Best of Episode: The Girl Dads Share Their Adoption Journey

Speaker 1 As the holidays approach, get what you need to personalize your home with Wayfair. You guys know I love Wayfair.
I did my camper in Wayfair, the playroom, my living room, all of the things.

Speaker 1 They have bedding, bath basics, kids' rooms, home decor, kitchen essentials, living room refresh, whatever you're looking for, they have it.

Speaker 1 And Wayfair's huge selection of home items in every single style makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.

Speaker 1 And if you're on a budget like I am these days, you can shop there with a budget in mind. There's something for every style in every home, home, no matter what your space or budget is.

Speaker 1 And they make it easy to tackle your home goals this holiday season with endless inspiration for every space. They do have easy and free delivery too, even on the big stuff.

Speaker 1 So, no more huge delivery fees for furniture. You guys can get big things like sofas, dining tables, beds, desks, and more shipped for free.

Speaker 1 And you can find all of your seasonal must-haves from furniture and holiday decor to appliances and cookware all in one convenient place. Hosting just got a lot easier this year.

Speaker 1 Get organized, refreshed, and ready for the holidays for way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home.

Speaker 2 That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com.

Speaker 1 Wayfair, every style, every home.

Speaker 2 Welcome to the shit show. Things are going to get weird.

Speaker 2 It's your fae villain, Kayla.

Speaker 2 And you're listening to Barely Famous.

Speaker 2 Okay, you guys, welcome back to another episode of Barely Fucking Famous. Hello, fuckers.

Speaker 2 We tried to record with the well, I tried to record with the girl dads the other day, and unfortunately, we were experiencing some technical difficulties.

Speaker 2 So we did have to start, stop, start, stop, and then just reschedule together. So today, I am welcoming back the girl dads, Travis and Chris.

Speaker 2 If you have not heard of the girl dads, they are a couple who adopted a little girl. And the story of how it all came about is so interesting.

Speaker 2 And now they're they're content creators they have their little small shop i love it i love them so let's welcome the girl dads

Speaker 2 welcome to the show kristen travis i'm so glad that we can make this happen again how are y'all Last time we tried to record, you guys started talking to me about how your adoption with your daughter took place and how that all

Speaker 2 kind of played out. So I, because it didn't, we don't know where it went into the abyss.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 2 do you guys mind just sharing the story about how you came about adopting your daughter again for me?

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah,

Speaker 3 so we had

Speaker 3 we got married in March, and then we were in Europe for like two weeks, came home, and then my best friend was getting married in May.

Speaker 3 And so, we'd went to like downtown Houston for the weekend for her bachelorette party. And one of my good friends from high school stayed at our house to watch our dogs.

Speaker 4 That Sunday when we got home, and she was a social worker. Yeah, I had to go back to her blog to like revisit all this because, yeah, I don't even remember half of it because it all happened so fast.

Speaker 4 So fast. And when we got home,

Speaker 4 she kind of gave him like a list of recommendations and kind of like was like, hey, when y'all start cleaning, because we had a one-to-two-year plan because, too, the cost, like, you go through an agency, it's expensive.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and she was telling us ones that she knows knows actually work with like

Speaker 3 lgbt parents because there are like certain ones that won't like they won't work with you nothing and so i looked at a bunch and there was one that like i really liked and the first thing you had to do was like a webinar so it was a monday the webinar was that wednesday So mind you, this is like nine in the morning or so.

Speaker 3 Like, I'm

Speaker 2 just like, oh, wow, like, we're, we're going to hit the ground running from Monday to Wednesday. The webinar is on Wednesday.
So you guys have two days to just start this process.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and that, so that's like completely separate from our daughter. Like this, this was like going through an agency that like it takes a year before you're even able

Speaker 3 to like get a placement. So we were like, let's start now because it's going to take a while and it's going to be expensive.
So like we weren't in a rush. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And so I went inside and I told him, hey, look, this one that she was talking about, I think it's really good. The first thing is a webinar.
It's free. So we can literally just do it.

Speaker 3 And if we don't like what they're saying, then we just keep move on to the next.

Speaker 4 And then I'm the world's worst about text messages. So like if somebody, there's somebody calls me, I'm not going to answer, like, just text me.
It's faster.

Speaker 4 The 30-minute conversation that we have on the phone, one sentence. Yeah.
So my friend had then called me.

Speaker 4 I then texted me back right afterwards and was like, hey, this is something that I want to talk to you about over the phone. Can you give me a call?

Speaker 4 And I was like, she's probably trying to get rid of her kids. you know.
Like,

Speaker 4 I did not even realize that that

Speaker 3 he said she's probably pregnant again, and they didn't like that much, but you knew her.

Speaker 3 This is the girl from high school, so this isn't birth mom, yeah, this isn't birth mom, but it's a friend of birth mom, yeah, got it.

Speaker 4 But I did go to high school with birth mom, too, okay, or awesome, and they knew that you were wanting like the one to two-year plan was to adopt, like, everyone knew this, like your circle, my our inner circle knew, Like we weren't in a rush because I felt like at the time too, like the one-year plan kind of would have been better just because like marriage-wise, it's our

Speaker 3 relationship's difficult as it is. Yeah.

Speaker 4 So we wanted to kind of get activated and then we were trying to buy a house at the same time too.

Speaker 4 And then like also too, we wanted to start the process because we knew it took a while. So we were like, got married, let's start the process.

Speaker 4 And then during that time period, if something something was to happen, it happens, you know?

Speaker 3 I'm impatient as well. So once I get an idea, then my ADD is like hyper-focused on that until you figure it out.
And let's do it.

Speaker 2 We're here with that because I'm also, it's like, if I have an idea, I want to get it. I want to do it right now.

Speaker 4 And nobody stopped me from doing that.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
So, so

Speaker 4 taking my dogs to my brother's house. And

Speaker 4 I finally give in to calling her. Oh my God, I'm getting anxious.
But I remember her like asking me, she's like, you don't have to answer today. You don't have to answer this week.

Speaker 4 But she's 31 weeks pregnant, so we don't have a lot of time. And I'm like, and she just found out.

Speaker 2 Yeah. No, but 31 weeks.
She didn't. No.
It's that's not a lot of time.

Speaker 3 Oh,

Speaker 3 I'm sorry. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 2 Did you just say that she just found out?

Speaker 3 She didn't.

Speaker 4 She hadn't even had her first doctor's visit other than finding out, like, hey, you're pregnant.

Speaker 3 Oh,

Speaker 3 she went in for for like

Speaker 3 something, she went to the hospital for something, and they were like for heartburn. No, that was the

Speaker 3 well, that was the first, um, whatever, where you think you're going until you were, yeah, and so she went for something, and they were like, um, no, you're pregnant as fuck.

Speaker 2 Did she not show? Was she not showing?

Speaker 3 Um, so I think

Speaker 4 if I like was in her shoes, I think it could also be like maybe I didn't want to know in denial.

Speaker 3 Yeah, Okay.

Speaker 4 Like, this isn't possible, but maybe so. Because I don't know.
Like, obviously, like, not everybody's menstrual cycle is regular.

Speaker 3 I'm just saying, right, right. So, right.
Um,

Speaker 4 so I think, and if I was her, that was my first guess when we first hear.

Speaker 3 So, she like kind of gives him a rundown. He calls me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, speed just says this:

Speaker 4 90 miles an hour, spill it all out. I drop off the dogs, I'm like yelling at my sister-in-law everything everything that just happened.

Speaker 3 And then it gets there. He's like, I'm here, gotta go.
Bye. And hangs up on me.
And I'm like, you can't just run past that. Like, you just said, like, what did you just say?

Speaker 4 This isn't, you're not adopting a dog.

Speaker 3 Like,

Speaker 3 who wants to give us a child? What?

Speaker 3 And then, like, waits until he gets home to like finish telling me. Doesn't call me when he leaves.
Well, because it's so. I'm trying to process the words.

Speaker 2 So, were you just like, what all day? You were just like, like, what the fuck was he talking about? Because you, he.

Speaker 3 Well, it wasn't, it wasn't that long. It was like 15, 20 minutes, but our family was coming.
So I was like still trying to do like other stuff.

Speaker 3 And I used, like, we smoked cigarettes at the time. And so I was like outside, walking around, like, chain smoking, like, Googling, because I knew the name.

Speaker 3 So I'm like Googling and looking on Facebook trying to figure out who is this person. Right.

Speaker 3 Because I know, like, I know nothing, never seen, never heard of, like, he, like, went to high school with her.

Speaker 4 Like, well, you knew my friend, just not.

Speaker 3 Well, yeah, like, not like her mom. And so he's over there, like, freaking out.
I'm at home, freaking out.

Speaker 4 And I'm like, what do we do? Like, we just got married. Like, our landlord's coming here because our landlord wanted to put up his house for sale.

Speaker 3 That's why you had to move the dogs.

Speaker 3 So he wanted to come, like, he wanted to come talk to us, is what he told us. And we were wanting to buy it.

Speaker 3 But there was a lot of issues.

Speaker 3 And so he comes and he's like, I want to sell it in 30 days um i'm not fixing anything you have the first option to buy it i will not touch anything and we were like okay gotta go yeah so you didn't want to so you decided not to buy the house yeah and like it had a pool yeah like so my biggest concern too was with home checks and things like that like one it was an in-ground pool with it basically had to be completely resurfaced redone two-story

Speaker 3 um in those bedrooms downstairs yeah and then it was just like there was so much.

Speaker 4 A train that ran behind the house, which if you ever live near one, like you get used to it.

Speaker 4 So like it didn't bother us, but too, like with the baby, you know, it's kind of like, all right, she'll be waking up. So.

