Tan France says he and his husband, Rob France, create email accounts for their children and send them messages every six months about who they are and what they enjoy, while hoping the kids can read the emails as adults.
Tan France doesn’t keep his kids’ childhoods in a scrapbook. He keeps them in an inbox.
On Tuesday. France talked about the routine on the “Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky” podcast. explaining that he documents his children’s early years through email. “We created email accounts for my kids. ” he said. adding that his messages are written with the simple idea that they won’t be read until later in life.
Every six months or so, France and his husband, Rob France, will each send their children emails. In those notes, France said, they write “about who they are, and what they’re about, and what they enjoy, and who we think they might be.”
The couple married in 2007, and they welcomed two children via surrogacy in 2021 and 2023. France described the email tradition as his “favorite thing” to do several times each year. and he said he loves the idea that. as adults. his children will be able to look back at what their parents were seeing and learning in real time.
He also hopes the messages offer a perspective he didn’t have growing up. “I would love to know if my parents struggled as much as I’m struggling being a parent. and how hard it is. because we only just see our parents as. well. you’re my parent. ” France said. “I find it fascinating to know that my kids might see us as just people also.”.
France said he got the idea from Kim Kardashian. In a 2023 appearance on the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast, Kardashian said she writes letters to her kids on their birthdays about the year they’ve had, adding, “I know that they’ll appreciate this.”
Other celebrity parents have described their own ways of preserving memories, too. Meghan Markle said in a 2025 appearance on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” that she emails her kids almost every night before she goes to bed. saying. “The things that you’re not going to frame. the things that you’re not going to put pen to paper in a journal. but they will end up wanting at one point in their life. maybe when they’re 16 or when they’re 18. ” Markle said.
France’s own approach mirrors that same belief—turning everyday messages into something his children may only be able to fully appreciate when they’re older.
Tan France Rob France Queer Eye Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky email tradition surrogacy parenting Kim Kardashian Meghan Markle Monica Lewinsky childhood memories
Six months emails??? Seems kinda extra.
I mean it’s cute I guess, but emailing kids their whole childhood to open later feels weirdly dystopian? Like who’s managing the accounts forever.
Wait so he’s doing this every 6 months like a calendar subscription lol. Also surrogacy timeline 2021 and 2023… not that it matters but it just makes me think the article is missing like the important stuff.
This is basically the same as that thing where people text their kids old screenshots or whatever right? Idk I saw Kim Kardashian mentioned and then it got confusing. If they don’t read it till they’re adults, what if they never check the email like??
That’s actually kinda cute, like an inbox time capsule.
Wait so he’s making email accounts for kids and just… writing to them forever? 6 months seems like a lot. Also isn’t email like not secure or whatever? Seems weird but maybe it’s fine. I dunno.
I heard Kim Kardashian does something similar so I’m guessing that’s where it all came from. But also this sounds like that thing where people record kids growing up and then it turns into therapy?? Like if they have to read it as adults, won’t it just stress them out more.
Honestly sounds like Meghan Markle but with emails instead of paper, right? Like celebrities always turning normal parenting into content. I just feel bad for the kids having to check an inbox when they’re older, like what if they don’t even want to know what their parents were thinking? Also surrogacy in 2021 and 2023… so they started this like immediately? idk, seems like a lot of overplanning.