Kyte Baby Drama Explained: Baby Clothing CEO Apologizes For Firing Employee Who Asked To Work Remotely After Her Adoptive Son Was Born Prematurely

Marissa and Rawley Hughes have been trying for three years to make a family of their own. In a heartfelt plea on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe, the couple opened up about their challenges and frustrations with getting pregnant.

They underwent "extensive testing, attending hundreds of doctors' appointments, taken hundreds of pills and administered at-home injections, completed multiple failed IUIs, gone through IVF, experienced major complications, almost lost my life [Marissa] during surgery, been pregnant three times and have lost all three of our beautiful babies." Having faced three years of emotional and physical trials – including the failed fertility treatments and near-death experience – the Hughes revealed they were pursuing adoption in October 2023. 

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Marissa and Rawley share that they were once foster parents, and express how they felt the call to embrace adoption. “The Lord has laid adoption on our hearts. Adoption has always been a desire and calling we’ve felt our family would experience one day, but the timeline the Lord has provided is a bit different than we would have expected,” their page reads. “We are eager and willing to accept this calling, but we can’t do it alone.”

But the adoption process is expensive. The Hughes asked for help on GoFundMe to raise $50,000 for expenses like agency fees, legal fees, and support for the birth mother. The Hughes received a call in December that a baby was available to them, though he was nine hours away from their Dallas home in El Paso. Their son, Judah, was "born at 22 weeks gestation and barely over a pound," according to the website. Marissa wanted nothing more than to stay by her premature baby's side.

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The new mom contacted her employers, Kyte Baby, to request maternity leave, per @micropreemiejourney on TikTok. But the TikToker claimed that CEO Ying Liu did not accept the request because Marissa did not give birth to her son. This led to Marissa asking if she could work remotely to be with Judah. The baby clothing company then informed Hughes about their policy, which was to allow two weeks of remote work. However, if she could not return to the workplace by that point, then she would get fired.

In the end, Marissa was terminated. "Kyte Baby fired Marissa (former employee) due to not being able to physically be at her employer's warehouse," @micropreemiejourney explained.

Now, Liu has taken to the platform to apologize for her actions. She began with, "I want to hop on here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her incredible journey of adopting and starting a family."

The business owner claims she reached out to Marissa to apologize to her and the Kyte Baby community. Liu clarified that "Kyte Baby prides itself in being a family-oriented company. We treat biological and non-biological parents equally. Through my personal and professional experiences, I have the utmost respect for babies, families, and the adoption community.”

"It was my oversight that she didn't feel supported, as we always have intended," she added. "As offered to her originally, we would find her a position whenever she decides to return to work."

After many people commented on Liu's video on how she sounded scripted, she decided to make an unrehearsed apology video. "I think a lot of the comments are right," Liu reflected, "because we are in the baby business. I want to be above and beyond in protecting women and giving them the right protection and benefits when they're having babies."

Liu says she and HR will come up with better policies for their employees. She added, "And as for Marissa, she has the biggest heart. And I've said multiple times to multiple people, including her family, that I love her as a worker, I enjoy working with her every day. She's one of the few people that I actually see every day on site."

"I just really want to apologize to her again for the feelings and the hurt and the damages that I have done. We will continue to pay you the benefits as well as the remote position that you have requested. I understand if you don't want to come back to work anymore, but we will continue to pay you as if you were working remotely for us for those hours that you proposed until you're ready to come back. And your position, your original position, is always open for you when you come back."

The comment section is full of people condemning Liu's poor business decisions and for "discriminating" against an adopted family. It's nice to see that the CEO is taking accountability, but the outrage is justified. The fragility of the situation due to Judah being born prematurely, coupled with the emotional challenges Marissa and her husband underwent, was already hard enough to go through. Kyte Baby's initial denial of Marissa's request for remote work during such a critical time lacks compassion, the very same virtue that Kyte Baby is supposed to stand for. Secondly, Kyte Baby's prioritizing operational convenience over the well-being of one of their best employees is inhumane. It's truly embarrassing for a baby company to show disrespect toward an adoptive family and their newborn. I'm not sure if the business will recover anytime soon.

On January 3, 2024, the Hughes added an update to their GoFundMe page describing Judah as stable but "fragile." They're asking for prayers so that their baby can be taken home soon. "Thank you for loving him with us and lifting him in prayer," the family wrote. "He has already demonstrated so much strength, and we feel confident that God has big big plans for our tiny boy."

As of writing, the Hughes have received $69,201 in donations, surpassing their goal of $50,000.

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