Speaker 3 And the neighborhood that we lived in, it used to be like a really, really good neighborhood and area.

Speaker 3 But like it started getting really bad. Like people were getting robbed and

Speaker 3 like stuff it like because there was a really big mall like right by it. Yeah.
And everything used to be really nice And then it kind of started going down.

Speaker 3 We were like, well, we're not going to have a kid around this. So let's move further out.
Right. It's like a smaller town.

Speaker 2 So you guys are basically basing all of your decisions off of this child that you may or may not even

Speaker 2 take in at this point. You're like, okay, well, we have this option.
So now we need to plan accordingly.

Speaker 3 But also,

Speaker 2 because even if that one, even if this would have fell through, your plan for the one to two year plan was to adopt anyway, right? So

Speaker 2 I guess that makes sense. That makes sense to me.

Speaker 4 This, the scariest, I will say that was the scariest thing too, is

Speaker 4 kind of like this whole emotional attachment to,

Speaker 4 you know,

Speaker 4 so like once we finally kind of talked to an attorney, got those kind of things ironed out, she got her first doctor's check. We helped her.

Speaker 4 She went through Medicaid because there's certain things we're not allowed to pay for due.

Speaker 4 And we wanted to make sure everything was right. Like, don't just hand us a kid, you know?

Speaker 2 Well, because, yeah, I mean, you never know if someone just hands you a kid. I mean, what do you even

Speaker 3 okay?

Speaker 2 So, so, at what point did you get an attorney then? Because obviously, if she's 31 when she's pregnant, you only have

Speaker 3 first day, yeah, first day of what that like the day that we got the phone call.

Speaker 4 Oh, because we didn't want to, we didn't want to, because we had already known, knew that if you, if we overstep certain boundaries or do certain things, you can get in trouble.

Speaker 4 Got it, and to like, we didn't,

Speaker 4 I guess, with somebody's life, like, we're literally talking about a child and their life.

Speaker 4 I was like, we need to get our ducks in a row, talk to somebody, kind of figure out everything that we should do or have to do,

Speaker 4 especially like Texas-wise. And then

Speaker 3 my sister-in-law, her aunt, is a family law attorney, so that kind of works. Yeah, so

Speaker 3 we had someone that was easily accessible that we could call. And so it was her.
And so he was like, you know, I think before we continue, we need

Speaker 3 to figure out what do, can do, don't do.

Speaker 4 And then us to think on it. Yeah.
We were kind of like, you know, give us a few days. Like, let's make sure that baby's healthy.

Speaker 4 And are we ready?

Speaker 3 Yeah, we had like no idea like

Speaker 3 gender, like nothing. And so they were like, you know, don't get attached.
Like, don't, because this, it could not happen. She could have the baby and completely change her mind.

Speaker 3 And then our attorney tells us she was 11 days after to change her mind. And so

Speaker 3 we ended up.

Speaker 4 And she's not allowed to sign. So from birth, once she gives birth, obviously, like, so we were her first, like, I did skin to skin, he did skin to skin.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 4 but she had 48 hours before she could even sign any legal documentation to sign her rights after birth.

Speaker 2 But then 11 days to like rescind those.

Speaker 3 11 days after she signed to change her mind.

Speaker 4 So this whole time, you've already got baby home. Like, my, it's so scary to think, even once on your way to getting attached,

Speaker 4 planning to set up your whole room or her room, and then even bringing her home

Speaker 4 and then for her to be possibly taken away was, I think, the most

Speaker 4 stressful time.

Speaker 3 Yeah, those 11 days were terrible. We couldn't tell, like, we didn't tell anyone.
We didn't do any signs in the front yard. There was no like baby shower the whole time.

Speaker 3 It was just mainly our parents and then like our

Speaker 3 really like, yeah, our like everyday friends.

Speaker 2 So did you have time to build a relationship with birth mom or was she not interested in that or how did that work?

Speaker 4 So she was very removed from the whole situation, if that makes sense. And she which is okay.
Like I like, because I do remember her from high school and stuff like that.

Speaker 4 We didn't run in the same circles. But I will say like in private, like texting her and stuff like that, she like, so she's always told us that if she has questions,

Speaker 4 she she'll be there to answer them and be a part of it as long as she wants to. But she also doesn't want to take, and this is her words, and things change over time.
So, we understand this too.

Speaker 3 Because at first, it was like nothing, yeah, never

Speaker 3 mind.

Speaker 4 Never keep me anonymous, and then now I she's kind of gone through a rough patch. Um, so I think now she's more kind of like to also heal herself

Speaker 4 that

Speaker 4 she wants to at least be able to write letters, and now, like, for example, so like when the blog started, a part of it too was for her to be able to watch in her comfort zone kind of like Hartley grow up.

Speaker 4 And then I found this adoption triage group, and I was like, oh my God, okay, I've got to leave this group because

Speaker 4 that was bad.

Speaker 3 That like it was a bad face.

Speaker 3 And just think of it like a really bad mom's group where they just, everything is bad.

Speaker 3 Everything is terrible. Everyone's wrong.
And I was like, he was just spiraling. I was like, you have to leave that group.
And I'm like, I can't.

Speaker 4 I just got to like absorb all this.

Speaker 5 Finding pregnancy support you can trust is worth celebrating. Getting it on sale is worth belting Beyonce in your car.
That's right. Ritual's Black Friday sale is on.

Speaker 5 Support your body's new nutrient needs with their clinically backed prenatal multivitamin or give back to your gut with Natal Biotic, a probiotic supplement for trying pregnancy and postpartum to support digestive, vaginal, and babies' immune health.

Speaker 5 At Ritual, quality is top priority.

Speaker 5 All of their supplements are clean, third-party tested for heavy metals, and 100% made traceable because you deserve high-quality support at every stage of your pregnancy journey.

Speaker 5 Cut prices without cutting corners and get their best savings on their best supplements with 40% off your first month for a limited time at ritual.com/slash pregnancy support.

Speaker 5 These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Speaker 6 Ever notice that everyone always wants more of a good thing? More rewards, more savings, more special offers?

Speaker 6 Well, when you become a new member of the Shell Fuel Rewards program, that's exactly what you get. More.

Speaker 6 Join today to save 10 cents per gallon on your first fill, 20 cents on the second, and 30 cents on the third. Then enjoy everyday savings afterwards.
Want more?

Speaker 6 Then head to Shell where members get more. Offer valid from 421.25 to 1231.26 at participating participating shell locations.

Speaker 8 Offer must be redeemed within 60 days of registration. Limit 20 gallons.
Restrictions apply. Visit fuelrewards.com slash join 25 for more information.

Speaker 7 November is all about gathering. Friends giving feasts, Thanksgiving dinners, and football weekends.

Speaker 7 Total One and More has everything you need for your table and your toast with thousands of wines, spirits, and beers at the lowest prices.

Speaker 7 From bold reds to sparklers, you'll find the perfect wines to raise a glass this season.

Speaker 7 And when it comes to spirits, Total Wine has you covered from smooth bourbons and tequilas to all the essentials for your holiday cocktails.

Speaker 7 Hosting Thanksgiving, Total Wine's guides make it easy by taking out the guesswork.

Speaker 7 With the lowest prices for over 30 years, you'll always find what you love and love what you find only at Total Wine and more. Curbside pickup and delivery available in most areas.

Speaker 7 See TotalWine.com for details. Spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina.
Drink responsibly. B21.

Speaker 2 I wonder, just from like a mother standpoint, if she didn't want, and I don't know if this is across the board for just

Speaker 2 birth moms in general, like some of the ones who opt for the close adoption, like may are like they're almost protecting their own feelings. Like, you know,

Speaker 3 it's

Speaker 3 I don't know. I think she didn't want, she didn't want there to be any way for her to get attached.
And like, she knew exactly what I mean.

Speaker 3 She knew that the situation and her living situation was not like right for like having a child. And she knew, like, these are her words.

Speaker 3 Like, she knew like it was best, but I don't, I don't think she, I think if she did too much, like, it would, you know,

Speaker 3 make her want to want to change her mind. And so when she got on like the Medicaid or whatever, she had an ultrasound, but they only do, or she shouldn't have an ultrasound.

Speaker 3 She had a doctoral appointment, but they only do ultrasounds every like so often, like throughout the pregnancy, I guess, with Medicaid.

Speaker 3 Well, she had missed it, so it was going to be a while till the next one. And we were like, okay, we're just sitting here.
We have no idea what, like, what the child is going to be.

Speaker 3 Like, if like healthy, like, is everything developing? Like, are there arms, toes, legs? Is this going to be like a bigger thing?

Speaker 2 Because you have to know what you're signing up for, I think.

Speaker 2 And there are people who are willing to adopt people that, you know, children that have special needs, and then there are ones who maybe know that wouldn't be a good fit for them.

Speaker 2 And I'm not saying one is right or wrong, but you have to know what you're signing up for, especially because this obviously kind of fell in your lap, you know.

Speaker 3 So, well, and like we were looking at okay, so we were looking at homes too, like a new rental house, wheelchairs,

Speaker 2 right? Right, absolutely.

Speaker 3 That's crazy.

Speaker 4 Our whole life like went up in flames in less than a month.

Speaker 4 Like, I guess that was May

Speaker 4 was around May 17th and then she was born June 9th well no so you had two months yeah

Speaker 3 wait when did we move in here May May 19th when I on my birthday when I was in Costa Rica so then

Speaker 4 31 32 33 45 six

Speaker 4 but we knew before we knew like a month before moving here so like within a month to two months yeah And then this one's over here in Punta Cana and I'm moving our whole entire house and we downsized.

Speaker 3 in a wedding for my best friend. He was supposed to be

Speaker 3 supposed to be in the wedding, he was supposed to be in the wedding, too. I'm not sure he had to setting up a nursery.

