After 3 years of Waiting – 1 Heartbreaking Loss – Fox News national correspondent Bryan Llenas and partner Kyle Reinneck WELCOME their First Child – Sweet Moments and Emotional Sharing move audiences to Tears!

Bryan Llenas always knew he wanted to be a dad, but he wasn’t fully prepared for the emotional highs and lows that came with surrogacy.

The Fox News national correspondent, 36, recently welcomed his first baby, son Rio Ray Llenas-Reinneck, with his partner Kyle Reinneck on April 3, 2025, via surrogacy. Llenas described the experience, which he says was filled with many ups and downs, as something a person “can never really prepare for.”

“It’s something that we can never really prepare for, but it’s been exciting because it’s been a journey that we’ve had,” he tells PEOPLE. “Every single day, you’re paying for it financially. You’re paying for it emotionally. There’s lots of ups and downs through the surrogacy journey.”

“In the last 2½ years of the ups and downs and the twists and turns of the surrogacy journey that inevitably happened, having him finally here just makes it all that much sweeter,” the proud dad says of his baby boy. “It’s definitely something we don’t take for granted at all. We look at him every day, and we’re just like, ‘I can’t believe he’s here.’ It’s been a really beautiful thing to see.”

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Bryan Llenas, his partner Kyle and their surrogate.Bryan Llenas/FOX News Channel

Llenas tells PEOPLE that their journey through the surrogacy process took three years. One challenge for the couple during this process was finding the right surrogacy agency to help them bring their bundle of joy into the world. After doing their research and speaking with other couples, they decided to use Family Formers, a smaller boutique agency based in Florida.

With their selected agency, they were able to begin the process of finding a match to bring their baby into the world. Llenas says the biggest thing when landing on a surrogate for him and Reinneck was understanding the reason the person wanted to undergo the process.

“When we met [Nicole] and she explained to us she literally just finds pure joy in helping another family become a family, that’s all we needed to hear,” he explains. “Her motivation and her heart in this, and the reason why she was doing this wasn’t motivated by money. It is motivated by truly helping another family.”

“It’s such a beautiful journey,” he says of surrogacy. “It’s such a sacrifice that someone is making for you.”

There were many unexpected obstacles in their surrogacy journey that Llenas says had him and his partner “constantly holding your breath.” During the thawing process for the fertilized eggs they had frozen, Llenas recalled receiving a call from Reinneck telling him that they had lost their strongest embryo.

“I could just tell in his voice that something was wrong, and I didn’t expect to feel the way that I felt,” he explains. “We had some other embryos, but we were told that this was our best shot, and there was some delays and stuff leading up to it, so there was already a lot risk and … emotion there.”

Adds Llenas, “Surrogacy is a miracle, but there are so many different ways in which this can go right and this can go wrong, so you’re constantly holding your breath.”

Bryan Llenas, his partner Kyle and their newborn Rio.Bryan Llenas/FOX News Channel

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The newly minted dad, who’s currently beginning the process to welcome another baby through surrogacy, goes on to share some key advice for other families who may want to take this path.

“My advice for families is you’ve got to do your homework. Definitely speak to other people who have gone through their surrogacy journeys, and don’t let the price tag immediately stop you from moving forward,” he shares.

“I think it all really starts with the agency and having a good partner. It’s a growing journey. It’s a beautiful journey, but it’s really important that you have somebody at home who you really have a great partner in doing this.”

“If this is something you really want, where there’s a will there’s a way, and there are some options out there,” he adds. “I think Kyle and I thought this journey was going to go one way, and it surprised us how emotionally draining it turned out to be. And we would do it all over again for the result, but people just have to be ready for what this could be. There’s a lot of things that are out of your control, as good as the science is.”