SHOCK: Judy Ann Santos reveals the truth to Yohan about her biological parents, fans shocked to know their identities. The reason her biological parents abandoned her…

Yohan Agoncillo says he’s asking about his biological parents; Judy Ann Santos says she’s ready to find them for her daughter

Photos: @officialjudayph & @officialjuday

“So, Yohan, at some point, he always asks, ‘Do you know my mom?’ ‘What if I want to see her?’  I always tell her, ‘You just let me know when you want.   If at some point, someday, you want to meet your biological parents, it’s fine. We’ll find a way.’” However, Juday admitted that their conversation wasn’t easy for her. “Of course, when I say that, it feels like I’m choking. It feels like my heart is being squeezed. But that’s her right.”

Judy Ann Santos, known as the Young Superstar, became a full-fledged mother in 2004 with her first child, Yohan (full name: Johanna Louis Santos-Agoncillo). Juday was only twenty-six at the time and not yet married to her husband, Ryan Agoncillo.

That year, Juday adopted Yohan.

It was an open book to everyone, except for Yohan who, of course, was still a baby. Today, at 16, Yohan is one fine and well-adjusted young lady.

Perhaps it was also because of Juday’s beautiful way of letting Yohan know that he was adopted.

“I think, there is no easy way when you actually reveal to your child the real situation,” Judy Ann said in her IG [Instagram] Live interview with ABS-CBN writer G3 San Diego last night, May 24.

“But, as soon as I got Yohan, it was already a prayer, ‘Lord, just give me a window when I can tell him.’

“Because I don’t want to keep this from her for such a long time, because she doesn’t deserve to be lied to or magtago ako ng secret sa kanya because she needs to know.

“She needs to know that the word ‘adopted’ or ‘adoption’ is not bad. Remove that stigma. Because, ‘that word is [actually equivalent to] ‘Because I want you to be part of my life.’”

Juday added that she had prayed for a long time to be given a daughter when she turned 26. Her prayer was so specific. And she said that this is what she told Yohan later on.

“[I told her] ‘I prayed for you’… because, it’s all true. What you’re saying is difficult but it’s not true,” the actress said.

“It was easy for me to explain but of course, it didn’t happen in one go. It was a process every time she would ask questions.”

He said his son was only four or five years old when he first asked him.

He looks back: “She asked me the question when she was around four or five years old if she came from my tummy. Because she saw my mommy [Carol]…she called mommy mom. She saw mommy with stitches [in her stomach], the one from mommy’s CS [caesarean surgery].

“He asked [Mommy Carol] if she came from there. She said, ‘No.’

“‘Did mommy [Juday] come from there?

“‘Yes.’

“‘So, where did I come from?’

“’ You ask your mom.’

“Okay, that’s it.”

But even before the child could ask questions, he simply introduced the concept to them by having them read kiddie books with adoption stories.

But when the question did come, ganito raw niya in-explain: “So I told her, ‘You came from mommy’s heart,’ more than anything. ‘You came from my heart because I prayed for you for so many years.  My exact prayer was I wanted to have a daughter when I turn 26.  And, I got a call after I turned 26, few days after my birthday, I got a call… so lo and behold, I have my baby girl.”

It’s clear that Yohan’s arrival in her life was an ‘answered prayer.’ She was still filming the series “Krystala” at the time and it just so happened that their location was in the Baby Section of a department store.

“So, it’s like God really made a match. That on this day, you will become a mother and I will give you the chance to experience buying your child’s things.”

“When I came home, I had my things with me. When I saw her, I said, ‘It’s like I’m her.’ So, every time I explained that to her, even now… of course, it was a process of answering her question. Telling her the real situation. And of course, at one point, you also don’t want to give up their right to ask who they are.”

When Juday was asked for advice for adoptive parents like her or those who plan to adopt in the future, she said not to wait too long to tell the children the real situation.

“Don’t take it too long,” he said. “Because, all the more that it would hurt them. I’m afraid, she’ll find out from someone else. And I can’t protect her from that. I’m very protective of her.

“I don’t want him to know from other people. It should come from me. It should come from me. Because, I’m the mother. I’m the one who knows. Because, maybe other people, they’ll tell him differently, the past will be different.

“Ayokong magkaroon siya ng hinanakit sa parents niya because it’s unfair.  But you know, it’s the relationship that you will be building with your child. It’s the trust and love and the commitment that it was an answered prayer.”

Juday added, “I believe that every person who comes into our lives has a purpose. Friends, coworkers, spouses, everything has a purpose.

“God won’t give that to us if we can’t stand up for the people in our lives.”

Juday said that the Q&A process between him and Yohan is still not over because of late, what he is asking is about his biological parents.

“So, Yohan, at some point, palagi siyang nagtatanong, ‘Do you know my mom?’  ‘What if I want to see her?’  I always tell her, ‘You just let me know when you want.

If at some point, someday, you want to meet your biological parents, it’s fine. We’ll find a way.’”

However, Juday admitted that their conversation was not easy for him.

“Of course, as I say that, it feels like I’m being strangled. It feels like my heart is being squeezed. But that’s her right.”

He added that he reminded Yohan just now not to harbor anger towards his biological parents.

“Even me, when I’m in that situation, there are still many questions like why is this, why is that?

“ So, I’d always, tell her: ‘Wag kang magtanim ng sama ng loob sa parents mo. Probably, they just had to make this decision because they wanted to give you a better future. Probably, they don’t have the capacity or the means to take care of you but it doesn’t mean they don’t love you. They love you so much that they don’t want to give you a hard time.’”

He further advised adoptive parents who are preparing to tell the truth to their adopted kids that after the big reveal, they should hug the child tightly.

Currently, another thing Juday is facing about Yohan is his puberty. At 16, she says she is sure that her pretty eldest already has a lover.

“I’m sure there’s someone who’s interested in that,” she said dismissively. “We all come from there. We’re very open to Yohan when it comes to personal things. She talks to her dad. She’s open about when she has issues or a crush, she tells me.

“Then, I just advise him, especially now that the world of social media is so vast. ‘You can’t tell who the real people are. But it’s okay to make friends with a lot of people. You just have to know who and when to trust and you have to put up a fence around yourself first. But you’ll learn, you’ll learn.’”

But his laughable change: “It’s a good thing I think about it, the one who quarantined is okay. He’s just here at home. I’m so selfish, aren’t I?”

“I’m sure, I’m not the only one, I’m sure, you’re also happy that your children are in quarantine, right?,” he concluded with a chuckle.

Besides Yohan, Juday and Ryan have two other children, Juan Luis (Lucho), 10; and Juana Luisa (Luna), 5.