Speaker 4 He's a liar, though. We weren't supposed to move until the next week when I got back.

Speaker 3 Okay. Oh, and he decided I want to move a week earlier.

Speaker 4 You were going to downsize.

Speaker 3 You're gone. And I was like, he's a liar.
Okay. We go.

Speaker 4 It took us the last remaining two days that we had on that lease for us to even finishing moving just the trash out of the old house that we were

Speaker 3 in the sun in Liza Manella, Punta Cana, or Costa Rica, wherever I was, for like

Speaker 3 two days. I was hungover, I was sunburned, I was tired, right? Right, right, right.

Speaker 2 But you were having a baby to plan for at this time. At what point did you find out it was boy girl?

Speaker 3 Like, so it was a couple of months before, so we ended up finding like a private um

Speaker 3 place.

Speaker 3 Oh, and so we asked if she would meet us there.

Speaker 4 We paid for

Speaker 3 nothing.

Speaker 4 What do they do? They're like a massage place. Yeah, it was

Speaker 2 like a front, it was like a front for something.

Speaker 3 I don't know.

Speaker 2 The tea is hot.

Speaker 3 Need to say they're no longer open. So

Speaker 3 because we had a friend that was pregnant was like, hey, what'd you all go to get Hartley's done at? Like, I want to go get one. And we Google it, and it was like

Speaker 3 closed.

Speaker 3 out of it. Is it like a sketchy part or whatever? So we went and it ended up being amazing because we like we just paid for the basic like ultrasound thing, just black and white.

Speaker 4 They were very professional.

Speaker 3 I will say that. Like

Speaker 4 it wasn't like when you got in there, it wasn't as sketchy, but it was like some, I don't know, they did like, I don't know, physical therapy

Speaker 4 or chiropractic.

Speaker 4 They were very well-versed.

Speaker 3 Something

Speaker 3 was a very dark.

Speaker 2 So you find, she finds out at 31 weeks, around that same time,

Speaker 2 falls into your lap that maybe you could adopt this child. And then, so, like, do you remember like how many weeks she was when you found out, like, you went to that ultrasound?

Speaker 4 I think it was about two or three weeks.

Speaker 3 And then we did it.

Speaker 2 So, like, before 35 weeks.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Just under 35 weeks.

Speaker 3 Wow. And so

Speaker 3 the ultrasound lady, because so she didn't want, she didn't want to see anything, hear anything.

Speaker 3 So she like, first of all, put in headphones, head away, like no one talked, no gender, like nothing until like after and like she went out.

Speaker 3 And so we just paid for like the basic black and white photo thing or whatever. Well, the ultrasound lady was like, I know this is the only ultrasound y'all are going to be able to go to.

Speaker 3 So she gave us everything, like full USB

Speaker 3 with like everything and stuff. And so there was a little blue light like up in the corner.
And I was like, sitting there silent, it's a boy. It's a boy.

Speaker 3 Because we kind of wanted a boy just because neither one of us had vaginas.

Speaker 4 We wanted a boy, yeah.

Speaker 4 Like, that's what we were expecting. Like, we know what we're working with, like, yeah, life is a lot easier, yeah.

Speaker 3 And then we both kind of sit there and we're like, oh, shh. And what she told us, and then

Speaker 3 now I couldn't, I could never picture anything different. Oh, yeah, no, yeah, she may drive me nuts, but I fucking love her to pieces.
Of course.

Speaker 4 And so as soon as we find out, we get in the truck, and I tell him, can we go to Bye-bye, baby? It's like right there.

Speaker 3 And he was like, Yes, please.

Speaker 2 So, y'all go to Bye-bye, but at this point, you still don't know if like genetic screenings, you don't know about like

Speaker 2 so.

Speaker 4 She had, I don't even think she did that.

Speaker 3 There was, yeah,

Speaker 4 there, because she found out so late, certain milestones, and like, I think this is the dumbest thing in the entire world.

Speaker 4 Is regardless of whether she was putting her child up for adoption or keeping it herself

Speaker 4 for Medicaid or CHIP or whatever programs that we have here in Texas, like it's fucking ridiculous, excuse excuse my language, that

Speaker 4 because

Speaker 4 every other period or every other doctor's visit may be an ultrasound or not, like that's stupid. I feel like an ultrasound should be included if it's normal, like care, you know?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Or catch her up on things that are important to make sure that she, as mom and that the babies are okay.

Speaker 2 Like, because she didn't know, you're saying, like, if she didn't know until she's 31, I think, so I think there is like a little bit of a, I don't know if caveat is the right word to that, but I I know that certain things are only available, and this is only just because I've been pregnant like 10 times, but

Speaker 2 literally.

Speaker 2 Certain things can only be done during certain weeks. So,

Speaker 2 and I'm trying to think of like the specific one. I want to say, like, the genetic screening.
I think I did Horizon, which is like I found out that I was an AMA carrier, which is

Speaker 2 like if I was to have a child with, I think it was called AMA, SMA,

Speaker 2 something, I think maybe SMA,

Speaker 2 whatever.

Speaker 2 They would be full-time

Speaker 2 around the clock, they would need full-time around-the-clock care if I was to have a baby that had that disorder or that, you know, genetic condition.

Speaker 2 But they could only test very, in a very short window of time for things like that.

Speaker 2 And then, obviously, the gender, I think you can find out just about any time.

Speaker 2 But like the Down syndrome screening, I think, is only during a certain time.

Speaker 2 and so some things i wonder if it was too late for all like for the generic accessories scary for you know any parent right like you're 31 you find out allegedly at 31 weeks and you're just like whether you're going to keep the baby or not what do you even do at that point because like you said i mean moving into a home like you wouldn't even know or have time to like prepare for making things you know handicap accessible or boy you know a nursery and what if it was multiples and she wouldn't have known until after 31.

Speaker 4 I don't know if I could do that. Like

Speaker 3 it could change what I'm like, I don't think our science will have an accident of multiples.

Speaker 3 I know, but like, shit.

Speaker 2 So did the ultrasound tech at least tell you from, because I know also some ultrasound techs are not allowed to like give medical information.

Speaker 2 So she, did she say like things that you should say is normal?

Speaker 4 She was able to give us the gender and that's like before we went she did tell us because she was licensed in it.

Speaker 4 Um, but like to kind of backtrack to the other point of like disconnecting, I was saying she had 10 to 80 years.

Speaker 3 She told us she had 10 fingers, 10 toes. Like, and so we're like, Okay, like cool, all of the limbs are there, and so

Speaker 3 that's it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you're like, we're ready to rock, we're gonna go to Bye-Bye Baby, which unfortunately I cannot believe they have closed because

Speaker 2 we don't have any baby stores now, right? Like, I don't know about Texas.

Speaker 3 I don't know, I don't, we don't go shopping.

Speaker 2 Bye-bye, Baby is done, It closed.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I am going to ask the others closing too.

Speaker 3 So, like, if y'all have another one, where are y'all going to go?

Speaker 3 Another one. The girl dance.

Speaker 3 I think we're one and done.

Speaker 2 Got it. Got it.
Got it. I shouldn't have assumed.
You're right.

Speaker 3 One and done.

Speaker 4 I don't know. Every once in a while, I get a little

Speaker 3 bit of baby flip. And then she punches you in the balls, and you're like,

Speaker 3 okay, we're done.

Speaker 4 She runs this house, so it's up to her.

Speaker 2 Yeah, okay, got it.

Speaker 3 She's been asking, and so we're just like

Speaker 2 girl, a cousin, maybe.

Speaker 3 I'm like, if you, if you just behave, you know, then maybe if you're good, we'll get you a sibling.

Speaker 2 You guys can say what my mom told me. My mom, she told me they have to pray really hard for a baby.
And I was like, okay, cool. Did that for years, never got a sibling, and now I'm traumatized.

Speaker 2 So if you want to go that route, that's always an option.

Speaker 3 Do you know that trying to traumatize, we're trying to not do that.

Speaker 3 I don't know how well we're doing with that because you know, childhood trauma over here is real bad. So, trying to not put that like on her too, yeah, this one's wild.

Speaker 2 Oh my god, but she's an only child, so she she has full rights to be.

Speaker 3 I think between him,

Speaker 4 he like literally just like melts down to every little wish, you know. And I'm the one sitting here, like, oh, I see her little gem and I self over there, okay?

Speaker 3 Like, she's playing you so hard right now.

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 3 because she'll like, she'll be crying, and it's like, I'll pick her up.

Speaker 4 I'm like, it's not a real cry, like, she's literally faking it. It's alligator tears right now, just waiting real ones come out.

Speaker 2 But you're like, I still have to like

Speaker 2 make sure she's good. Exactly.

Speaker 3 Like, when he's like, he'll be sitting here, and I'll pick her up, like on the other side, and her face will be looking at him, and he'll just

Speaker 3 smart and then she'll be like,

Speaker 2 have you seen the TikTok of the mom holding the little boy, and then the dad, or someone's recording it, and he goes, like, this?

Speaker 2 The mom, like, picks him up, and she's, like, cuddling him, and his face is like towards the dad, and he goes like this to the dad.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it's like, oh, that's her, that would be her.

Speaker 4 She is something else, and like, she, like, for example, if we're on TikTok, like scrolling, she'll take your phone and she'll like scroll and pick. And she's like, oh, I like this one.

Speaker 4 And I'm like, you are four years old, you can work our phones better than we can.

Speaker 3 And generally, she's like, hear it because we always have an AirPod in.

Speaker 3 So, like, she won't even be able to hear it. She'll just see it.

Speaker 2 And then that's good enough for her.

Speaker 3 Next thing you know, you're on dog and cat TikTok for a while.

