Rachel & James
Dear Birth Mom,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our profile book. This must be a really complicated time for you and your family, and we imagine you have a lot on your mind. We don’t know what it’s like to be in your shoes, but we know that you must be very brave and loving to consider adoption. It must be hard and scary to consider people you do not know raising your child. Perhaps these books all start to look alike at some point, but we are hoping we can help you get a sense of who we are and what life with us would look like. We want to answer all your questions and ease your fears by being open and honest about our hopes for being part of your adoption story.
We want you to know that we think that what you are doing is beautiful and that no matter what you ultimately decide, we wish all the best for you and your baby.
With love,
Rachel & James
Our Adoption Story & Promise to You
Before we get started, we realize this section of our book is a bit long. We want to be honest with you from the beginning, so we hope you will bear with us and read about our hopes for an adoption plan with you.
I’m sure our story is not all that different from other families who are pursuing adoption as a way to build their family. We have always wanted to have children – we were both raised in big families and really treasure our relationships with them. Life was complicated for us, however, and it took us a little longer than some couples to feel like it was the right time to welcome a child into our home. Building a business, buying a home, leaving the city, and feeling ready were important to us, but once we were ready, it was already too late. We found out that it would be extremely unlikely for us to get pregnant on our own, and even with fertility treatment, it would still be very difficult. This news was hard to hear, but helped to strengthen a thought and feeling we’d had for a long time – that adoption would be the right path for us. Neither of us had ever felt the need for our child to look like us or be genetically related for us to be family and the more we considered the heartache, physical pain, and risk associated with trying to get pregnant, the more we realized that adoption was our path. And now we know that this is the right choice for us because we haven’t looked back or questioned it once. We have no illusions about adoption being easy – we know that our path will be challenging and uncertain – but we are ready to walk it together, with you.
What gives us strength and courage is our certainty that we have love to give and share, and that giving your child a wonderful life is the most important thing we could ever do. We feel strongly in who we are, what our values and priorities are, our love for each other and our families, and our readiness to devote ourselves to your child. When we daydream about the future, we imagine a life full of adventure, learning, curiosity, growth, and love. We think about our own childhoods and what meant the most to us. We think of catching fireflies on summer evenings, climbing trees, reading bedtime stories, singing Christmas carols, playing with our pets, being held and comforted by our parents, and learning to be strong, generous, kind people. These experiences meant so much to us and we can’t wait to share them with your child. We promise a lifetime of unconditional love and support, the opportunity to be who they want to be, to learn and grow in safety and security, permission to make mistakes and learn from them, to try new things and meet new people. To learn to love nature, books, different foods and cultures, to be kind, open-minded, honest and brave. To get messy, to smile broadly, cry openly and sing loudly, to run and play and learn and listen. To grow up to be whoever they want to be, knowing that they are loved and supported no matter what.
We also want you to know that we promise your child that we will take care of them in all of the ways they need. We promise to tend to their physical and mental health, to always teach them about where they come from and who they are, to send them to good schools, keep them safe from harm, feed their body with nutritious food and fresh air, to surround them with loving friends and family, to take them places and let them experience new things, while always being able to come home to a safe, warm, and peaceful place. These are the things that we promise to you, always.
About Us
We met about 12 years ago at a party. James’ sister and Rachel’s best friend worked together at the time and introduced us. As cheesy as it sounds, there were instant sparks, and we immediately felt very close, comfortable and familiar with each other. I remember meeting James for the first time and just wanting to hug him and not let go. James had also cooked a turkey for the party that night and I asked who had cooked it because it was the best turkey I had ever had and sure enough, it was the handsome guy who I was already drawn to. James has never attempted one since!
After dating for about two years, we moved in together, got engaged shortly after that, and we were married in August of 2018 at the Brooklyn Courthouse, where Rachel worked in alternative to incarceration programs. We also had a casual wedding ceremony near James’ childhood home focusing on good food (some of it we made ourselves), fresh-cut flowers from a local farm, and the joy of bringing all of the important people in our lives together.
Together, we spend our time running our online therapy business, doing DIY projects around the house, volunteering in our community, working on the garden, going on adventures with our dog, Hugo, and seeing family and friends. On the weekends, you’re likely to find us enjoying our big backyard, cooking, and watching movies and TV. Some favorites are the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, all the Marvel movies, crime shows (nothing too creepy) and Jeopardy. We both like to read, listen to podcasts and music, and just sit and talk and laugh together. Weekend trips to visit family, or having visitors stop by are common, as are adventures to pick up second-hand furniture, buy fresh produce at local farms, and long walks with Hugo.
About Rachel
Rachel is a loving, and highly empathetic person. She has an endless supply of patience. After spending time working in the court systems in alternative to incarceration programs, in 2019, Rachel started her own mental health practice, which she has grown over the past few years. Rachel is a crossword enthusiast; she faithfully does the New Times Crossword puzzle daily. And has a 529-day streak on Duolingo learning Italian! Every week Rachel makes food to help stock the local community pantry.
She grew up in Brooklyn, experiencing all the various cultures and access to all that NYC has to offer, and she is looking forward to sharing these experiences with your child one day. As the eldest child of a librarian and a professor, Rachel has a deep sense of curiosity and is always trying to learn. One of the many things I love about Rachel is what an incredible addition she has been to my family – she quickly bonded with not only my immediate family but my extended family as well, including my niece and nephew who she absolutely adores. It is always wonderful to see her playful side come out when we get to see our families!
