Chris & DaeShawn

Dear Birth Mother,

We are Chris and DaeShawn and it is so nice to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to be here and to get to know us. We can only imagine how much you might be holding as you read this, and we want you to know how much we respect you and the strength it takes to even consider a path like this.

We don’t take your time or your trust lightly. Whatever you may be feeling right now, we hope that as you read our story, you feel a sense of who we are, the life we have built together, and the kind of home we hope to share with your child.

If you are open to it, we would love to get to know you too, including what your hopes and dreams are for your baby and for your future.

With love and gratitude,

Chris & DaeShawn

About Chris

Written with love by DaeShawn

Chris grew up splitting his time between New York City and Malta, giving him a love for diverse cultures and a connection to family and tradition. He is an educator through and through, writing civics, history, and community activism curriculum for students across New York City. He cares deeply about helping young people understand the world around them and believes they can help make it better.

In his free time, if he’s not rewatching his favorite Studio Ghibli movie, Kiki’s Delivery Service, or prepping to lead a Dungeons & Dragons session with our friends, he loves reading, comics, history, video games, yoga, baking, and traveling.

As a parent, Chris will be loving, present, endlessly encouraging, and will help a child feel proud of exactly who they are. I know Chris will be an amazing dad by the way he cares about people. His happiness genuinely comes from seeing others happy.

There is not a single doubt in my mind that a child raised by Chris would grow up feeling loved, encouraged, and understood. He will be the kind of dad who listens carefully, laughs often, and celebrates curiosity.

He has a special ability to help people feel safe being themselves, and I know he will help your child discover what happiness, confidence, and fulfillment look like for them personally. I am really excited to see Chris as a dad, a role I know he is so ready for.

Our Home

We live in Queens, one of the most diverse and vibrant parts of New York City with some of the best public elementary schools in the entire city. We love that our neighborhood gives us access to parks, restaurants, museums, and different cultures all around us.

Our home is cozy, warm, and the center of our life. We are building on our living room wall a showcase of the things we love: a poster from Adele’s Las Vegas residency, our favorite vinyl albums, and a poster from Skidmore. We love having family and friends over, and some of our favorite memories are from times when our home has been full of people we love. Our home has been built on a foundation of love and we are excited to raise a family in a city that gives a wide, beautiful world to explore

Holidays & Traditions

Holidays and traditions are a big part of the life we have built together. For us, they are about being surrounded by the people we love: sharing food, laughing, catching up, playing games, and making memories.

We enjoy decorating our apartment throughout the seasons and we don’t miss an opportunity to get together with family and friends to celebrate big and small milestones. One of our favorite traditions is our annual holiday party, where we open our home to family and friends and do a celebration of Christmas and Kwanzaa.

As you can imagine, June is a pretty big month in our household. During Pride we host a celebration for family and loved ones during the Queens Pride Parade & Multicultural Festival. Chris spends a lot of time that month supporting youth pride events and joining the New York City Public Schools group in the Pride March. We hope to create new traditions as parents: movie nights, bedtime stories, first-day-of-school photos, weekend breakfasts, holiday baking, summer trips, and decorating our home together.