Speaker 2 Your for you page is all about how to feed your dogs, train your dogs, all the things because that's what she's stopping at. So, this all was happening May

Speaker 2 kind of goes into June. She's born in June.
Is that right?

Speaker 3 June 9th.

Speaker 2 Everything is good.

Speaker 3 Three months. So, the day we got married, we got married March 9th.
She was born June 9th. Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I mean, that the stars aligned for that.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 10 You're tuned into auto intelligence live from Auto Trader, where data, tools, and your preferences sync to make your car shopping smooth.

Speaker 11 They're searching inventory. Oh, yeah.
They find what you need. They're going to find it.
They can make a budget for your wallet to help you succeed.

Speaker 11 Pricing's precise and true. So true.
Get smarter car shopping.

Speaker 11 Just for you.

Speaker 10 Oh, it's just for you.

Speaker 10 Find your next ride at autotrader.com, powered by auto intelligence.

Speaker 2 At this point, you're like

Speaker 2 committed to having, you know, this little girl and

Speaker 2 kind of talking to bio mom. And then she's like, gives you the baby at, like, you guys go to the hospital with her.

Speaker 3 Or how does that play out? So, so the

Speaker 4 oh my god, this day, yeah.

Speaker 3 So, it was before, like, before that, we she got when she got her doctor, her doctor was in, like, she worked at like one hospital, and so we called the hospital. The most amazing

Speaker 3 like lady that was over, like, the delivery part of it,

Speaker 3 everything was free for us.

Speaker 3 What they, we got,

Speaker 3 it was,

Speaker 4 it was so amazing

Speaker 4 and for birth mom,

Speaker 4 yeah, like, so so basically, I don't know how everything happened because I know how expensive adoption can be, whether it's private or whether you go through an agency or what have you.

Speaker 4 Like, everything, like,

Speaker 4 I'm a huge believer in everything happens for a reason.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 how expensive birth dad, like, having a child is. Well, yeah.

Speaker 4 But, like, the way everything lined up, I think the most expensive thing was Hartley's Ad Litem attorney.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 3 Which all that came like

Speaker 4 way after. And then, like, even some of there's like an attorney for locating birth dad and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 4 but it's just like

Speaker 4 everything was so affordable, like for us, and that's a huge blessing because too, like, between moving and planning for her in a short, fast period of time and after a very expensive wedding.

Speaker 3 So, it was the

Speaker 3 hospital, like that, that part was just amazing.

Speaker 2 So, we were there, but you had to pay for the attorneys or no?

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah. So, we have to pay for an attorney that does not represent us, represents her only.
Like Hartley. Her best interests.
Are we fit? Like, and

Speaker 4 yes, you're paying for it, but this attorney's like, I don't really like you. Or at least I'm going to pretend.

Speaker 3 But

Speaker 2 the original attorney that you guys, your sister-in-law.

Speaker 2 And then you had,

Speaker 2 how do you, how did you know? Because it kind of everything fell in your lap and wasn't planned. How did you know what attorneys needed to be present? What attorneys needed to be part of this?

Speaker 2 What you needed for Hartley? Like, what did you?

Speaker 3 Because I don't even know how, like, what our attorney told us, and then the court, like, the court assigned

Speaker 3 the other two attorneys that we had to pay for.

Speaker 2 Got it. Okay, so when, when did y'all have to go to the court?

Speaker 3 Like, at what point?

Speaker 3 I ended up being two years later.

Speaker 3 Do you want to skip ahead?

Speaker 4 It took 795 days just to get to court.

Speaker 3 No one asked where you were. To make it an official official adoption,

Speaker 3 no one asked where this child was for two years. No one came.
No one looked. No one called.

Speaker 2 So who was on her birth certificate?

Speaker 4 So we just got that.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, we just got that.

Speaker 4 We could have ran off and sold this child, okay? Like, nobody would have known.

Speaker 3 So, like, are you fucking kidding me? No. Birth mom put

Speaker 3 our last name, like, gave her our last name.

Speaker 3 And then it was just her name. Father was unknown.
So, but there was never like the birth circuits never filed for like nothing, like

Speaker 3 nothing like that.

Speaker 2 So, she didn't exist, essentially, Hartley didn't exist, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you imagine that?

Speaker 2 We could have sold this woman into the abyss and nothing, woman, this child, in this baby, into the abyss, and nobody would have asked for her or come for her or nothing.

Speaker 3 We could have dipped the fuck out.

Speaker 2 That's actually really scary for like it is

Speaker 3 because, like, that goes, we are leaving out one little like important detail.

Speaker 3 Okay, She was born in 2019.

Speaker 3 Okay, so during

Speaker 3 COVID. So COVID was right after.
So that, like, everything just stopped when COVID hit.

Speaker 4 But but we're talking about somebody's life.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
Like that doesn't stop. So like I said,

Speaker 2 my fourth son was born at home. I had him in my bed.

Speaker 3 In your bed? Not did you have a bathtub?

Speaker 2 No, I had a midwife. I had her actually.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 2 She's like, do you want to give birth in the bathtub? And I was like, no, I just want to give birth in my bed.

Speaker 3 I'm tired. Did you put some like dog pad things down?

Speaker 2 A shower curtain.

Speaker 3 No.

Speaker 2 Yeah. So you put a shower curtain and then a sheet over the shower curtain so that it like you just screw it up.

Speaker 3 Yeah. I was literally like picturing you like spreading on

Speaker 4 the Chicago.

Speaker 3 No, it was, I loved it.

Speaker 2 It was incredible. But you would think of more so things happening like that because when I go to doctor appointments now,

Speaker 2 they have no idea that my fourth son exists because he's not on my chart, right?

Speaker 2 Like he's not, if I go to the gyno, if I go to the OB, like he doesn't exist on my medical chart because he was born at home.

Speaker 2 So I would expect something like that to be more, you know, but in a hospital, like I've had several hospital births and you don't have to file for the birth certificate right away, but they do have record of birth.

Speaker 2 So the fact that this hospital had to have some record of birth and nobody came for this child for two years is absolutely insane.

Speaker 4 For anybody like that doesn't know too, like private adoption-wise, it's so different than agency. That we were supposed to have done home checks.

Speaker 4 The home check, she was born in June of 2019.

Speaker 4 It wasn't until 2021 when we went to court over the summer. I think August.

Speaker 4 We didn't have our official home check interview and it was done via Skype.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it was like a month before

Speaker 3 a month or two before

Speaker 3 we went to court and finalized the adoption. We did it over Zoom.
We had to do interviews with the lady, like us together, a separate, and then we walked her around on

Speaker 3 our phone.

Speaker 2 Oh, your phone.

Speaker 4 And I don't even think our attorney was fully the issue per se, but like even Hartley's attorney was like, hell no.

Speaker 3 But like you could have been in anyone's house.

Speaker 2 Like you could have been in any fucking person's house.

Speaker 3 It was so funny because none of this happened until the judge that was like, and for the court that it was in, the judge retired, and a new judge came on and was like,

Speaker 3 why is there an adoption from 2019 sitting here? It's 2021. What?

Speaker 3 She was like, she called our attorney and was like, we are getting this done.

Speaker 4 Like,

Speaker 3 ASAP, this, like, we, this needs to be done.

Speaker 3 Mind me.

Speaker 2 I'm speechless because I thought this was like private adoption, but like there was like levels, right? Like there was like a process.

Speaker 2 I have

Speaker 2 one of my, one of my best girlfriends, her brother and his husband tried to adopt in the state of Nevada. And they were actually at the time, this was years ago.

Speaker 2 I've known them 12 years, so like maybe like six-ish, maybe more years ago. They were telling me about how they tried to go private adoption route and they got scammed.

Speaker 2 Um, that was number one.

Speaker 2 And then, number two, they they could not go through certain agencies because one of the husbands had a traffic violation on his record and was disqualified indefinitely from the state of Nevada to adopt during this period of time.

Speaker 2 And I don't know if it was just because like that period of time or if it was,

Speaker 2 so I was just like, What the fuck? They ended up, um, I think fostering to adopt. So now they have their two kids that were, that are siblings, which is really cool.

Speaker 2 But like, the process to get here was just not,

Speaker 2 it was just nothing you've ever heard of. But this is nothing I've ever heard of.

Speaker 4 I was just, I was baffled because like we used to say all the time, like, we could have sold her already. We could have like, literally, like, I don't know.

Speaker 3 Literally the channel, for God's sake. It would, like, what really sucked was we couldn't do anything.
Yeah. So we wanted to eat her ears for ears while she was a baby.

Speaker 3 We really couldn't do that because we have birth certificates, we couldn't put her in like any kind of daycare.

Speaker 2 Like, we literally just now can put her in daycare because we have to have because you needed the birth certificate and the social security card and whatever else.

Speaker 2 So, what was did you guys even have, like, were you legal guardians at that time, like during this time?

Speaker 3 Well, so it was filed, we didn't have the actual paper,

Speaker 3 okay.

Speaker 4 All we had was an affidavit of mom signing her rights away, yeah.

Speaker 3 So, we had temporary guard, like guardianship, and so we were like, we had like full control of everything and stuff, but it still like until the adoption was finalized.

Speaker 3 So, for two years, someone could have came at any point in time and taken her.

Speaker 2 But, so, what did doctor's appointments and stuff look like? Did you have to contact bio mom for anything?

Speaker 4 No, so like, all right, so they did have a few questions as far as like allergens and stuff like that, and history, like, of asthma or things.

Speaker 4 But as far as like doctor's appointments went, we had to provide them the affidavit, but they wouldn't let us have access to like my chart, for example, because like we use um Texas children's pediatricians.

