Judy Ann Santos on adopted daughter Yohan: ‘Ikaw ang mitsa ng kandila ng pamilya’

Judy Ann Santos with daughter Yohan  (Image: Instagram.com/@officialjuday)

Multi-awarded actress Judy Ann Santos has nothing but love and gratitude for her eldest daughter, Johanna Louise Agoncillo, who she fondly calls Yohan, saying that adopting her started their family with husband Ryan Agoncillo.

Santos adopted Johanna Louise when the actress was only 26 years old, which Santos said was the perfect age for her to have a baby no matter what the method was, she said in an interview on Tonight with Boy Abunda posted on YouTube last Monday, Dec. 16.

“When I was younger, 20s, 21, sagsag ako ng trabaho niyan (I had a lot of work then), all of a sudden I just had this hope na at 26, I hope I’ll have a baby,” she said.

“26 probably because I wanted my child to grow up with me. Every birthday, I’d go to Manaoag, ‘yun yung wish ko (that was my wish). ‘Lord, prepare me when I’m 26, and when I’m ready at 26, you already know what I want: I want to have a child.'”

Santos recalled that back then, she did not even care anymore how she would have a child, as long as she had one.

“I want to have a child, regardless kung mabuntis ako, or maanakan ako. Ganun na ‘ko mag-isip Tito Boy, wala akong pakialam kung anong sasabihin ng mga tao, na naanakan ako o nagpabuntis ako. I just wanted a baby,” she stressed.

(I want to have a child, regardless of whether I’d get impregnated or get knocked up. That was my thinking back then, Tito Boy, I did not care what people might say, that I just let myself get impregnated by someone. I just wanted a baby.)

Then, at the ripe age of 26, Santos did have her first child in the form of a call from her mother: “May manganganak, ino-offer sa’yo. Gusto mo (Someone is about to give birth, and they are offering the child to you. Do you accept)?” Santos recalled her mother saying.

“Nung nag-okay ako, na-realize ko na ‘di ako nag-isip, hindi ako kinabahan, pero excited ako,” the actress continued.

She then went on to legally adopt Yohan, who Agoncillo also legally adopted when he married Santos.

The actress revealed that they always remind Yohan how important she is to the family, telling her: “Ryan and me started a family because of you. Ikaw ang mitsa ng kandila ng pamilya natin (the wick of the family’s candle [the backbone]).”

Santos then emphasized that her two younger children with Agoncillo are named after Yohan: Juan Luis and Juana Luisa.

“All named after you. You came first. So always remember, hindi ka basta salingkit dito (you are not a mere guest here); you started this family,” Santos recalled telling Yohan.

Meeting biological parents

Santos revealed that Yohan, who only recently turned 15, has had several questions about her biological parents. At one point, Yohan asked Santos if she could meet her biological parents, to which Santos agreed without hesitation.

“‘Would it be okay if at some point, I’ll ask if I could meet them?'” Santos recalled Yohan asking her. The actress then said that she replied, “Of course! Of course, anak (my child).”

Santos said that since the day Yohan opened up on the topic, she has been praying for help in preparing them for the time when Yohan would finally meet her biological parents.

“‘Di ko siya ipagkakait sa ganon (I will not rob her of that chance),” she said.

The beauty of being ‘adopted’

The mother of three said that she did not like the word “adopted” before, and it even came to a point when she would tell the media to not refer to Yohan as her adopted daughter.

However, Santos then had a change of heart, saying: “Everybody out there who’s adopted should realize that it’s such a beautiful word.”

“Napakagandang salita ng word na ‘adopted’ or ‘adoption,’ because somebody wanted you in their lives. They chose you,” she explained.  /ra

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