Meet Our Intended Parents
Explore these heartfelt stories of families hoping to grow
Meet Pamela & Takuma
Location: Burnaby, BC
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We believe we will be great parents because of our commitment and strength with each other and to our future family. We’ve been together for over 11 years, and during that time we’ve learned to communicate openly, solve problems side by side, and be there for each other when it counts. These habits are ingrained in our relationship and they’re the same ones we’ll bring into parenting. To date, we’ve already made life choices with a future family in mind, including moving to a home that felt better-suited for raising a child: a playground right outside, a wooded area nearby for exploring, and a school just a couple of blocks away. These decisions are intentional steps toward the life we want to build.
We also bring complementary qualities that create a warm and balanced home. Pam has a naturally caring, intuitive way of noticing what people need and quietly stepping in. Tak brings steadiness, humour, and a calm perspective when things get tough. Together, we believe we create an environment that is supportive, and genuinely fun – a foundation we’re excited to share with a child. Even when we disagree, we take the time to talk things through and we come out feeling more connected. We believe this ability to work through challenges together has been a key part of the longevity and stability of our relationship.
Our infertility journey has brought us even closer and strengthened both our determination and our appreciation for the family we hope to build. Despite the emotional, physical, and financial strain, along with setbacks and uncertainty, we’ve remained patient, united, and committed to one another. This experience reflects who we are – we don’t give up on what matters, even when the path is difficult. We show up, stay steady, and move forward together, and we’ll bring that same resilience, care, and dedication into raising a child and creating a home where they feel safe, supported, and deeply loved every day.
Even before we met each other, we both looked forward to starting a family one day. Pam, in particular, had long dreamed of experiencing pregnancy and carrying a child. But after years of trying, the unexplained infertility diagnosis, IUIs, multiple rounds of IVF, donor eggs, and still no clear answers, we realized that becoming parents would require a different path. Surrogacy offered a hopeful and tangible way forward when it became clear the medical aspects were not in our favour, providing an opportunity to start the family we have been dreaming about for so long.
Our ideal surrogate is someone who values clear, open communication and approaches the journey with kindness, thoughtfulness, and mutual respect. We hope to match with someone who feels comfortable sharing her needs and preferences, and who brings a calm and grounded presence to the process so we can support her in a way that feels right to her.
We’d ideally love to be as involved as she’s comfortable allowing – whether that means regular updates or attending key appointments – while being equally respectful if she prefers more space. What matters most is that she feels comfortable expressing what works for her, and what we can do to meet her needs.
From a practical standpoint, she would be in good health. We understand that surrogates must meet certain medical guidelines, such as having had a previous healthy full-term pregnancy, being a non-smoker, and meeting general health criteria, and we appreciate the care and commitment it takes to meet these requirements.
We’re also open to discussing what an ongoing connection after the birth might look like. We plan to be completely open with our child about the role their surrogate played in their story. We would warmly welcome continued contact if that feels right for her, and would fully respect her wishes if she prefers to step back. We don’t have any expectations – we simply want to honour what feels right for her and continue the conversation as things unfold.
Supporting our surrogate means building a relationship grounded in trust, open communication and respect for her comfort level. Emotionally, this would involve listening first, checking in thoughtfully, and never making assumptions. We want her to feel heard and supported, whether that means regular check-ins or more space.
Practically, it would mean being responsive, reliable, and organized. We’re committed to staying on top of communications with the agency and the clinic so details are handled smoothly, and so that she can focus on her health and well-being. Through every stage, we aim to be clear, easy to reach, and dependable partners.
At the heart of it, we want our surrogate to feel genuinely valued and cared for, in recognition of the extraordinary role she is playing to help us start a family.
What we look forward to most is getting to know who our child is and growing alongside them – not just through the big milestones, but in the small, everyday moments. Learning their cues, discovering what brings them comfort and showing up in the ways they need feels deeply meaningful to us.
We’re excited to help shape a strong foundation by teaching them about kindness, resilience and confidence, and by becoming people they can always rely on. We want our child to grow up knowing they have a steady, supportive place to call home.
And then there are the simple moments that feel huge – hearing their laughter in the house, watching their curiosity grow, and seeing the world through their eyes. Creating a home filled with trust, warmth, and joy is what we picture most when we think about parenthood, and it’s what we’re excited to build together.