Speaker 2 I have my chart too, like our doctors here have that.

Speaker 3 Yeah, they wouldn't just, we just got it, yeah, we didn't because

Speaker 3 they wouldn't let us do it until the adoption was finalized, and then um

Speaker 3 when

Speaker 3 they wouldn't let us, the adoption we finalized, and we had to have their certificate.

Speaker 3 Who knows? I took the folder that like a bunch of our papers are in, and they wanted our marriage certificate, like everything.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Do you feel like, did you face any,

Speaker 2 I guess, adversity, like bumps in the road or any blocks in the road because you guys are a gay couple? Like, did you face any of that? Was that part of it?

Speaker 4 We, when we were traveling, like, for example, we went into

Speaker 4 somebody who who worked for an adoption agency in New Orleans.

Speaker 4 I don't know why we were there for somebody's bachelorette party or something.

Speaker 4 And everybody was like, literally, I would not even bother to try because unless y'all are married, being two men, being gay,

Speaker 4 they pretty much all said,

Speaker 4 I know you don't want to hear this, but don't even bother with it. Until y'all are married.

Speaker 4 And everything's done, changed, then start worrying about this process, which is why we knew it was going to take a year to two years.

Speaker 3 Which weirdly met like a lot of people that worked for like cities and like CPS and stuff, like in random places, like traveling random places.

Speaker 3 Like, what is going on? And they're all told.

Speaker 3 I mean, we got it from like our family, too.

Speaker 3 We got a lot of, it's going to be hard for y'all because y'all aren't going to have like that motherly instinct.

Speaker 3 Like, you're not going to know, like, because you're not a mom or a woman or anything like that. And we were like, just kind of like,

Speaker 3 and so, like, when

Speaker 3 I was in, I know, at least me personally, I was in my head, I was like,

Speaker 3 how, like, are we gonna know what's wrong with her? Like, am I gonna bond? Like, am I gonna see her and like love her immediately?

Speaker 2 Because how do other dads do it?

Speaker 3 They do it, everyone's just like, you know, you're not gonna have that because she's and because you're gay, like, or because you're men, and I think because you're gay, okay, yeah, because that changes the way I bond with a child, right?

Speaker 3 Because I'm gay,

Speaker 3 okay.

Speaker 3 I was, I mean, I was so, I was so afraid that, like, it was

Speaker 3 just not going to be like that.

Speaker 4 Obviously, it was, they were off with me.

Speaker 2 Who named Hartley? Who picked the name?

Speaker 4 You did. It was going to be, yeah, I had, I'm like, was so weird about names.
So, like, my maiden name sounds so weird to say, but it started with an H. Okay.
And I changed my last name.

Speaker 3 No, you should have changed yours.

Speaker 3 Your mom turned you trying to stay in the next night. My mom did.

Speaker 4 She was like, no, I think you should change your last name.

Speaker 3 And I'm like, wow, well, this is so stereotypical.

Speaker 4 So we ended up. So, like, this is also what's really weird: is my middle name is Ray, R-A-Y.

Speaker 2 And my middle name is Ray, too, but it's R-A-Y. Are you serious? So we're here.

Speaker 4 Hurley's middle name is Ray, R-A-E.

Speaker 3 My mom's middle name, R-A-E.

Speaker 3 My first name is Raymond.

Speaker 3 What? My first name is Raymond. So it, like, it all

Speaker 3 had the Ray thing going.

Speaker 2 But wait, so

Speaker 2 what's your middle name?

Speaker 4 It's Raymond Christopher.

Speaker 3 But

Speaker 3 I've never gone by Raymond. Like, that's my dad's first name.

Speaker 2 That's my dad's first name, too.

Speaker 3 And it was like his dad's first name. I'm not a third or anything, but I never went by Raymond.
I went by Christopher.

Speaker 2 You don't look like a Raymond at all.

Speaker 3 Unless my dad's trouble that he's a Raymond.

Speaker 3 In like the second grade, I got tired of writing out Christopher. And I started writing Christmas Christmas.
It's really long. Yeah.

Speaker 2 So you just went.

Speaker 3 Like people that have known me since I was a kid will call me a Christopher and my mom will, but I've always gone by Chris.

Speaker 2 The parallels and the names between my baby daddy is Chris and then my middle name is Ray. And then all of the Rays here, my dad's name is Raymond.
The parallels here are insane to me.

Speaker 2 But again, stars are aligning.

Speaker 2 So you were like, Hartley, but where does, because I live in Hartley. The town that I live in is Hartley.

Speaker 4 Are you serious? Yes. Is it spelled the same too? Is it H-E-A-R or H-A-R?

Speaker 2 H-A-R.

Speaker 4 That's Hartley's name.

Speaker 3 That's how we spell her. Because I didn't want it to be like H-E-A-R-T.

Speaker 2 Right, right, because it's like...

Speaker 4 Because I was like, that's so like cliche.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 But no, like, Hartley is so cute but is it l-e-e or l-y

Speaker 2 l-e-y yeah oh okay so the town i live in doesn't have an e it's just

Speaker 3 l-y but i mean still in line

Speaker 3 it's so funny we've never heard of anything hartley and then like movies

Speaker 3 there's like now like always someone like agent hartley you're like there was uh the rock and um and i'm kind of mad about it because i thought it was so unique it is unique you don't let them fool you they're just trying to gaslight you there was one name that we really liked for like the girl yeah but but every single

Speaker 3 person was naming their daughter that and we were like it wasn't

Speaker 3 just knows

Speaker 3 no but that is a very common name brookly or brookly

Speaker 4 brookly by l e i g h yeah no there was it was something along that lines and like literally picking your name is not

Speaker 3 the longest list ever I told him we have to narrow it down sit down top five boys girl narrow it down he's fucking adding names,

Speaker 4 you know, like depends on your mood that day.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's like top five, and then we compare a list and see what's on there, right? And then he was literally looking at

Speaker 4 like fonts, like handwriting fonts.

Speaker 3 I was like, Pinterest,

Speaker 3 and he saw a headset heartly, and he liked the way it was like.

Speaker 4 Well, and then I found out kids don't even write in cursive anymore, so I'm kind of mad.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 he was like, She's gonna write her name so cute. Yeah,

Speaker 3 it's important.

Speaker 4 Like, imagine if she had like an eye in her name, too.

Speaker 3 She could have done a heart or the oh, like, oh, that would have been cute.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that would have been so cute.

Speaker 3 So,

Speaker 3 Hartley Ray is the full name.

Speaker 2 Hartley Ray is so pretty. I'm partial to that because of all the parallels.

Speaker 2 So, BioMom didn't care that you guys wanted to name, like, she gave y'all full reins, but gave her y'all's last name.

Speaker 3 On the birth of, yeah, which she surprised us with that, yeah, because

Speaker 4 like we I thought we were expecting her to give her

Speaker 3 her last name until like the process and all that and we didn't even know that was an option and she gave she that was her choice she told us like in the hospital like the day because she decided to not stay the like two days.

Speaker 4 She left after one day and and at first she didn't want to meet her.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 4 But then the last day before she left, she was like, can I? And I was like, yes. We were so scared.

Speaker 4 Like that was, it was emotion-filled, but I thought it was too important for her.

Speaker 3 We had like the right thing to do. We were scared that she wasn't wanting to see her.

Speaker 3 Oh,

Speaker 2 you weren't scared that she was going to keep her. You were scared that she wasn't wanting to see her.

Speaker 3 If she left without seeing her, we were scared that

Speaker 4 she was going to want to change her mind. And then, so, like, she brought her a stuffed animal, which we put away for her, and a letter.

Speaker 4 And I'm going to start crying.

Speaker 3 I cry on the spotcuffs every time.

Speaker 2 That was my boss.

Speaker 3 She held her, and she held her, and her

Speaker 4 birth grandmother.

Speaker 4 Um, can you just take over for a second?

Speaker 3 I gotta get it together.

Speaker 3 Birth mom's mom held there too. Like, they came and held her.
So, our friend called because our friend stayed. The one that made the whole thing happen, she stayed with her.

Speaker 3 And she was like, She wants to see her. And we were, she was like, Can I come to your room? And we were like, Yeah.

Speaker 3 And so she came down and we were like, Please, like, we want her to at least see her. She doesn't have to hold her, but at least so she

Speaker 3 didn't, you know, she wanted and what they what happened last push. We were standing outside the door.
They cut the cord, anything out. They didn't clean her, nothing like immediately out.

Speaker 3 We were in the,

Speaker 3 we were, we didn't stay there, but we were in the room right next door. So we were standing outside of the room, so we heard her first cry.

Speaker 4 The nurse that was in in charge for that shift. Sorry, I'm so cracking.

Speaker 4 Came to our room.

Speaker 3 She said, can y'all come outside, please and immediately

Speaker 3 and i was like she changed your mind she's born she changed her mind because they're like she the lady just said yeah she just said can you please come outside you just rented straight to the negative stuff yeah

Speaker 3 i'm the same way

Speaker 3 like i just want to be

Speaker 3 prepared

Speaker 2 you're happy

Speaker 2 it's more like realism right like you're not being a pessimist it's like you want to prepare yourself for the bad stuff right like but she just wanted to hear you she wanted you to hear her cry, not because she was like wanting to take her daughter back.

Speaker 2 Okay. So, did BioMom know it was a girl when she gave birth?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 I think she, I

Speaker 3 well, we don't, we never told her.

Speaker 2 She didn't, she told us she didn't want to know to know, but she may have found out at some point. But she had to know that.

Speaker 3 She found out because she ended up knowing, she ended up texting us about the name. Like when we chose the name, like she liked it.
So I think she might have asked someone. Like, okay.