With her warmth and patience, I know she will be an amazing, encouraging, and supportive mom. From showing your child how to garden and bake, to helping them with their homework, she will be there to support them always and no matter what. I can imagine her exchanging jokes back and forth with our child over breakfast at the kitchen island or curled up in front of the fireplace sharing her favorite books from when she was little. She also likes to sing silly songs to our dog, Hugo, and cat, Alice. Rachel has taken after her mother and started quilting, contributing quilt squares to quilts being made for several of my cousins who have had children recently – it will be a beautiful tradition that continues when we are lucky enough to grow our family and welcome a little one.
About James
James is one of the most humble, loving and generous people you are ever likely to meet. As I mentioned before, he also cooks a mean turkey! James was a Merchant Marine for several years. During this time, he traveled all over the world and learned the importance of dedication and teamwork. Wanting more stability, James then went into the restaurant business and worked for high-end celebrity chefs. Again, James was valued for his commitment to helping his team, and his work ethic. As we prepare to welcome a little one into our home, he is now helping run our family’s telehealth therapy business so he can be home more and have a more flexible schedule. James is also a skilled handyman and does a great job fixing and maintaining things around the house. He always has a new project in mind!
James is loyal and dedicated, curious and kind, warm and cuddly, playful and silly. He is so excited to see the world through the eyes of your child and learn things from their perspective. He is infinitely patient with our friends and relatives’ kids, as well as with our own pets, and of course, me. I can’t wait to see James as a dad. It’s a role he is so well-suited for and I just know he is going to be amazing.
Alice & Hugo
It would be impossible to describe us or our life without talking about Alice and Hugo, our furry babies. They bring so much silliness and love into our home and we can’t wait to see how excited they will be to have a child to play with!
Alice is our 17 year old Tabby cat. Like most cats, she’s pretty aloof and is definitely “the boss” around our house. Rachel rescued Alice when she was just a teeny kitten – someone had abandoned her in the street. She has warmed up to James over the years but is still a mommy’s girl.
Hugo is our 5 year old Chow Chow, Staffordshire Terrier, Lab mix. He was a rescue as well. Hugo came from a family with kids and farm animals so he loves children and is dying to play! He is gentle and goofy and always needs more snuggles. We love taking him for long walks or just rolling around in the grass with him on sunny days.
We love our animals and felt really good about giving them both good homes after their previous owners could no longer care for them. We have no doubt that they will be great friends with your child!
Our Home
We bought our home in November of 2022. It is our first house together. We moved here from an apartment in Brooklyn, NY, hoping to make it our own and grow into it by adding animals and kids. We spend a lot of time in our home since we both work from home. We love to do home improvement projects and have completed some big ones, like redoing the kitchen (we tiled the backsplash ourselves!), adding raised beds to our garden, and slowly acquiring furniture from our local buy nothing/sell nothing group.
It’s really important to us that our home feel warm, inviting and comfortable. No one should feel weird wearing shoes in our house, or plopping down on the couch next to Alice, our grumpy but lovable 17-year-old tabby cat. We purposely got a house bigger than we imagined needing so we can host big family get-togethers and always be able to find room for one more. We are lucky enough to have an acre of land with plenty of open space to run and play, trees to climb and land to grow vegetables in. We also have a great (and fenced in for safety!) pool for swimming in the summertime.
Our neighborhood is quiet, safe and pretty rural – we have cows and goats up the road, an apple orchard across the street, and big open sky for stargazing. Although we are in a quiet area, we are also ten minutes from a downtown area with plenty of shopping, restaurants, cultural events, volunteer opportunities and a big university. Our town is diverse and peaceful, celebrating different points of view, and we are in a great school district. We are about an hour outside of NYC and all it has to offer, less than 2 hours from Rachel’s hometown of Brooklyn, NY and about 3 hours from James’ hometown of Boston, MA.
As you can probably tell, we have the best of both worlds and we are so excited to be able to raise our family here one day.
Our Loved Ones
When we bought our house, it was important to us to be close to both sets of parents. We are both very close with our families. Rachel lost her dad suddenly in May of 2023 but had a wonderful relationship with him, as did James. Rachel is still very close to her mom and siblings, as well as aunts and uncles, and a large chosen family of friends who Rachel grew up around. Rachel’s siblings are both in Brooklyn and she sees them often. Holidays like Thanksgiving and Easter are always big get-togethers with plenty of food, laughter and music.
James is also close with his mother, father, and step-mother, sisters, and step-brothers. James’ sisters live in Philadelphia and so are close by for frequent visits and eventual auntie duties. James also has a huge network of close aunts, uncles, cousins, and little-cousins, mostly living nearby.
We are both extremely close with each other’s families and have a lot of love, respect, and fondness for them. Our families are so excited about our adoption plan and already, we have eager potential grandparents, aunts and uncles ready to love a new bundle of joy to bits!
Holidays & Traditions
We prioritize family vacations each year where everyone gets together to celebrate Christmas, or enjoy summertime, or visit each other. We see nieces and nephews, cousins and little cousins as often as possible.
Every year, we spend time at the river, which is a small island in the St. Lawrence River. This island has been in James’ family for generations and is a truly magical place. It’s a bit rustic but so beautiful and relaxing. Days are spent swimming, fishing, canoeing and reading on the pink rocks with family and friends. We feel so lucky to have this amazing place to retreat to and one day, introduce a child to. We also go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina every summer with Rachel’s family. This has been a tradition for the past 35 years. We spend our days on the beach reading, swimming and fishing, or exploring the various national seashores, museums, villages and shops.
We hope this book helps you get to know us and will leave you with a positive feeling about what life with us would look like for your child. We are so grateful to you for taking the time to consider us. We would be so lucky to have the chance to get to know you and be considered as possible adoptive parents for your child. This is a responsibility and an honor that we do not take lightly and would be eternally grateful for. We send you wishes for strength, peace, comfort and love. Please let us know if there is anything else you would like to know about us or our adoption plan.
With love and gratitude,
Rachel & James
CONTACT US
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