A promise from the heart

Why Sainte-Justine will always be part of our story

Behind A&Y’s commitment is a deeply personal story.

A promise I never forgot

My bond with CHU Sainte-Justine began long before A&Y existed. Adam was born there. He underwent his Norwood surgery there, as well as several cardiac catheterizations between 2017 and 2019. Through his many hospitalizations, Sainte-Justine became part of our family’s everyday life.

Throughout his short life, we received support and help from two foundations, including the Fondation CHU Sainte-Justine. It was in the intensive care unit at CHU Sainte-Justine that Adam took his last breath.

After losing him, I made myself a promise: if I ever had the opportunity, I would try to give back a small part of what had been given to us and, in my own way, help families walking those same hospital corridors.

I never imagined that seven or eight years later, our family would once again face a similar journey with Yahya. Living this reality a second time only strengthened my desire to give back and reminded me how much the care, resources and support offered to hospitalized children and their families matter every day of the year.

This is why A&Y gives 10% of sales of A&Y products to the Fondation CHU Sainte-Justine. You can also contribute more, or donate without making any purchase at A&Y, through our fundraiser.

Donate through our fundraiser

A&Y - À Cœur d'Enfant

Our Story — A&Y

A&Y family collage with Adam and Yahya

Two little boys. One shared inspiration. A business born from the heart.

A&Y – À Cœur d’Enfant did not begin simply as an idea for a baby and parenting shop. It began with a deeply personal story: one of immense love, courage, hope and resilience. A story that carries two names: Adam and Yahya.

I am Lamyaa, the mother of two extraordinary little boys who changed my life and are at the heart of every decision we make at A&Y.

My first son, Adam, was born with a complex congenital heart condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Very early on, my days became familiar to many families of children with complex medical needs: hospitals, procedures, waiting and uncertainty, alongside the small moments of happiness we held onto with a strength that is hard to explain.

Adam fought with immense courage. His dad and I stayed beside him with all the love and hope parents can hold for their child. While he was waiting for a heart transplant, Adam passed away. His story, however, did not end. It became part of me.

A few years later, I became the mother of Yahya, Adam’s younger half-brother. With him came the unimaginable: he was born with the same congenital heart condition as his older brother. Once again, my daily life as a mother became intertwined with paediatric cardiac care. Since birth, Yahya has undergone several open-heart surgeries, and medical care remains part of his daily life.

For my part, I am fortunate to have Yahya in my life. His presence and the love we share help soften some of the emptiness left by Adam. Each of my boys has his own place in my heart, and Adam will always have his.

Two children. The same condition. Two different journeys. And an entirely new way of seeing parenthood, families’ needs and the products that accompany their lives.

Why A&Y?

A&Y stands for Adam and Yahya. Two little boys, two fighters and two sources of inspiration. Adam represents a story that lives on through what we build. Yahya reminds us every day why we must keep imagining better possibilities.

In 2026, my experience as a mother became a conviction: no family should feel forgotten, whether daily life is ordinary or extraordinarily complex. We wanted to create a business that celebrates childhood’s beautiful moments while recognizing the harder realities some families live behind the doors of their homes or hospital rooms.

A child with complex medical needs is, first of all, a child. A mother is still a woman. And families should not have to choose between function, safety, comfort and beauty.

More than a baby shop

A&Y was imagined as a world for the whole family: for parents preparing for a baby, families looking for beautiful and practical products, caregivers, and families who simply want a softer everyday life.

We are also here for families living with medical equipment, tubing, appointments, hospital stays and needs that conventional products do not always meet. These two realities shape A&Y: celebrating childhood while gradually developing solutions for more complex journeys.

Choose carefully. Create with purpose.

Our goal is not to fill a shop with thousands of products. We want to build a thoughtful collection in which every item has a reason to exist. We choose products with attention to quality, comfort, usefulness and safety. We also develop our own A&Y collections.

Every design starts with a simple question: could this make a small moment in a family’s life better? If the answer is yes, we explore how to make it more comfortable, more beautiful, more practical or better suited to parents’ lives. That is how A&Y continues to take shape.

Tout Doux™ — Everyday softness

With Tout Doux™, we wanted to return to what matters: a baby’s comfort. Soft fabrics, natural styling, gentle colours and easy everyday essentials create a coordinated world of bodysuits, clothing, blankets and accessories.

The things we use every day do not need to be complicated to be beautiful. They need to feel good, be practical and be chosen with care.

Imagining products for children with complex medical needs

This is where Adam and Yahya’s story most deeply influences A&Y’s future. Parents of children with complex medical needs quickly discover that many baby products were designed for just one kind of everyday life.

For some families, there may be a gastrostomy tube, oxygen, tubing, a feeding pump, monitors or equipment that needs to travel with them and stay accessible. Even so, they want the same things as other parents: to go out with their child, dress them beautifully, keep them comfortable and enjoy ordinary moments together.

Our goal is to gradually develop an A&Y range suited to children with complex medical needs. We want designs that feel like children’s products, where medical accessibility can exist alongside style, comfort and dignity.

We believe innovation should also serve families who have too often had to adapt products themselves. My experience as a mother is the starting point for that work. Each new concept brings us a little closer.

Collections that grow with our story

A&Y is still a young business. We want to grow gradually and thoughtfully, without losing sight of why it began. Our original collections, new concepts and selected products will continue to evolve with families’ needs.

Some products meet small everyday needs. Others bring added comfort. Certain projects take more time, development and thought because they address challenges we know personally.

We want to create the things we wished we could have found when we needed them.

Safety comes first

For A&Y, safety is a responsibility. We pay careful attention to the quality and safety of the products we select and the designs we develop, and we want to earn families’ trust product by product.

Inclusion, always

We believe innovation should reach families whose everyday lives do not fit a standard pattern. Children and families living with complex care deserve products that respect comfort, dignity and real-life needs.

Inclusion is part of how we want to build A&Y, across the business.

A community, as well as a shop

We want A&Y to be a place parents return to: to discover a product, find an idea, read something helpful, prepare for a baby, explore a particular need or meet a brand whose values feel familiar.

Behind every order is a real family. Behind A&Y, too.

Every product carries part of their story

Adam will never see what A&Y becomes. Yet his mark is everywhere: in our name, in our hearts and in our wish to build something positive from a story that changed us deeply.

Every day, Yahya continues to teach and inspire us, showing us needs that are not always visible from the outside. A&Y could not have had any other name.

Adam and Yahya. Two little boys. Two fighters. Two stories joined by one heart. And now, one shared mission.

Our promise

We will keep choosing carefully, creating thoughtfully, listening to families and looking for solutions. We will celebrate small everyday moments alongside extraordinary victories. Above all, we will keep building A&Y with the same thing that brought it to life: heart.

Every heartbeat deserves the best.

A&Y – À Cœur d’Enfant
Every Style Begins with Heart.
Created for parents. Inspired by love. Thought of for every family.