We feel fortunate that our child will be surrounded by a strong and loving support system. They will have grandparents who are genuinely excited to be part of their life. Tak’s parents live nearby and are looking forward to being hands-on with help. Pam’s parents, though based in New Zealand, are deeply committed to being present in our child’s life. Their recent retirement allows them to visit for extended and frequent visits, and we know they’ll cherish every moment with their grandchild. Our child will also grow up knowing a wider extended family. Pam’s siblings, though living in different places, are excited to welcome a new little person into the family and to be part of their life in a meaningful way.
Beyond our family, we’re lucky to be surrounded by close friends who truly feel like family. Many of them have young children, so our child will grow up with a group of “big siblings”, built-in role models, and many familiar faces. We’ve long been the “Auntie and Uncle” figures in their lives – babysitting, reading stories, helping with bedtime – intimate moments we’ve genuinely cherished, and has shaped how we imagine raising our own child.
With deeply invested family and friends who show up when it matters, we’re confident our child will grow up supported, encouraged, and loved by those around them.
We look forward to sharing traditions rooted in our own backgrounds as a Chinese New Zealander and Japanese Canadian couple. They’re already part of our everyday life – from the food we cook to the holidays and festivals we celebrate – and we’re excited to be able to pass them on. We hope our child grows up hearing different languages, enjoying the dishes we love, and feeling connected to the cultures that shaped us.
Spending time outdoors is another tradition we can’t wait to share, nurturing curiosity, imagination, and a sense of wonder. We’re also excited to include our child in our long-standing annual trips with friends and their families – a tradition spanning over 15 years that we hope will become part of their cherished memories.
When we imagine holding our baby, we picture a moment that feels both quiet and overwhelming – joy, relief, disbelief, and deep connection all at once. After everything we’ve been through, it would feel surreal in the best way possible.
In that moment, we imagine our lives beginning to shift in all the small but meaningful ways that follow. We picture learning how to make them giggle, recognizing the subtle pitches of their cries, and discovering what settles them to sleep. As we hold them, we imagine making a quiet promise to show up as steady, loving parents they can depend on, even as we learn and adapt along the way. As those early days unfold, we look forward to watching their personality take shape day by day. We know there will be challenges and plenty of trial and error, but to us, that’s part of the privilege – being fully present as we discover who they are and how to be the parents they need and deserve.
More than anything, when we imagine holding our baby, the feeling is simple – love, responsibility, and a sense that our lives finally make a new kind of sense.
Our path to get here has been long and complex. We experienced an early miscarriage in early 2021 – an experience and a loss we still think about to this day. After many months of trying without success, we were referred to Olive Fertility in Vancouver and were diagnosed with unexplained infertility – a diagnosis that brought more questions than answers.
Even so, we felt fortunate to be able to keep moving forward with a clear plan, which brought a new sense of direction. We began with four rounds of IUI, then moving on to IVF. Over three full IVF cycles with seven transfers, extensive testing and countless appointments and injections, and even two last-minute trips to Toronto to try IVIg – none of the embryos implanted. By the end of it, we found ourselves feeling at a loss, unsure of how to make sense of it all.
Hoping to give ourselves every possible chance, and following discussions with our doctors, we decided to pursue donor eggs in early-2024. This felt like a natural step for us, as we knew we would love our child regardless of genetics. Starting the process brought a renewed sense of hope and excitement, but after completing fi ve transfers, we were heartbroken that none of those attempts were successful. After careful refl ection, we decided to move forward with surrogacy.
By moving on, we’re letting go of our dream of becoming pregnant ourselves, but despite the many twists and turns along the way, our desire to build a family never waned and grew stronger. We are now in the midst of our fourth round of IVF to create embryos specifically for this next stage, and we look forward to having healthy embryos to move forward with.
We don’t share all of this to dwell on the hard parts, but because it’s an honest picture of our journey – a time that didn’t go the way we hoped or planned, but ultimately made us stronger as a team. Becoming parents has been a dream we’ve both carried for a long time, and if anything, everything we’ve been through has only deepened our commitment and strengthened our hope for the family we’ve imagined for so long. We’re grounded, but still excited and feel genuinely ready to welcome a child into our lives.
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