We met 5 years ago through Jaclyn’s best friend who knew it would be the perfect match. After going on our first date, Nate knew Jaclyn was going to be his wife. It took Jaclyn a little bit longer, lol, but after dating all summer, she was also falling in love. We decided to move in together in the fall of 2019, and successfully (and happily) made it through Covid ending with an engagement in the fall of 2020. After a long wait, we tied the knot in the summer of 2022 surrounded by loving family and friends.

Jaclyn grew up in Thornhill (Toronto), in a close-knit family with two older brothers, multiple Collies, and loving parents who are still married (47 years and counting). Today, Jaclyn is still very close with her parents, seeing them almost daily and speaking to them multiple times a day. Her brothers are her best friends and they share a special bond. She is an amazing aunty to her beautiful niece and nephew who she spends quality time with every weekend.

Jaclyn comes from a very large extended family with fourteen uncles and aunts and too many cousins to count. Jaclyn’s favourite early memories include being surrounded by tons of family, friends, and food at their weekly Friday night dinners and Sunday BBQs at her backyard pool.

She spent her childhood attending an elementary arts school majoring in dance, drama, and fine arts. She also filled up her free time dancing competitively, skiing, singing, acting, and swimming. After graduating from high school, Jaclyn completed her Bachelor of Education and Special Education Pt.1 at McGill University followed by her Masters of Education at the University of Toronto (OISE).

Jaclyn and her family enjoyed many exciting family vacations to visit her grandparents in Florida, explore Israel, and enjoy sunny getaways in the Caribbean. Jaclyn still loves to explore the world and wants to share that love with children of her own.

Jaclyn has been teaching Grade 4 Special Education at Crestwood School in Toronto for the last 12 years and loves spending her days helping children learn and succeed in life.

Nate grew up in a traditional family with one younger brother until his parents split up during his teenage years. Nate and his brother stayed with their mother when their father moved away leaving the three of them to make it on their own. Although life was challenging at times, Nate grew up quicker than most thirteen-year-olds by becoming the male role model and starting work at a young age to help take care of the family. His mom is one of his biggest inspirations as he observed her make countless sacrifices and work three jobs to give her family the best life she could. Nate and his brother grew up as best friends who always looked out for each other and did everything together including sports, summer camp, and even cooking when their mom was at work.

Nate’s time cooking at home as a teenager inspired him to pursue a career as a chef which began during his teenage years. After graduating high school, Nate got his Canadian Red Seal of Culinary Arts and travelled the world as a chef. Over this part of his career, Nate had the opportunity to operate restaurants and hospitality businesses in Thailand, Australia, and across Canada. He eventually made his way into the music industry, promoting over 500 concerts and managing some of the most popular musicians in the world. This led Nate into tech and entrepreneurship where he currently works as a partner at a large creative agency that specializes in technology, sports, fashion and entertainment.

Although Nate’s chef career has come to a close, he still loves cooking at home and will surely bond with his family by making and eating great meals together.

In 2010, while Jaclyn was 22 years old and attending her final year at McGill University, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This illness comes with many challenges and obstacles however Jaclyn’s positive mindset and healthy lifestyle have enabled her to persevere and overcome any struggles that come her way. For the past 14 years, Jaclyn has been a dedicated advocate, spokesperson, and champion for the MS Society of Canada, raising over $250,000 and representing Team Canada in MS Walks across North America. To raise awareness among the younger generations, Jaclyn introduced the MS Read-a-Thon to her school and leads this fundraising campaign annually.

When Jaclyn and Nate began their family planning, they, unfortunately, discovered that Jaclyn would not be able to carry a child while taking the medications she required to prevent her illness from progressing. As a result, Jaclyn and Nate are excited to share this amazing journey with a generous and selfless surrogate.

We live in a safe, upbeat, family-friendly neighbourhood in Midtown Toronto. We currently live in a two-bedroom unit in a new condo building near Yonge and Eglinton consisting of mostly families and young professionals. We are surrounded by excellent schools, parks, ravines, street fairs and great restaurants and cafes.

As our family expands we will move into a detached home in the same area as our family lives nearby. A safe street and a spacious backyard with room to play will be priorities for our children. Our plan is for our children to attend private daycare nearby followed by elementary education at Crestwood School where Jaclyn currently teaches.

Jaclyn loves to go on daily walks, exercise, vacation abroad, have dinner with friends and family, read, attend Broadway musicals, and watch her favourite shows on Netflix.

Nate is also very active, playing squash, tennis, golf, hockey, snowboarding and exercising daily. He enjoys travelling, cooking, going out for dinner, attending concerts and sporting events, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

One of our favourite things to do is hang out with Jaclyn’s family dog, Hudson, a rough collie that looks just like Lassie. We are looking forward to getting a Collie of our own once our kids are a bit older.

We will provide whatever support the surrogate needs through every stage of the process including covering all her associated costs/expenses. We want to make this journey as enjoyable and comfortable as possible for the surrogate and our baby.

Ideally, we would love to be in touch regularly, especially after doctor’s appointments and for general updates. We are here for our surrogate as often as she would like – whether that’s in-person or over a phone call, text, video chat etc. We would also love to attend any/all appointments if this is something that our surrogate is comfortable with as well.

We would love to maintain a relationship with our surrogate once our child is born if the surrogate feels comfortable with it. We understand that surrogates create lifelong bonds with the baby and the intended parents and we want to respect that in every way possible.