‘Teen Mom’s Cory Wharton
Baby Girl’s Heart Surgery Gave Him New Perspective
Published October 29, 2025 5:00 PM PDT
Play video content
TMZ.com
“Teen Mom” star Cory Wharton might be the happiest man in the world after his daughter’s successful heart surgery … and he tells TMZ about the new perspective he’s been given when we caught up with him Wednesday.
Cory’s 3-year-old daughter Maya — who he shares with Taylor Selfridge — has only just gotten out of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles after being there the last 2 weeks, but they left with some great news … their baby girl is going to be OK!
Cory tells us, “We knew when my girlfriend was pregnant that she was going to require 2 open-heart surgeries, and we got through … We finally got through.”
Maya suffered from tricuspid atresia — a rare and serious congenital heart defect. While it was very tough for the whole family, Cory told us perspective was key to helping him keep a sane mind through the most trying times of their ordeal.
“I was just happy that we were able to leave the Children’s Hospital, because there’s a lot of families there that aren’t going to leave,” he shared. “They’re waiting a year or 2 for a heart transplant.”
He continued … “There was people in that building that found a way to smile. Just by talking to them over time, I was just like, ‘These people are staying positive when they’re at their lowest.'”
Fully inspired, Cory says now the biggest thing for him is to give back.
He explained … “I’m trying to do what I can to try to help out Children’s Hospital or young ones that are in need … it’s a far cry from MTV, but I wanna try to do something positive with what I got going now.”
Cory was making families happy at the unveiling of a 2,518-pound giant Jack-O’-Lantern in the Madame Tussauds courtyard. Raising Cane’s owner and founder Todd Graves hosted the star-studded spectacle in Hollywood.
