Thank you so much for taking time to read our letter. We are writing to tell you a little about us and hope we get a chance to meet you. We realize this is a challenging and difficult time for you and feel very strongly that you are showing great courage by considering adoption.

We have been together for 10 years and love each other very much. We have always hoped to share this love with children. Renee is from southern California and was raised by her mother and grandparents. When she was nine her mother married her wonderful stepfather. Renee is also quite close to her birth father’s family. As a child she spent many summers in New Mexico with her cousins, tias and tios. Renee works for a non-profit organization placing volunteers to work in public schools. Mary Jo is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is the youngest of a large family and has many nieces and nephews. We keep in close contact with her extended family via phone, internet and yearly visits. Mary Jo has worked in the IT department at a large consulting firm for the past 13 years. She enjoys the challenge of keeping up with the latest technologies.

Three years ago we adopted Josephine into our family, she is Latina and African-American. Our time with her has been truly amazing and we cannot imagine our life without her. She is happy, healthy and very outgoing. Lately she has been playing with her toy doctor’s kit, taking our blood pressure and temperature and assuring us we will be okay after our booster shots. She is the light of our lives and we are thrilled and proud to be her parents. We’ve always hoped that our family would include two children and are now excited to add to our family. We will make sure that our children have many opportunities to develop friendships with children who share their heritage as well as children who are in interracial and adoptive families. We are especially looking forward to seeing the relationship between Josie and her brother and sister evolve and grow over their lifetime.

We recently bought a house in the Sunnyside neighborhood of San Francisco. We love living in the city and exploring our new community. We discovered a great new playground and a wonderful farmer’s market which we visit most weekends. We enjoy cooking; going to the beach and spending time with friends and family. We like to listen to an eclectic mix of music styles, everything from oldies to mash-ups, however recently we seem to be stuck on Raffi and Disney – Josephine’s favorites! We love to travel. Our home also includes our dog Rosie, a Border Collie mix, and Jack and Sofia, matching tuxedo felines.

Though we have different personalities, we share the same values and goals and our differences work well together. Renee tends to be a creative free thinker while Mary Jo tends toward the practical and structured. Our partnership is the foundation of our lives and we value the love and respect we share as a couple and with Josephine. We were both raised to respect other people and treat them as we’d like to be treated, traits we hope to pass on to our children. We also really value having a caring group of friends from many different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Throughout the year, our home is often used to host BBQs and dinners with our extended family.

Should you choose us as parents for your baby, please be assured that your child will always be our main concern. We will provide a loving, secure home with a lot of fun, laughter and music. Your child will be loved, supported and encouraged to achieve their dreams. We will do our best to listen and respond in a way that nurtures their individual personality and talents, allowing him or her to grow into a healthy, caring adult. You will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we will be forever grateful to you for helping us add to our family. It is important to us that you feel good about your decision. We believe that your happiness will positively impact the long term happiness and well being of your child. If you decide on an open adoption, we would be happy to share information through letters, photographs or visits. If you would like to get to know us better, we would love to speak or meet with you. We wish you the best during this difficult time and thank you for considering us as prospective parents. Please call us anytime of the day or night (toll free) at 1-877-756-7656. This is Renee’s cell number and although her Spanish is a bit rusty she will do her best to converse with you in Spanish. Or you may contact our adoption counselor, Lisa Clark, at 1-800-969-6665.