Speaker 3 Because her mom was in when we found out the

Speaker 4 moment was in there, some topics she would go through her friend to ask us about. Like, I think she felt more comfortable talking to our mutual friend.

Speaker 4 Um, and so which I mean, like, it's totally okay.

Speaker 4 So, like, I want to say we asked her in regards to if she wants to know, then you can tell her, like, we don't mind.

Speaker 9 These quarantine kids

Speaker 3 are not okay.

Speaker 2 I have one. I have one.

Speaker 3 I thought only boys jumped off shit.

Speaker 2 Oh, no, especially if they're born in quarantine. Your daughter is probably unhinged.
Oh,

Speaker 3 like literally she can get in the top flies off things. Like, does not care.

Speaker 2 She's also an only child, so she, her imagination is just flourishing, you know? Like, she.

Speaker 3 Louis does not help that situation, okay?

Speaker 2 I was an only child, so I had to do all of the things like on my own. So, I mean, I was a child, too.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 2 yeah, you get it. Like, you have to just use your imagination and hope for the best.

Speaker 3 We're perfect and amazing, and absolutely no trauma whatsoever. Obviously,

Speaker 3 no trauma. No trauma.

Speaker 2 You've never heard that word, don't know what that is, just know millions have it.

Speaker 3 That's so read one day.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I've read that one time too. I don't know where, but so, okay, so you have bio mom, she does finally meet her, and then

Speaker 2 she leaves a hospital. And then, did you ever see her again?

Speaker 3 We've we've um we've we've heard from her. So we

Speaker 3 um we told her that we would leave her like on like we would let her like be on our friends on Facebook so she can see pictures. Um if she wanted to look at them.

Speaker 3 Um but mind you, this was like pre-us

Speaker 3 being on social media or like do just like Facebook, like normal Facebook. Oh wow.

Speaker 2 So you were having a baby and starting your small

Speaker 3 we started after. Yeah.
It was after. So we didn't start until 2020.

Speaker 2 Okay, right. Well, that's when

Speaker 2 I started 20.

Speaker 3 It was like when lockdown happened is when we started the shop.

Speaker 2 Which actually works out right. Because then you guys had like

Speaker 2 time to like build your whole thing and people weren't even.

Speaker 3 It wasn't supposed to be.

Speaker 4 This was supposed to be a hobby.

Speaker 3 Like this was.

Speaker 2 And then it became a full-time job.

Speaker 3 Yeah, now it is. It was, it was his thing.
He started it like, because I was going to an office.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 4 And I was stuck at home. Like, I mean, I still work in real estate and I still did back then, but it was like real estate.
I can work from home. I can work anywhere unless I have to show houses.

Speaker 4 So, like, with her, I was like, I'm bored. We got, what, like, every two hours we have to take a nap with newborn and

Speaker 4 like, you know, like her schedule, like, there was just so much downtime. And she, like, between like feedings and things that, you know, you, you know how to raise a kid.

Speaker 3 And she had all those cute outfits. She couldn't go anywhere.

Speaker 4 And so we started like, you're like, what the fuck?

Speaker 4 This girl had more shoes than most women out there.

Speaker 2 And you're like, where is she going? Yeah. She's not going nowhere.

Speaker 4 Where is she walking? She ain't gonna walk.

Speaker 3 She don't go anywhere. So he started having her rep for like different bow companies.
And then he was like, I don't really think I could do this.

Speaker 4 And I was like, I'm bored. Like, instead of just taking photos of her, I can make them too.

Speaker 4 And then I started pricing out the yardage of fabric versus how many bows I could get out of it.

Speaker 4 And I was like, okay, real estate-minded business person here, and let's go ahead and start just making them.

Speaker 3 So we started all the time.

Speaker 3 And then quarantine happened. So then I was home.

Speaker 3 And I was like, well, I'll

Speaker 3 ship the stuff for you. Like, I used to do shipping.
I was like, I'll package them and ship them out for you, like, print labels and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 And then it was all of like, because we had like people that rep for us. And then all of them wanted

Speaker 3 shirts.

Speaker 4 Yeah, we came up with a little plan

Speaker 4 to try to talk Chris into like, you know, making matching shirts for the boats.

Speaker 4 Then mommy and me or Minnie and me.

Speaker 2 Were you on board? Or you were like, no.

Speaker 3 Oh, no, oh, no.

Speaker 3 I didn't know anything about making shirts or anything like that. I, one of my really good friends, she makes shirts, and I was like, call her.
We'll buy them from her.

Speaker 3 See if we're going to work out, go to whatever. She is a full-time job, multiple kids.
Like, she had two kids within like a year. Like, they're.

Speaker 2 Sounds like me.

Speaker 3 Like, real quick. Wait, did you say multiple kids a year? Well, like, any year.
Well, because like she got,

Speaker 3 she was, I don't know, the one, the other one, first one wasn't even a year old when she had the other ever got pregnant. That's me, that's literally me right now.

Speaker 3 Yeah, no, they're not, okay, but whatever, besides the point, um, I was like, she like, see if she'll do it, and she was like, I'm good where my shirt part is, and she didn't really do kids like that much.

Speaker 3 She was like, I'm good where, like, I'm at, I can't really do anymore. And I was like,

Speaker 3 I was like, yeah, buddy.

Speaker 2 Like, we get to take this on all by ourselves.

Speaker 3 When I do something, I don't have that shit. I'm like, we're buying everything.

Speaker 3 We're doing the good shit. We ain't doing no vinyl.
I hate fucking reading vinyl. I'm not doing none of that.
Like, if we're going to do it, we're going to do it.

Speaker 4 But I remember the day asking him, I was like, how do we get the stuff? Like, when you go buy a shirt from Walmart? I was like, I want like that kind of like sticky quality.

Speaker 4 I don't want vinyl where it peels off. Right.
And then we've discovered sublimation. Yeah.

Speaker 3 It was a lot of like YouTubing and Googling because at the time, for like what we do for the search and stuff, you couldn't find the shit like on YouTube or on Facebook.

Speaker 3 There were no groups, it was trial and error. Well, because, like, is this

Speaker 2 screen printed?

Speaker 3 No, so it's that's called sublimation. So, it's uh ink that when you press it with the high heat, it turns into a gas, and that actually bonds to the fibers in there.

Speaker 3 So, that shit's in there, like swimwear. So, it's kind of like it ain't coming off, like it's not on top of the fabric, it's in the actual fibers.
Yeah, that's why I thought

Speaker 3 so.

Speaker 2 screen printing is not

Speaker 3 this.

Speaker 4 So, yeah, a screen print would be like

Speaker 3 two cuts of screen and like scrape it. Yeah, it's like got it.

Speaker 3 Or we buy them like where it's on the paper, too. So, then you don't have to like

Speaker 3 because we can't print, we can't print white, like, so, like, say that, or like this color, we can't put it on without bleaching because you wouldn't see it because it goes into the fabric, not on top of it.

Speaker 3 Okay. And so, with like the other screen prints, we can have ones where we just put it so it's on top so it doesn't have to be bleached.

Speaker 3 But we started out just bleaching because that's what like the moms wanted. So, I just went in our closet and I grabbed a bunch of shit, old shirts.

Speaker 3 I threw them outside and I just sprayed bleach on them. And I looked, God, they were horrible too.
I looked to see what would bleach, what wouldn't.

Speaker 3 Um, we were getting like shirts at Walmart at first, um, like the kids' shirts, and just trying them out, like, trying. It took a while, like, till our our first, like, successful shirt came out.

Speaker 4 It looked like garbage.

Speaker 3 And it was, and I was like, yeah,

Speaker 2 that's it. That's the one.

Speaker 3 So then we did a, we did a Tiger King, was our first drop. And it,

Speaker 4 we were so blown away because we were like, okay, hon, now, like, looking backwards, compared to like what we do in a day now, sells to then,

Speaker 4 we thought we were on cloud nine.

Speaker 3 Like, we did like 700 cells like that weekend, and we were like, oh my God, you did it! We just did the damn thing, and now it's like that's

Speaker 3 full-time, yeah, taken off, yeah.

Speaker 3 And so then it was just going to be for the kids. Well, then the mom's like, I want matching.
Well, so I'm like searching, looking for designs for the shirts. Well, I'm like, oh, I want that.

Speaker 3 I want that. So I bought hundreds of dollars worth of designs for like to make us shirts.

Speaker 2 Because you have to wear your own product. If you don't use your own product, people are not going to buy it.

Speaker 3 You know, I wasn't planning on releasing them. It was just for us personally.

Speaker 4 Oh, like, because we weren't, we again, it was just because, like, back then, it was, we did coordinated drops, which I don't do drops anymore because

Speaker 4 I'm fucking tired.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 4 She's a lot to keep up with.

Speaker 3 So, oh, you don't have her on payroll yet?

Speaker 2 She's not like doing the work.

Speaker 3 She can learn how to fold shirts, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 She likes to try, and I'll like let her help, and then she gets like feisty, and then she starts throwing things at me, like scissors.

Speaker 2 Oh, okay, so sounds like my kids.

Speaker 3 Awesome, love that for y'all.

Speaker 2 Chuck the scissors, it's fine.

Speaker 3 Yeah, so he would like have like themes,

Speaker 3 and so but I was just throwing receptors personally.

Speaker 4 That I was like, like, I bought a lot of shit between our guest room and

Speaker 4 storage in our office. it's a Joanne's fabrics in here.

Speaker 3 Yes, like it

Speaker 3 loaded. Like, we just quickly ran out of room.

Speaker 3 But I was like, let's, I think we're gonna have to release some adults, like some shit for not kids, because I have like all of these and we gotta make them this money back.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and so we released, uh, we called it Chris Has No Control because my name's Chris and I have no control when it came to buy designs.

