CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski and his wife Rachel Louise Ensign welcomed their daughter Talia Davida Kaczynski into the world this past week.
Just a year ago, they lost their 9-month-old daughter Francesca to cancer.
“Introducing the newest member of our family, who joined us Thursday. Talia Davida Kaczynski. She was named with the Hebrew name of her big sister Beans. We love her endlessly,” Kaczynski announced on Instagram Saturday.
Kaczynski’s older daughter Francesca died on Dec. 24, 2020, three months after he revealed she was diagnosed with “an extremely rare and very aggressive rhabdoid brain tumor” known as Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT).
Kaczynski wrote upon her death how he and Ensign were “heartbroken” over the loss of their little girl, who they nicknamed “Beans”.
“We’re heartbroken to have to announce our beautiful daughter Francesca passed away last night in the arms of her mom and dad,” he shared.
“There will always be a Bean-sized hole in our hearts for her. We’re so grateful to have known her love. Francesca we love you.”
Kaczynski went on to share how a week before her death, Beans had developed a “terrible fungal infection,” and was put on a ventilator and life support.
In the following days, the reporter promised that he and Ensign would “spend the rest of our lives involved in finding a cure” for the pediatric brain cancer that killed Francesca, while also thanking people for donating to the PMC Winter Cycle charity event, which donates all proceeds to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
“We’re so grateful for how much money has been raised in Francesca’s honor for Dana Farber to fight this terrible disease and we are going to spend the rest of our lives involved in finding a cure,” Kaczynski wrote on Twitter at the time.
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Kaczynski posted the obituary that he and Ensign wrote for their daughter where they remembered her as “an outgoing, bold and curious baby.”
“A Brooklyn-based Sesame Street fan, Francesca enjoyed taking long walks around New York City and Boston, playing with her toys and balloons, attending speech therapy, and ‘petting’ (i.e. grabbing) her cat Ryland,” it read.
“Her many smiles sent a thrill through the world. She was so generous with them, even when most of the smiles back were covered by masks and even when she faced challenges that would scare an adult, like a cancer diagnosis or being born with hearing loss,” her parents wrote.
“Francesca showed her parents a kind of love they never knew before and they will never forget it.”
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