Hello! We are C and J. We live in [State] with our 2-year-old foster daughter, dog Cinnamon, cat Gwada, and many fish. We love camping in our pop-top camper van, riding our bikes in nearby parks, and hosting friends and family in our backyard. We both enjoy giving back to our community through service, activism, and philanthropic giving.

C is a recruiter in the healthcare industry. She previously served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon and as a career navigator for refugees. J works in the local Mayor’s Office and has served in a variety of leadership roles in government and the nonprofit sector. Our extended family live nearby (parents, brother, sister, niece) and we enjoy family get-togethers regularly.

Our Love Story

We fell in love in Washington, D.C. in 2012. Our first date was a morning bike ride and an afternoon at the Taste of D.C. food festival. Exactly four years later in 2016, we hosted our wedding reception at that same food festival. A few months after our wedding, we moved across the country to be close to our family on the west coast where we both grew up.

Our Parenting Journey

We always knew that we wanted to be parents. And we knew our parenting journey would be unique since we are two women. Inspired to share our love with children and families in need, we decided to become certified foster parents. In 2019, we welcomed two little girls into our home – Junliana (7 years old) and Willow (4 years old). They came to us at different times and from different families. Yet, for a summer, we formed a family of four. We had a great time playing at the beach, dancing in the living room, and making slime in the kitchen. Both little girls were successfully reunified with their families and moved out of state. While we may be across the country from one another now, we stay in touch, sharing audio messages and photos every few months. They will always be our first kids.

In 2021, we welcomed Alejandra into our lives. She came to us as a 5-week-old baby who had just departed from the neonatal intensive care unit. She immediately filled our home and hearts with joy and tenderness. We proudly raised Alejandra for two years, helping her reach developmental milestones – like crawling, walking, and talking – as well as forming precious memories like feeding a giraffe at the zoo, hopping through her first easter egg hunt, and making fresh orange juice from the tree in our backyard. Loving Alejandra deepened our partnership as a couple, as well as brought out the best in us. She helped us to realize that we do want to raise children from birth to adulthood (in addition to continuing to serve as foster parents in the future).

Our Fertility Journey

As two 40-year-old women, we knew that pregnancy would not come easily. We went through a few rounds of fertility treatment but came to the realization that IVF may be a long and difficult road ahead. We started to explore other ways to build our family and learned about embryo adoption. We were really excited about this option since the potential of adoption had always been a part of our journey as foster parents. We would have happily adopted any of our foster children had they needed a permanent family. We deeply understand that family is not always biological. We love our foster daughters with all of our hearts and know that we will love our future children just as deeply.

An open adoption through Embryo Solution feels uniquely us. We are grateful and touched to know that parents who may have experienced their own fertility challenges are open to donating their embryos to help us build our forever family. We explored many embryo adoption programs, but many had little information about the donor families. We want our kids to know their origins and to have the option for connection with their biological family in the future.

Our Commitment

We are really excited to build our forever family and look forward to so many things – from Disneyland trips to international adventures, from weekly family meetings to Sunday library visits. But most of all, we are committed to building a loving home and raising thriving kids. We're grateful for your role in helping us do so.