Speaker 3 And so we started doing adults, and then it just took off from there. And then we did, we started TikTok.

Speaker 3 I loved it.

Speaker 2 I love that TikTok took off for you guys because I love seeing people. Like, it's so interesting to me how people are able to

Speaker 2 make a living off of social media. And I love that because I just feel like

Speaker 2 nobody wants to go clock in somewhere and clock out. And I'm not saying that those jobs are not good, but there are people who, those lifestyles just don't work for some people.

Speaker 2 And TikTok, you know, TikTok and other social media gives, you know, people options, I feel.

Speaker 3 and I think like so.

Speaker 4 Like when we finally switched over to TikTok, like we said, we had started on Facebook and like had a VIP group because of all the brain revving and stuff.

Speaker 3 And we like 10,000 people in it when we started TikTok.

Speaker 4 So we had 10,000 on Facebook and was growing our public page because like everybody had groups. And I was like, y'all, I think y'all are missing a disconnect here.

Speaker 4 Like, y'all need a public page so that way you can post to your groups, but also you're a business, so you want to reach out to other people.

Speaker 4 And growing that, and then some dram happened.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 4 finally, I just like after all of that, going to TikTok and discovering like this whole new world, um,

Speaker 3 but it took it took a while. Like,

Speaker 3 we got to a thousand, and then we could start going live, so then it was like live every night, and then we got to five and then ten,

Speaker 3 and then we like we would grow like in spurts, but we just hit 100K

Speaker 4 in January of this year.

Speaker 2 On TikTok.

Speaker 3 Sorry, the traffic out here is crazy. Now we're at like 170.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I saw that. I was like, well, that's incredible.
I love that because people need to buy your stuff. These are so cute.
I agree. And people need to buy your stuff.

Speaker 4 Which designs do you want?

Speaker 2 What do I want? I don't, no. don't do that to me

Speaker 3 i want my friends ask me like if i want something you don't even have to post or anything weird like that.

Speaker 2 No, but I don't, I feel so bad. Like, I'd rather just buy it to support you guys.

Speaker 3 You know what I mean? Well, so, like, I like one, I didn't want, I didn't send them, like, just because, like, to send them for free or whatever.

Speaker 3 I wanted, if we talk about the shop, I wanted you to actually see.

Speaker 2 Of course, we're going to talk.

Speaker 3 The whole

Speaker 2 people don't understand about, I did a whole post on this, and I think I mentioned it before in another episode, but like podcasting is supposed to be mutual, but mutually beneficial, right?

Speaker 2 So, like, you come on my podcast, tell me your story about adoption or whatever, but also get to share your TikTok shop or your small shop because that's the benefit to you guys, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 So, of course, you're going to talk about it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, well, I commented on it. No, he commented.
That's when you asked us to be on the podcast, it was that video.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah, because I don't understand, like, and I don't know if you guys have like management, but these management companies, they get these viral TikTok creators,

Speaker 2 which is great. I think they, you know, you should have someone represent you for contracts and stuff, you know,

Speaker 2 don't want their clients to do podcasting because it's not paid.

Speaker 2 But I'm like, okay, one, exposure, and two, you should still be doing your due diligence as a manager or an agent to tell your client that they have these opportunities and give them the option to do it or not do it, whether it's paid or not.

Speaker 2 And I'm just like, podcasting in general is typically not paid. So I just didn't understand.

Speaker 2 Like, I had to go down this thing because there are a lot of TikTok creators who don't realize how big a podcasting opportunity could be for them.

Speaker 2 And they're turning them down simply because they're not paid. And it just is so.

Speaker 4 When I saw that video, I immediately was like, literally this. This is the exact reason why I don't trust some of these management companies because of the fact that it's not always about the dollar.

Speaker 4 Right. Sometimes it's just getting your name out there or making friendship or building a community of people.

Speaker 2 That's a connection.

Speaker 3 You never know. And that's what people don't think of.
Like, you could go on a podcast and hit it off of that person and then you can collab, and then that could be the next thing. Like, 100% blow up.

Speaker 3 Like, it could be amazing. And we get emailed all the time about like management companies.
We don't trust anyone. So we're like, you're a scam.
So we just don't respond.

Speaker 3 So we don't have like really management companies like reaching out to us and we're like, you have a link. I'm not clicking that.
You're not stealing my shit.

Speaker 2 I'm like,

Speaker 4 you didn't spell your aiming right or something like that.

Speaker 2 There are some misspellings. I will definitely say have like Kristen will field them all for me.
Well, she like does that.

Speaker 2 and um, she knows like how to point out like a scam versus like a real opportunity. But it's funny because, um, I have definitely like pushed.
I'm like, this is this sounds like really cool.

Speaker 2 This sounds really cool. And she's like, Kayl, that's a scam.
And I'm like, but it doesn't, but it sounds good. And she's like, but it's a scam.

Speaker 3 And I'm like, yeah, but it sounds good. But it sounds good.
She's like, you see this?

Speaker 4 She's like, I already gave them my password, my banking, but what are you talking about?

Speaker 2 I already signed up for everything in this email. What do you mean it's a scam?

Speaker 3 I can't, I just painted them. Like, we're, we're signed a contract.

Speaker 2 our life no but that happened to me that I got um I went to you're talking about being in Punta Cana yeah like not that long ago um

Speaker 2 I went to Punta Cana and I I got scammed into doing this like

Speaker 2 um

Speaker 2 where like you pay monthly and then you're supposed to get like all these perks and like be able to like go to all these things right it's like

Speaker 2 sort of like a timeshare, but not a timeshare. It was just for like the resorts.
And I shit you not was paying paying thousands of dollars. I think it was like $4,000 a month.

Speaker 2 And I tried to book like another vacation at like another one of their resorts. And none, nothing of what I paid or any type of point system was put into, like it did not qualify.

Speaker 2 So like there was no, there was absolutely no perks of whatever. I have no idea where my money went.
I paid probably six or eight months of this. And Kristen was like, that was a scam.

Speaker 2 Like I tried to tell you and you didn't fucking listen.

Speaker 2 And that's why those are the reasons why you should have managers because you're like, okay, but if you think everything's a scam, then then it works out.

Speaker 3 You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Oh, I needed to tell you guys this.

Speaker 3 I meant to tell you.

Speaker 2 We were talking about the adoption and all of this and like making it legitimate.

Speaker 2 I have a friend from Texas. She lives in Texas.
And she

Speaker 2 and her ex-wife

Speaker 2 got essentially some random guy to come over to their house,

Speaker 2 go in a cup, and then they did turkey baser.

Speaker 3 Uh-huh.

Speaker 3 That was a good idea. But I don't think there's any

Speaker 2 legal paperwork. I don't think there is, like,

Speaker 2 he's obviously not on the birth certificate, like, things like that. But, like, I wonder, just because you guys are men, obviously, so one of you didn't birth your daughter, like

Speaker 2 how much different,

Speaker 2 and I don't want to say easier hers was than yours, but like, she didn't have to wait for any of that stuff that you had to wait for.

Speaker 4 So, like, one of her friends, she was a surrogate for actually a huge TikToker that his wife just recently passed.

Speaker 4 She,

Speaker 4 of course, everyone was surrogate, and then they're like, okay, now I'm done. No more.
And I'm like, God, like,

Speaker 4 what if we just need a sample?

Speaker 3 Literally, like, the people that we would want to surrogate, but like, you would never think about asking. Then we found out, like, they were, there was two people.

Speaker 3 We found out they were pregnant, like, surrogating. One was for a gay couple.
And we were like, bitch, where were you? Yeah.

Speaker 3 It is easier.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it is easier.

Speaker 3 We were friends with a lesbian couple that they did the same thing almost they had it way easier than we did, but they did it through

Speaker 3 like a website. They got mailed.
It was like frozen.

Speaker 4 It came in like a spaceship pod, like

Speaker 4 nitrogen. Like dry ice.
Yeah, dry eyes. Like it came in all fancy and everything.
And then I don't know what they did behind the scenes. They tried doing it themselves first

Speaker 4 and they weren't successful. And they're like, okay, now this is getting a little expensive.
So we're just going to go.

Speaker 3 So they just had to send to the doctor and the doctor did

Speaker 3 But they their their process was way easier.

Speaker 2 Yeah, one of my one of my girlfriends, she she's pregnant with her second, but I think she used the same sperm from a sperm bank. And I think a doctor did it.

Speaker 2 But just like my girlfriend from Texas that did it, it was just so because I had so many questions. I had her on Coffee Combos podcast years ago.

Speaker 2 And I was just so fascinated because I was like, what about like, kind of how you guys were talking about like the genetic testing and stuff.

Speaker 2 If you do just meet somebody off Facebook and you're like, okay, can you

Speaker 2 go in this cup for me and then exit on the way out? And then, what about like the testing and stuff? Like, you don't know any of their background, you don't know anything.

Speaker 4 I, so, like, I was thinking about this yesterday. I don't, I have random thoughts every once in a while that, like, you know, I go into the spiral.

Speaker 4 But, so, like, I was, I'm a gold star, is what they call it.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, I know what that is. My ex-girlfriend was.

Speaker 4 I always say five stars, but for some reason, I don't know why.

Speaker 3 Because I'm told it's not five stars.

Speaker 4 So, I was like, but who would do it?

Speaker 3 And I was like, okay, a turkey baster doesn't seem efficient. So like

Speaker 3 for this to come up.

Speaker 4 And then I'm sitting there and I'm like, but what if they got something that I then can track or we pass on or he contracts?

Speaker 3 Right.

Speaker 3 I'm not a gold star. I've had my turn.
I don't, I will not do that.

Speaker 2 You were like, that's not the route we want to go.

