Monday, December 17, 2018

Circumstances Regarding River Theodore's Birth (In José's Own Words)

José still contributes an article every week to the Journal de Montreal (about hockey.) But he submitted a special one on Saturday, about River's arrival.

The article is found here: https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/12/15/une-petite-fille-en-cadeau?fbclid=IwAR3bUMX-V5HGnx5cVpRB8UXtC7JjvIVMy1gok_J9upE4rvMKLHIaERMEgGA

Une petite fille en cadeau

A little girl as a gift

Like every year, the whole family was waiting for us in Montreal for the holidays, but we foiled their plans and stayed in Florida since my wife, Stéphanie, and I, are the new parents of a beautiful little girl of 8 pounds, River, who was born to a surrogate mother, Tuesday in Orlando at 5:36 in the biggest secrecy.

Nobody was aware of our project, not even my sister-in-law, Véronique Cloutier, who heard the news after the birth and announced it Thursday, on her radio show, Véronique and Les Fantastiques, at Rouge FM . When told that we would not be there for our annual gift exchange, we turned the camera to River and told her that the family had grown.

She could not believe it. Keeping this secret for months was very difficult, but we did not want to worry anyone. We announced the news in a different way to each person in the family, and it was a great joy each time.

The baby is in perfect health, and we are starting a new stage of our life. I am on a cloud. Now that I'm retired from hockey, I will be able to be a more present father and even change diapers.

Why a surrogate?

Stéphanie and I have always wanted to be a family of four. Unfortunately, we lost our second child, our little boy, Chace, in August 2009. He was only two months old, and it was very difficult for us. No parent should have to live this.

We had our little girl, Romi, and we thought we would love her and we would do everything for her. We were going to be a family of three.

When we arrived in Florida in 2011, we discussed the possibility of having another child. However, Stéphanie's two pregnancies had been difficult and since she is diabetic, we did not want to compromise her health, and the idea of using a surrogate mother was appealing.

Our daughter, Romi, was only eight years old and as we wanted to make this decision with her agreement, so we waited. We did not want her to feel threatened, but today, at age 12, she is ready.

When we told her about our project, she was delighted. If she had said no, we would not have done it. Today, she is so happy and she will take great care of her little sister. She was so moved at the birth that she cried.

Our genes at 100%

It's important to understand that River's genes are those of Stéphanie and me at 100%. We used an agency that advised us very well. It is quite complex and we had to consult doctors and lawyers, but today we are at home with our daughter and it is wonderful. The surrogate was in her third pregnancy of this kind and she was fantastic.

As for the name of River, it was the middle name of Chace. It's a great way to honor him and keep him in our hearts.

- Interviewed by Gilles Moffet





José and Stéphanie Have a New Baby Girl, River!

I found some wonderful (but surprising) news on Friday. I saw tweets of articles written about José and Stéphanie and a baby! I don't speak French, and all the articles were in French, so until I used Google to translate, I was a little lost. But I could tell there was something about a baby, and I hoped it was good news.

Here is the article found in Journal de Montreal: https://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/12/14/jose-theodore-et-stephanie-cloutier-ont-cache-leur-deuxieme-grossesse-de-toute-leur-famille?fbclid=IwAR0or-St4sSHcFnlV37MlHfTHwN7P3z-IOFzeuEYJ5wgoy9YGTOl_yQ-YdM


José Theodore et Stéphanie Cloutier ont cachè leur deuxieme grossesse à  toute leur famille

José Theodore and Stéphanie Cloutier have hidden their second pregnancy from their entire family

For the whole article in French, you can follow the link above. I'm going to post Google's translation to English below:

Véronique Cloutier and José Theodore unveiled great news to listeners on her show Véronique et les fantastiques.

Indeed, the former hockey player granted an interview to his sister-in-law where he revealed that not only did he become a father for the second time, but that nobody except Stéphanie, himself and their daughter Romi, 12 years old, knew. Let's say that Véronique Cloutier was quite surprised when her sister and brother-in-law made a "Facetime" call with a brand new baby. You can listen to the full interview here. {Blogger's note: I can't get the link to work for me, so I think it might be region-locked to Canada. If anyone else in the U.S. gets it to work for them, please let me know your secret.}

José Theodore and Stéphanie live in Florida with their daughter, Romi. The second pregnancy was by surrogate mother, because of the risks related to Stéphanie's diabetes. The baby was born on Tuesday, December 11, a little girl named River in perfect health.

Congratulations to the new parents!