Life & Work with Keyla Ramirez

My name’s Keyla Ramirez. I was born in Veracruz Mexico. I was the only kid in my group when we crossed the border. I was only 5 years old and I remember everything vividly. Ever since I can remember I’ve always been given some of the toughest battles. I was raised in a very small town called Locust in North Carolina. I never actually tried in school. Going to college was always out of the question and nothing my parents could ever afford. I ended up in a cosmetology program that my high school offered. To be completely honest, I didn’t haven’t the GPA for it. I was only accepted because I was best friends with the teacher’s daughter. I started my makeup career working at the makeup counter in a department store. Truth be told there is no money in working for a company.

My brother Frankie and I have always been extremely close. He had married and moved to Minnesota with his husband. I remember the day he came out to me it was always something I knew but we never talked about. He had gotten in a fight with my mom and burst out that he was gay in some weird twisted and petty way to get back at her. I made a promise that if he ever wanted kids, I would help him in any way I could.

Fast forward to a couple of years later. My brother and his husband had asked me to be their egg donor. Ideally, they wanted a biological kid from each of them. Unfortunately, the whole process was very hard physically for me and emotionally for everyone. During my first donation, I gained the freshman 30 as I like to call it. IVF is no joke and my body was overproducing. I looked like I was 4 months pregnant at one point. Everything bad that could happen to them. The fertility clinic’s power went out one time and all the coated embryos were lost. I’ve never been a quitter and I wasn’t going to stop till they had a family. I had to wait a couple of weeks to start the process again. While I was waiting for my second round they were pregnant with the first surrogate that had Chloe. My second round of IVF was by far the worst my body had started to create a fluid that was leaking into my lungs. No pain no glory I guess because from that batch Christian and Kristen were created and later born. They have 3 beautiful kids that are 3 months apart. Chloe is the oldest followed by the twins Christian and Kristen.

This isn’t something I’ve ever shared till recently. Before coming to the states my parents had left us with my grandma while they saved enough money to bring us here. During that time I was sexually abused and my grandma looked the other way to collect money from my mom. It’s a tough pill to swallow but I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. When the kids were born I left my career and moved in as their live-in nanny. I couldn’t bear the thought of something that happened to me ever happening to them. I kept my secret for as long as I could. I felt that if anyone ever knew the truth my parents would have come to this country and sacrificed everything for nothing. I don’t think my parents could have ever forgiven themselves and would have felt responsible. Following the twin’s first birthday, my brother-in-law passed away. He was out of town when it happened. I knew I could never leave my brother’s side.

We have overcome so much together. I found myself in a place I never imagined. I became a mom and that’s something I could have never dreamed of. It hasn’t been easy and now that the kids are getting older I feel like I can unpause my life. I threw my career on the back burner. Not to brag but when you’re truly talented in any field you stand out. Now my freelance make is full of events from the Superbowl halftime show to the Met Gala. I think this is the most confident I’ve ever been.

My oldest daughter Chloe wished to go to the moon on her 4th Birthday. That wish made me take a step back. How am I as a parent inspiring her to follow her dreams? I might not be able to make it to the moon but I know the sky isn’t the limit anymore. I’m now more than halfway thru getting my private pilot license and I can’t wait for the that I take her up to the sky. I’ll be 29 years old this year and I can’t help but laugh because my life is truly just starting you guys haven’t seen anything.

I don’t want to be an influencer I want to inspire. I want not only my kids but everyone to see my journey and want to be better.

My whole life has been challenging. Just getting here to the United States has been the biggest challenge alone. I was undocumented up till my senior year of high school and thanks to the Obama administration I was able to get DACA. We are known as dreamers.

Switching from aunt to mom hasn’t been the easiest. I make it look easy but emotionally I’ve been going thru a never-ending roller coaster. Legally I can’t adopt the kids since my brother and I are related. Every day, I’m unintentionally reminded that I’m not their legal parent from doctors’ appointments to the school. Society has a hard time understanding that because I’m young and didn’t birth them I’m not a mom.

My childhood abuse has created trust issues to the point that I don’t trust anyone around my kids.