Anderson Cooper Says His Mom Wanted to Be Surrogate for His Child

Anderson Cooper is one helluva story teller, but no one could expect this "bat s**t" crazy story -- his famous, and clearly eccentric, mom desperately wanted to be the surrogate who birthed his child ... AKA her grandchild!!!

The CNN anchor was talking about his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, Thursday night on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" when he revealed that in 2009 -- when she was 85 years old -- she claimed a gynecologist told her she could still carry a child.

Anderson says he was initially concerned Gloria wanted to have a child on her own, but Gloria put him at ease (not at all, really) when she explained ..."I'm not talking about having a child of my own. I mean, that's crazy. I was thinking, you get an egg and fertilize it with a sperm, and I"ll carry your child."

Oedipus say what?!?! 😲

Goes without saying ... Anderson said he was beyond stunned at Gloria's offer, and he made some jokes about the whole ordeal -- but adds, his mom didn't give up on the outlandish idea. He says 2 years later she made one last-ditch effort, and even brought him a newspaper article to support her theory.

Gloria, the famous jeans designer and member of the affluent Vanderbilt family, died in 2019. She was 95.