Little Love by PeaTree

Our first collection, “Little Love” by PeaTree

Little Love by PeaTree

Emma is pregnant….with her brother’s baby. This was Uncle Brian’s favorite way to share that Aunt Emma was a surrogate to Uncle Rafael’s baby. 10 years ago, Uncle Raf & his partner Steve, started the journey of adding a child to their family. As same sex partners, the options were limited and the requirements were difficult. Raf & Steve found a surrogate in the most unexpected place - family. Aunt Emma, nominated herself as the oven to their future bun in the oven. By this accomplishment she would now be deemed Nina Emma, because what better gift to give than life itself. A sister was carrying her brother’s child that was the product of an egg donor, Steve’s sperm and a petri dish, we pronounce it as PeaTree.

Emma’s gift of surrogacy has been one of the purest forms of love our family has witnessed. By being Olivia’s surrogate, she was able to give her brother the gift of being a parent. This is unconditional love not constricted by distance or beliefs. Love is Love. We truly believe that science & love made Olivia possible. Emma’s body accepted IVF on the first try, unheard of! This can only be explained by the miracles of science complemented by our family’s overwhelming love. Untethered by societal norms, our family could not be more happy to welcome Olivia into this world 9 months later.

Jessica and Rafael were close in age growing up, with more of a sibling dynamic. It was natural for her to be involved with the baby shower. In preparing for the shower, it was difficult to find any décor or gifts that were signs of an all-inclusive love. She would have to custom order a sign that said “Welcome new Dad & Papa.” Similar to Sami, she was disappointed in the heteronormative shopping experience because it brought to light an issue we had not experienced before.

Shopping for this new baby was all Sami could think about. At the time, she was living in London on a student’s budget and would browse all the window displays. Infant wear often read “Mommy’s Angel,” “Daddy’s Princess,” and other heteronormative sayings. We were raised with the belief that all families are created equal because they come in all different forms: two dads, two moms, one dad, one mom, adoption, surrogacy. Sami was standing at a baby store, with nothing to buy that represented the labor of love that brought Olivia into this world. Sami continued to search, thinking European stores may have a more progressive assortment...nothing. She even tried searching on Etsy but nothing. She simply wanted to buy a sustainable onesie for a baby with two daddies, that was preferably made locally and of sustainable organic cotton.

Combining our experiences as sisters, we decided to start a brand for our community, by our community. We see so much opportunity to represent the LGBTQA community, our LatinX community and our community of good human beings. We dedicated this collection, “Little Love” by Peatree to our amazing family who made Olivia real.