The Kennedy family is facing another devastating chapter after 35-year-old Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, revealed she has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer. Schlossberg disclosed her terminal prognosis in a deeply personal New Yorker essay published on November 22—the anniversary of her grandfather’s 1963 assassination.
Schlossberg, a wife and mother of two young children, wrote that she has myeloid leukemia caused by a rare mutation known as “Inversion 3,” a condition most commonly found in older patients. Her diagnosis came just hours after giving birth to her second child in May 2024 at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, when doctors noticed an abnormally high white blood cell count. What initially seemed like a routine irregularity quickly escalated into a life-altering discovery.
She recalls telling her husband, George Moran, then a urology resident at the same hospital, “It’s not leukemia.” But it was. Since then, Schlossberg has undergone chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and a bone-marrow transplant. She entered a clinical trial for a new cell therapy in January but wrote that doctors have now given her less than 12 months to live.
In her essay, Schlossberg describes the emotional and spiritual weight of facing mortality at a young age. She reflects on memories resurfacing—childhood friendships, awkward moments, early relationships—and wonders whether her mind is trying to preserve experiences before they fade. Her greatest fear, she wrote, is that her children—3-year-old son Edwin and an 18‑month‑old daughter—may grow up without remembering her.
Schlossberg is the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia, and Edwin Schlossberg. A Yale and Oxford graduate, she previously worked as a journalist for The New York Times and authored a 2019 book on environmental responsibility. She married Moran in 2017.
The tragedy adds to a long history of loss within America’s most storied political family—one frequently referred to as living under a “Kennedy curse.” Decades of heartbreak include plane crashes, assassinations, overdoses, drownings, and other sudden deaths affecting multiple generations. Schlossberg is also the niece of John F. Kennedy Jr., who died in a 1999 plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard, and the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1968.
Her younger brother, Jack Schlossberg, is currently running for Congress in New York’s 12th District. Despite the family’s political prominence, Tatiana has largely avoided the spotlight, focusing on journalism, writing, and motherhood.
While Schlossberg has not publicly discussed faith or political implications, her story underscores a universal truth—life is fragile, time is fleeting, and family matters most. For many Americans, especially Christian readers, her reflections serve as a reminder to pray for those suffering privately and to cherish every moment granted by God.
