Xander’s Story, by Alejandro and Christopher Garcia-Halenar | Book Spotlight

The Children’s Book Review

The underlying message that love is what brings a child into the world shines all the way through this book from start to end….

Age Range: 3-7

Hardcover: 24 pages

Xander’s Story

Written by Alejandro and Christopher Garcia-Halenar

Illustrated by Richa Kinra Shekhar Arts

Publisher’s Synopsis: This picture book tells the story of how one little boy, Xander, came to be the son of his two loving dads through surrogacy.

Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Self Published | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-0578-194257

Available Here:

About the Authors

Alex and Christopher Garcia-Halerar

Chris and Alex Garcia-Halenar met in August, 2010 and were married two years later. They are the proud parents of two boys, Xander and Max.

What makes Chris and Alex different from most parents with small children is they started their family later in life. When Xander was born, Chris was 50 years old and Alex 40 and by the time Max arrived, they were 55 and 45 respectively.

While most parents their age are embracing, the ‘empty nest’ stage of life, Chris and Alex are just getting started. They commonly field questions and comments such as:  “Do you really want to deal with the 3:00 am feedings?”; “Oh man, you are brave”; “Don’t you want to retire?”; “Better you than me”.

Despite their unorthodox age, Chris and Alex feel like they are the lucky ones. When they were younger there were no role models for same-sex families. The idea of two men getting married may have been discussed privately at a dinner party but never in an open forum – and never in the national spotlight of a Supreme Court case. Discussions about relationships between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, were infrequent and were likely to start with “…oh I have a friend who…” or “do you know my friend, <insert any name>?”

Times have changed.

They consider themselves trailblazers. They were married at a time when their own state did not recognize their union. President Barrack Obama announced three days before their wedding that he had softened his stance on same-sex unions and publicly acknowledged that same-sex couples should be able to get married.

Fast forward to today.

Alex is an attorney practicing law with one the top law firms in Fort Lauderdale. Chris is a semi-retired Healthcare executive who has taken time off to be with their boys.

Chris and Alex believe that every child has a unique story and that their stories should be told and celebrated. Their first foray into children’s books was “Little Miss Crazy Hair” which was written for their beautiful niece as gift for her fifth birthday. Though published, the book was never distributed or sold, and since that first project, they have learned a lot. They are working on a new and revised release of the book targeted for the summer of 2018.

Xander’s Story was written shortly after Xander started to ask questions about his family. The explanation about two dads was the easy part; the tougher discussion was explaining gestational surrogacy. Xander’s Story was designed so a five- year-old could understand a simplified version of the science of surrogacy. It paints the picture of the basics of surrogacy but more importantly emphasizes the love which fuels it.

In addition to the re-write of “Little Miss Crazy Hair” they are working on two additional projects focused on adoption and more specifically their youngest son, Max.

For more information, visit: www.xanmaxbooks.com