Choose A Family : Parent Profile
Chiara and Jordan
Dear Birthmother,
We know you are making a difficult decision, and we so appreciate your looking at us. We hope that, whatever your decision is, you are able to feel good about it. We know we feel very good in taking this step to bring a baby into our lives.
Who We Are
We are one of those Internet-dating success stories you hear about. Both of us wanted to meet someone with whom we could build a future, but, for one reason or another, we were having trouble finding each other. On a dare from a friend, Chiara wrote to one person on match.com. Our first date was a long dinner—we had to keep sending the waiter away because we were so busy talking and laughing that it took us an hour to even read the menu. We had three more dates that week and we’ve been together nearly every day since. We were married on November 6, 2005. We still talk and laugh a lot, especially Chiara.
We think one of the reasons we really enjoy each other is that we come from different cultures. Chiara is from Milan, Italy, and Jordan grew up all over America. This allows us to bring different perspectives to our marriage and to our kitchen. We both love to cook and entertain. It might be pasta, or it might be barbecue, but no one leaves our house hungry.
Because our families are so spread out, we’re also big on travel. We try to make it home to see Jordan’s family in Michigan every summer and Chiara’s family in Italy every other year. During our last two Italian trips, we also went to Spain and Greece, and each new place we see makes us want to see more. We’re currently planning a trip to Peru for Jordan’s brother’s wedding. It seems our family is getting more international all the time, and because of our appreciation of other cultures, this is a lot of fun for us.
What We Do
After riding the corporate wave at the birth of the Internet, Chiara is now a freelance art director. This means she works from home, which allows her a lot of flexibility. She likes this part of her job a lot, because it means she has time for her other passion: painting. Chiara went to an arts high school, and she graduated with a degree in fine art from Pepperdine University. She has a gallery show in early 2009, so she’s been spending a lot of time lately in her studio in the backyard, singing Italian songs and making new work.
Jordan got his B.A. in Theatre from the University of Michigan and worked for many years as an actor in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, he took a left turn and decided to get an MFA in creative writing. Along the way, he’s had a few stories published, and now he teaches writing to college students at the University of La Verne. He also works with younger students in Los Angeles. When he’s not grading papers, Jordan likes to play guitar (not half-badly), piano (very badly), and tend to his fish tanks. He also tries to get our dog, Argos, to behave himself, but, so far, that hasn’t really worked.
Kids
We love ‘em. Between us, we have eight nieces and nephews, one godchild, and several friends’ children with whom we’re close. In fact, most summer evenings, the two little girls next door spend a few minutes hollering from their backyard playhouse for us to come out and play. A biological child of our own, however, doesn’t seem to be in the cards for us. We know some couples are devastated by this, but we think adoption is a beautiful way to make our family complete.
Our Promises to a Child:
We promise to raise you with decency and compassion.
We promise to read to you.
We promise to sing to you.
We promise to encourage you, whoever you turn out to be.
We promise we’ll at least try to explain when we have to say no.
We promise we won’t use the television as your babysitter.
We promise you’ll be a citizen of the world.
We promise not to force you to eat Brussels sprouts (very few people actually like them).
We promise we’ll remember it’s our job to be the grown-ups, and it’s your job to be the kid.
We promise to love you until the moon falls out of the sky.
We’re really looking forward to being parents, and we think if we’re able to share some of the joy we’ve found in each other, then we’ll have a lot to offer a child.
It has to take a lot of strength to approach the choice you’re making and we thank you for considering us in it.
Sincerely,
Jordan & Chiara
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