Brian Patrick Flynn Is Going to Be a Dad! HGTV Dream Home Designer Expecting First Baby with Husband (Exclusive)

Brian Patrick Flynn is going to be a dad!

The interior designer, best known for being HGTV’s Dream Home Designer, is welcoming her first child with husband Hollis Smith via surrogate. The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, exclusively shared photos of their baby announcement with PEOPLE and discussed adding another member to their family while enjoying their babymoon in Japan.

“We’ve been together for 18 years and we’ve done some really epic things together,” Flynn tells PEOPLE, describing how they both enjoy doing “really unique” activities and that the baby is “always on the table.”

“But then one thing led to another and I’d say as we approached 40, we were both like, okay, tick tock, it’s time to make a decision. And then our careers both really took off in our late thirties .”

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Brian Patrick Flynn and husband Hollis Smith.

Joseph Bradshaw

Who’s next? Celebrities who are expecting

It wasn’t until the pandemic, when Flynn, 47, and Smith noticed that their friends had to educate their children and work from home that they realized the timing was always right.

As soon as they were vaccinated and returned to their normal lives at the end of 2021, they decided to start the process of surrogacy. “We were very nervous about the amount of stress that would come from surrogacy because there has been a global shortage for years,” Flynn tells PEOPLE.

Brian Patrick Flynn is currently working on baby proofing his home.

Joseph Bradshaw

Fortunately, the couple was able to use their friend Taylor Frey’s surrogacy agency, Elevate, which “specifically caters to same-sex families or same-sex singles in the LGBT community,” says Flynn.

“And they’ve managed to put together this amazing list of egg donors and surrogates who are just desperate to help people who can never have [kids] ourselves,” says the designer. “So the easiest part was finding an agency.”

Soon after, Flynn and his husband created a profile on the website in October 2021, so that a potential surrogate could choose their family. Although they thought they would wait until late 2023 or 2024 to find a surrogate, they were happily surprised when their surrogate Marissa came into the picture.

Flynn and his husband worked with their surrogate to design a very special wallpaper.

Kelly Christine Sutton

“Magically, our surrogate Marissa, who lives in the midwest of the United States, which is an hour and 20 minutes’ flight from us, was the perfect match,” he explains. “She chose us. It was so magical and it was meant to be. It turns out she’s also a graphic designer, and that’s the type of person I work with all the time in my career, Hollis too.”

“The whole story is just complete magic because now she’s absolutely a forever family member. So is her husband, so are her kids. They’re going to be Uncle Nathan and Aunt Marissa, and her kids are basically going to be cousins ​​to our child.”

Flynn and Smith have a very special relationship with their surrogate. The designer says that they hear each other every day and that their relationship has grown into a brother and sister relationship.

“She fits right in with our sense of humor, all of our views on life and our views on family, upbringing and career,” says Flynn. “It was almost as if she would fit perfectly into my circle of friends.”

Bonding with their surrogate Marissa.

Kelly Christine Sutton

As he prepared to welcome his little one, Flynn was busy preparing the baby’s space. “My favorite thing in the whole world is an all-white house,” he says. “And that might not be the smartest choice for someone who will soon have a little one with sticky fingers and lots of food.”

“The hardest part is finding something that’s super comfortable, but also beautiful and durable,” he says. “And I noticed that all my life I like beautiful, uncomfortable furniture because I never sit, I never nestle. But what’s going to happen now is that Hollis and I are going to lie down, doze, rock, rock.”

While preparing the space for their little girl, they wanted to hire their surrogate, Marissa, to help them design wallpaper for the children’s playroom. The three were inspired by the It’s A Small World ride at Disneyland, originally designed by Mary Blair.

Flynn’s baby announcement.

Joseph Bradshaw

“We just took these kids from all continents and cultures and mixed it with the idea of ​​our little girl growing up to be a famous hockey player or an astronaut or a doctor or a pop star or a horse rider,” Flynn says.

“We wanted all these worlds that are usually dominated by men. We wanted to create a backdrop where she grows up to be everything she wants to be,” he continues. “So Marissa loved the idea. It’s going to be really unique because like [our daughter] When she grows up, she’ll even know that her Aunt Marissa did the wallpaper in that room. And for me it is a fundamental memory that will always be there.”

With just six weeks until the birth of their daughter, Flynn says the couple already have a name picked out.

Flynn at work.

Kelly Christine Sutton

“We named her Clover because we’re both of Irish descent and we didn’t want a name that anyone else really knew,” he explains. “It’s not a super popular name and it’s not necessarily a word that’s used as a name.”

“As a designer, I like the idea of ​​color,” adds Flynn.

As for what makes them most happy? Flynn says a change of pace.

“We probably wanted to do this closer to 40, 42, but we both have really demanding careers and we’ve let them be number one for so long,” he explains. “But I feel like we’re keeping them under lock and key now. Now we want a life that’s more about being home and actually has almost 20 years together.”

“We’ve traveled to the bottom and the top of the planet, but we’ve never really traveled home,” says Flynn.

“It’s going to be really nice to start nesting and have this new pace of life and just a little one who can experience the world with us,” she continues. “I mean, we even get excited about leaving school.

“Years ago, if you’d asked me about school drop-off or play dates, I’d have rolled my eyes, and now I’ve been counting down the minutes until I’ve been waiting in that school line to pick her up for five years.”

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Source: HIS Education