a poignant day, marking 62 years since her grandfather was tragically assassinated.
At just 35 years old, Schlossberg disclosed that she has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, specifically a rare mutation known as Inversion 3, shortly after welcoming her daughter in May 2024. Recently, doctors informed her that she likely has only about a year to live.
Reflecting on her diagnosis, Schlossberg expressed her concerns about her children. In her essay for The New Yorker, she wrote, “My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me. My son might have a few memories, but he’ll probably start confusing them with pictures he sees or stories he hears.”
Her candid account also touched upon the profound impact her illness has had on her ability to care for her daughter. She explained, “I didn’t ever really get to take care of my daughter—I couldn’t change her diaper or give her a bath or feed her, all because of the risk of infection after my transplants. I was gone for almost half of her first year of life. I don’t know who, really, she thinks I am, and whether she will feel or remember, when I am gone, that I am her mother.”
Schlossberg’s initial reaction to her shocking diagnosis was disbelief, as she described feeling perfectly healthy. She wrote, “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.”
This form of cancer predominantly affects older individuals, and her doctors often asked if she had spent significant time at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks, which she had not.
The daughter of Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s eldest surviving child, Schlossberg recounted her grueling journey through various treatments aimed at beating the cancer. “I went through a round of chemotherapy to reduce the number of blast cells in my bone marrow,” she explained. Following this, she underwent a bone marrow transplant facilitated by her sister.
After entering remission and returning home, Schlossberg faced additional challenges. She shared that without an immune system, she had to undergo all of her childhood vaccinations again.
However, the relief was short-lived, as she experienced a relapse, with her doctor informing her that leukemia with her mutation often recurs. Earlier this year, she enrolled in a clinical trial for CAR-T-cell therapy, a promising form of immunotherapy known for its effectiveness against certain blood cancers.
The subsequent treatment included another round of chemotherapy and a blood transfusion from an unrelated donor. During her latest clinical trial, her doctor suggested that he could possibly extend her life for another year, a statement that weighed heavily on Schlossberg.
In her essay, Schlossberg also expressed concern over her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom she referred to as an embarrassment. She voiced her worries about how his recent nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services would impact the health system that she relies on. “Suddenly, the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky,” she emphasized. “Doctors and scientists at Columbia [Presbyterian hospital], including [her husband] George, didn’t know if they would be able to continue their research, or even have jobs.”
Amid this turmoil, she praised her family for their unwavering support. Schlossberg described their presence at her bedside during treatments and their help with her children. Of her husband, urologist George Moran, she wrote, “He is perfect, and I feel so cheated and so sad that I don’t get to keep living the wonderful life I had with this kind, funny, handsome genius I managed to find.”
Her brother, Jack Schlossberg, who is currently campaigning for Congress in New York, offered a poignant message on his Instagram, stating, “Life is short, let it rip.” Meanwhile, her cousin, Maria Shriver, highlighted Tatiana’s powerful essay on social media, urging others to read her extraordinary words.
In her reflective writing, Schlossberg articulated the pressure she has felt throughout her life to be good—to be a good student, daughter, and sister. She lamented, “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
Schlossberg’s family has suffered numerous losses over the years. Her uncle Robert F. Kennedy Sr. was assassinated just five years after JFK. Additionally, Caroline Kennedy’s only surviving brother, JFK Jr., tragically died in a plane crash in 1999. Her grandmother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, also succumbed to cancer in 1994 at the age of 64.
As her essay drew to a close, Schlossberg emphasized her desire to live fully for her children. She remarked, “But being in the present is harder than it sounds, so I let the memories come and go. So many of them are from my childhood that I feel as if I’m watching myself and my kids grow up at the same time.”
Ultimately, she candidly stated, “Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I’ll remember this forever, I’ll remember this when I’m dead. Obviously, I won’t. But since I don’t know what death is like and there’s no one to tell me what comes after it, I’ll keep pretending. I will keep trying to remember.”