Speaker 3 Yeah. No.
Not

Speaker 3 at all. But

Speaker 3 it's completely different. And that's like a lot of people.
I feel like our friends had a hard time or didn't really understand

Speaker 3 for two years.

Speaker 3 And like with COVID and stuff, her pediatrician. Oh, we lost a lot of her pediatrician was like, if you do not have to leave the house, do not leave the house.

Speaker 3 If she does not have to go to daycare, if she does not have to go anywhere, she does not leave your house. And so we're like, okay.

Speaker 3 Well, that was like two years.

Speaker 4 If something happened, if she got sick or something, and not having, not having had the home check or at least like any of the court dates set up or in range.

Speaker 3 We had no one that we could ask.

Speaker 4 Right. And it was kind of like this whole:

Speaker 4 do we jeopardize it for one good time with our friends? Or do we focus on what we chose to be as parents?

Speaker 4 And it kind of like boiled down to: if you don't get it, you don't understand it and you don't want to understand it or hear my side because you're mad I didn't show up to one event or two events until this life

Speaker 3 signed. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Because people didn't realize at any point during that time, someone could have came and took her.

Speaker 2 Just like swooped her right from out underneath of you.

Speaker 3 And we were so afraid of, they could have been like,

Speaker 3 your pediatrician told you not to take her anywhere. You took her somewhere.
She got sick. You didn't listen.
She's gone.

Speaker 3 It might be super paranoid or whatever, but we were not going to risk it. There was nothing that was worth having

Speaker 3 a good time for. There was nothing that was worth going to.

Speaker 2 That's something that I think some, you know, same-sex couples, women, you know, because they're able to birth them on their own, if it's through a sperm bank or a sperm donor on Facebook or wherever.

Speaker 2 Like, so it is biologically half, you know, usually half theirs or, or, you know, an egg or whatever, but

Speaker 2 they don't have that same

Speaker 3 struggle.

Speaker 2 So the challenges may be very different, but also, you know,

Speaker 2 obviously some things may be similar, but that one I think was very different from the experience that you guys talked about compared to what she had told us.

Speaker 2 But it was just so interesting because it's like,

Speaker 2 I didn't,

Speaker 2 I just didn't even think that that was possible for them to have been able to come and swoop right out under, you know, swoop your daughter right out from under you. That's so insane to me.

Speaker 2 But I had to tell you about her Facebook donor.

Speaker 2 um because that i'm sure that happens way more often than people know you know what i mean oh yeah did i mean so did you meet a lot of people in this like community of same-sex parents like have you guys met other people the the people that we talked about before like we knew like we've known before on tick tock i think well

Speaker 2 rashonda and lacondra stop i went down that rabbit hole today i was getting my car cleaned out went through the car wash and i one of my favorite creators, also gay, I love him.

Speaker 2 He had like, um, it was like 200,000 likes on this video. And I'm like, okay, what is this? Because, like, I follow him, but like, he doesn't typically get that many likes.

Speaker 2 So, let me see what's going on. LaShawn Dra and Ray Shawn Dra, whatever.

Speaker 2 I went down the fucking rabbit hole, and I was like, there's more tea than fucking teen moms.

Speaker 4 And now they're bringing out receipts and like, oh, it's deep.

Speaker 2 That teen.

Speaker 2 No, I have so fear.

Speaker 3 Like,

Speaker 3 what the fuck? You're like, we love them. Like, we followed them.

Speaker 4 And, like, they were the first, I think, same-sex couple that I even found on the app.

Speaker 3 Yeah, like, with kids.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Because most of them, like, a lot of people that we follow that are same-sex couples or married or what have you,

Speaker 4 they don't, a lot of them don't have kids. And I'm like, wow, y'all are living a fancy lifestyle.

Speaker 2 I don't even think I, like, I've been in Delaware for 10 years.

Speaker 2 This year will be 10 years. And I don't think off the top of my head, there, I don't have gay friends here.
All my gay friends are not in Delaware.

Speaker 3 We don't have gay friends. Like,

Speaker 3 well, I do.

Speaker 3 If you've not seen it, I don't leave the house. Unless it's for the first time.
I don't leave the house.

Speaker 2 My office in my house. That's it.

Speaker 3 Yeah. That's it.

Speaker 4 Like, she's, she's full time and then works. So it's like.

Speaker 3 COVID totally ruined me. Like, I was a complete,

Speaker 4 complete, like, you could not keep me in the house.

Speaker 3 I was an extrovert. Like, I would go anywhere.
I would act an ass anywhere. I would talk to anyone.
Like, I would do anything. It was pack a bag.
Let's fucking go all the time.

Speaker 2 I think that's awesome.

Speaker 3 Now, COVID, now, yeah. I don't want to talk to anyone.
Same. I don't want to go see you.
I don't go to the grocery store. I'm sure you're here.

Speaker 2 I mean, in DoorDash, Instagram.

Speaker 4 The only time I go to the grocery store is just to get a break. So I purposely forget something almost every day.

Speaker 3 Like, I have to get out of the house five minutes. Don't talk about like HB delivers now.
Like, we look, let's go there. That's one of the things we do.

Speaker 3 Like anytime we have a video that gets, because we've never, like, we say we've never gone viral because we've never had a video hit a million views.

Speaker 3 But anytime we have a video get a bunch of attention and we get a bunch of orders, we always take like a day and we take her and we'll because she loves it.

Speaker 3 She hates it.

Speaker 3 I don't like the grocery store. I don't like going to the grocery store.
We'll go to H-V.

Speaker 3 That's our day.

Speaker 3 You've been to an H-EV because you have family here, don't you?

Speaker 2 I've been to an H-EV, but we don't have them here.

Speaker 3 I do have family there. Yeah.
Not in Houston, though.

Speaker 2 I've never been to Houston.

Speaker 3 Well, HEVs are all pretty much the same now. Yeah.
But they're all big. And so they're cool.
Like, we've both worked at H-EV before. So, like, we, she loves going.

Speaker 3 And so we'll go, but we'll spend like a thousand dollars because I'm

Speaker 3 like at the grocery store. Oh,

Speaker 4 um, in this, in this economy,

Speaker 4 taking him and her is literally two grocery carts.

Speaker 3 And I'm like, why

Speaker 2 the fact that you guys are talking about HEB, like mothers talk about Target, is just a

Speaker 2 little unhinged. Like, I

Speaker 2 well, it's H-E-B, and HEB wasn't a thousand.

Speaker 3 Target was a thousand.

Speaker 3 I was a Target girly. Like, the first, well, we took her for the first time.

Speaker 4 Are you not a Target girly?

Speaker 2 I'll go like to go, but like, I don't seek Target out ever.

Speaker 3 So, like, I love Target,

Speaker 4 but I feel like Target's gotten really expensive.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Target is just really far out of the way from where I am. So if I go, I do spend a lot of money usually, but I don't, I go very few and far between.

Speaker 4 Where's your favorite place to shop?

Speaker 3 Online.

Speaker 3 She's like, I don't like to leave the house. I don't like to leave the house.
We're not buying what?

Speaker 3 We're not buying shirts because we're just going to make shirts. We only wear the shirt we make.

Speaker 2 For what? Exactly.

Speaker 3 And period.

Speaker 4 That's how it should be. If you're not going to wear your shit, who else does it? Well, that's why I've I've created a backup so I don't always have to wear the girl down.

Speaker 4 Sometimes I want to wear a button-up, something with buttons.

Speaker 2 But maybe just put like one of your tees under a button-up or a flannel.

Speaker 4 So that's what I that's what I started doing. Otherwise, I get in trouble.

Speaker 3 So I kind of play this here for like months.

Speaker 2 Wait, did you say that you did a drop that was like Chris loses control or something?

Speaker 3 That's what it used to be called was like, oh, so you guys don't have, because I'll send one to my baby dad since that's his name. Well, it doesn't say that, like, it just that's just what we call it.

Speaker 3 It was a collection, that was what it was called, right? Now it's just an everyday thing.

Speaker 4 Now, what size is he?

Speaker 3 He's a medium.

Speaker 4 We'll design something.

Speaker 4 I'm like, I'm in my head going, don't be nosy, move the fuck on.

Speaker 2 No, it's that my third and fourth son's dad.

Speaker 9 But isn't that the

Speaker 3 bad one? This is is recording, okay? Yeah, but we're fine. Not on our end, on their end.

Speaker 2 Isn't that the bad one? Yeah, but you know what? Yeah, it was bad, but like also, it's fine now. Like it's like we're good now.

Speaker 2 We're not good. We still only communicate via email, but we're civil.

Speaker 3 That's it.

Speaker 2 So small, small steps, right? Like small.

Speaker 3 Small steps.

Speaker 2 For those of the listeners who don't know where to find you, where can they find your shop, your Instagram, your TikTok, whatever you want to plug?

Speaker 3 So everything, every social media is the girl dads, the girl, singular. Girl, because there's one girl, dads, plural with an S because there's two, because we're a key.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 the website is thegirldadshop.com. But you can also go to thegirldads.com and it'll, you can get to it from there.
Every social media platform, it's the same.

Speaker 3 Username everywhere.

Speaker 4 And if you see, if you do it on Facebook and you try to join the VIP group, please answer all the questions because I'm tired of declining them all.

Speaker 3 You don't have to go to the VIP group. We don't really do much of that anymore.

Speaker 3 You go to Pages, it's there. So, if you go to our TikTok, there's a link in our bio and it has everything linked there, our Amazon storefront, like all that stuff.
Perfect.

Speaker 2 Well, I hope you get a ton of sales after this podcast episode airs. I hope that you guys get a viral video also because you all deserve that.
And

Speaker 2 thank you so much for coming on Barely Famous and also rescheduling.