Welcome To Earth, Lihuén Assata!

Lihuén Assata Romano

(lee-WHEN) (uh-sah-tah)

Poem

On Children by Kahlil Gibran

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Details

During the Hour of the Wolf (3:27am)
On Kelsey’s Birthday (April 21st)
In the Year of the Fire Horse (2026)
Kelsey & Chris
Welcomed Their Daughter
Lihuén Assata
To Turtle Island (Earth)

She was greeted with “Welcome to Earth!” by her Papa. She was 6 pounds, 9 ounces and is 100% a dream come true!

Name Origin Story

Lihuén


Origin: Mapuche

The Mapuche are an indigenous people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They are known for their defiance against colonization, resisting the Spanish Empire for hundreds of years and holding onto their cultural identity.

Meaning: Light, Illumination, Dawn

Why we chose it:

We chose Lihuén because it is an indigenous name of an unconquered people, representing the dawn of a beautiful and light-filled new beginning. The name also happens to be gender-neutral.

Assata


Origin: Swahili

The Swahili people are Bantu, Afro-Arab, and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the East African coast across southern Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and northern Mozambique. Many Swahili words are borrowed from Arabic. The primary religion is Islam.

Meaning:

She who struggles / The woman who fights

Why we chose it:

Assata Shakur was a revolutionary activist, author, and poet; a member of the Black Panther Party, and the Black Liberation Army. She died on September 25, 2025, at the age of 78 in exile in Havana, Cuba. She was an inspiration to us and our fellow comrades.

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

The meaning of the name is also significant considering it took a long long struggle and fight to get her here!

Our Journey

We want to share the (condensed) story of how Lihuén came to be.

We hope it explains the cancelled plans, dropped obligations, why we left everything before it was over, why this announcement is a surprise to most of you, and why we’ve been selfish because we wanted something with our whole hearts that always seemed out of our grasp.


In May of 2021, I went to the doctor because I knew after almost a year of ovulation test strips and teeny tiny pee cups… something was wrong. I began my first fertility treatment in December of 2021. We ran through health care's insurance allowances, then picked up and moved to Massachusetts, a state where fertility treatment is a right.


I can’t fathom our carbon footprint from the drives to specialists. I stopped counting IVF needles at 400. I don’t want to recall the number of wax paper bags from Donut Dip or chicken sandwiches from Nan’s (because food is sometimes the only medicine that makes sense).


We were up against the clock, trying again and again, running on fumes and dreams. After a lot of heartbreak and gut-wrenching disappointment, we looked (again) at alternatives, eventually landing on using a donor egg as our last hope.


So, we combed awkwardly through the profiles of dozens upon dozens of potential donors. When we saw one profile in particular, we knew... she was the one. She was from the Levant, wrote paragraphs about her hope for us as parents, and her belief in the importance of family.


We didn’t make a grand pregnancy announcement for many reasons: I’m high risk / combined with years of disappointments. Thanks to those of you who did know and kept our news to yourselves (unlike the 15-year-old girls at school who figured it out and accidentally told everyone).


We can’t believe we made it to where we are, that she is here in our arms. We have never felt more privileged, whole, and in complete, utter awe.


Thank you for all your support and encouragement. We are excited for the next phase of this lifelong journey together.


Email

  • Would you like to share some pictures (yourself, her, or something/someone you want her to know about), your thoughts, or messages with Lihuén for her to enjoy when she's older?
    Send her an email: LihuenAssata@gmail.com


Photos

More Photos in the link BELOW

Ways You Can Support


  • Future Fund:

    We hope to give Lihuén opportunities to learn, explore, and follow what excites her. Please consider donating using one of the options below to help us support Lil Lihuen.

    Her Fidelity 529 account, which is intended to help with her education, training, travel, therapy (a fund all parents need), or something we can’t even imagine yet.

    If you’re looking for a way to celebrate her, a contribution to her Future Fund is a meaningful and lasting gift. While never expected, your support will become part of something that grows with her over time.

    Thank you for being part of her story and for helping us build a foundation for her future.

    Fidelity 529
    https://go.fidelity.com/OLfsgm

  • Venmo: Want to donate money direct?

    Chris’s VENMO is @christokill
    Last 4 digits of his phone number are: 8784

  • Donate:

    Our egg donor is Levantine and we would also welcome a donation to help Palestinian children. Please donate here: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund