Rachel & Jason

PETS

We have two amazing miniature poodles, Millie and Stuart, who bring endless joy and entertainment to our life. We may be biased, but Millie is definitely the sweetest pup in the whole world and Stuart is for sure the most charming. They both love to go on long walks, play endless hours of catch and snuggle together with us on the couch. Every once and a while, when their mom and dad forget to shut the door, they also enjoy sneaking into the pantry for some tasty human snacks.

Our Extended Family

Our network of loved ones includes both biological and chosen family, all of whom are hugely important to us. We’re really close with both sides of our families. One of the best parts about merging our lives together has been watching how well our two families get along—we know how rare that is to have in-laws that consider each other friends. Our parents even call each other just to chat! For the last several years, we’ve started a new tradition of hosting Thanksgiving for both our families together and it’s become a true highlight of everyone’s year.

We also consider our closest friends our family.  We see them all the time and are deeply engaged in each other’s lives. Many of our friends’ children even call us Uncle Jason and Auntie Rachel and we’re godparents to two awesome kiddos who we adore.

When we told our family that we’re planning to adopt, the enthusiasm was boundless. Our parents are over the moon excited for their first grandchild, our siblings can’t wait for a niece or nephew, our friends are already joyfully passing on parenting tips and supplies, and the kids in our life are lining up to babysit!

HOW WE MET

We met in the outfield as new members of our mutual friend’s bar league softball team.  We both remember the moment we saw each other for the first time, but our romantic relationship was a slow simmer as we went on a handful of casual dates for about a year and a half.  When Rachel was about to move to attend law school, we decided we couldn’t be without each other and embarked on a long-distance relationship, with Jason driving 8 hours almost every other weekend to visit Rachel.  After about a year of that, Jason hit a crossroads in his career that required him to choose Rachel or The Job.  He (wisely!) chose Rachel and moved to be with her.  We started building this beautiful life together and were married on New Years Eve 2008.  It was the best party ever!

Our Parenting Philosophy

It would be our greatest honor to help a baby grow into a curious, confident, kind, and fulfilled human. We want to raise a child who feels safe exploring their imagination, individuality, culture, interests, and emotions, who always knows that they are loved by many. We believe wholeheartedly that “it takes a village” to raise a child and we will always be open about how our family’s “village” was formed. Our contribution as adoptive parents would be to provide them the safety, security, love, opportunities and support we all know every child deserves.

What Adoption Means to Us

Since our earliest conversations about our future together (and long before we encountered our fertility challenges), we’ve contemplated adoption as a way to grow our family.  Through our community-focused work, we’ve both witnessed the extraordinary challenges of giving birth and raising children under the most difficult circumstances, often beyond a parent’s control.  We’ve also come to understand how our own upbringings and achievements are rooted in privileges that far too many do not (but all deserve) to have.  So, adoption for us is an opportunity to connect those two lessons.