We are honored and grateful that you are taking the time to learn about us! Although we can’t put ourselves in your shoes we know that whichever decision you make, it is rooted in love. Creating an adoption plan for your child must be difficult and we know you will make the best decision no matter what you choose.
We met while both working at a children’s hospital in Southern California. What started as a friendship quickly flourished into something that would become so much more. Our love for the outdoors made it easy to decide on our first hangout- a hike! It was during this first hike that we both felt something more for one another and we quickly became inseparable, laughing all the time and sharing the same sense of humor. It wasn’t until a month later that Susie decided it was time to admit her feelings over a homemade meal (her famous baked salmon and roasted rainbow carrots). The feelings were mutual, David admitting to being attracted to Susie from day one, and that’s when our story began...
I was born and raised in Southern California. My household consisted of my two loving parents and two older brothers who were, and still are, my best friends. I have many wonderful memories from my childhood- whether it be the soccer tournaments (coached by my Father), the large family gatherings, or the yearly camping trips to “Camp-land on the Bay” in San Diego. My upbringing was filled with love, support and great memories; it is memories such as these that I wish to share with our future children.
For college, I pursued an undergraduate and graduate degree in Exercise Physiology. Shortly after completing my studies I moved to Los Angeles and worked at a children’s hospital- it is there that Susie and I first met! Our relationship initially began as a friendship but quickly flourished into much more. Susie has been an amazing life partner- we laugh, have fun, and push each other to be the best version of ourselves.
Though working at the children’s hospital was an amazing experience, I decided to further my career and pursue the position I am currently in. I am now working in my dream field- as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Clinic.
Prior to meeting Susie, I felt in my heart that adoption was in my future. I knew that even if I was to never get married, I would still want to be a Father. My desire to be a Father must stem from the love that was given to me as a child; I want to have the opportunity to also give the love that was, and still is, shown to me.
David is a calm, sweet and intelligent person. What struck me the most when we first started working together was David's ability to get the most challenging children to open up. He got kids to do difficult breathing tests and he connected with each of his patients, remembering details about them, which to me showed that he cared and listened. I had been a nurse for many years by that time, and I found this ability really powerful and unique.
David has always been "my rock"- he knows how to support and love me for who I am and where I came from. This comes from the way he has always cared for his family and friends. He is also known to be very loyal to the ones he loves most. These are some of the qualities that I know will make him an amazing father.
I was born in Paris, France and raised in a small town in the suburbs of Paris. I moved to the United States at the age of 17 to go to college. My family still lives overseas and we try to visit them at least once a year. I have dual citizenship and have relatives on my Father’s side in Wisconsin. I grew up speaking English at home and French in the community, something my American Dad and Vietnamese-French Mom made sure of throughout our childhood.
I pursued my dream of working in healthcare and graduated nursing school in Wisconsin. My career eventually brought me to Los Angeles, California to become a Pediatric Nurse. It was at the children’s hospital where we both worked that I first met David. We were just friends and coworkers at first, but I quickly learned that he was going to be someone very special in my life.
I have always wanted to be a Mom and for as long as I can remember, adoption was something I knew would be in my future. My love for children began when I was just a little girl- I was always surrounded by kids and the neighborhood we grew up in was full of children of all ages that we played with or babysat. As an adult, I have enjoyed working with kids the most and I was a pediatric nurse for over 10 years. As a couple, David and I have always been a great team- we navigate through life’s ups and downs together and I cannot wait to raise children with him!
Susie is a caring, smart and hard-working person who is always willing to help her friends, family, and those in need.
Her care and consideration for others is what I admire most about Susie and what inspires those around her to be better as well. She is a driven individual and is able to accomplish her goals in life through her passion and hard-work.
What also attracted me to Susie was her apparent love for life. Susie loves to explore, try new things and most importantly- laugh! As a couple, we are always joking around with each other. We have the same sense of humor and many of our loved ones have commented that we are like two peas in a pod. Susie is also good at making light of situations in life, something that's reflected in our relationship with each other, our families and our friends.
As a couple we take joy in being active! Our Saturdays often consist of exploring the beautiful hiking trails that Los Angeles has to offer. One of the trails we go to most often is Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, which has beautiful California native plants, mountain views, and in the winter months a flowing river & waterfall. We also love riding our road bikes from our house to the Rose Bowl, to a coffee shop in one of the neighboring cities, or renting a tandem bike to ride the strand at the beach. Because outdoor activities are an integral part of our relationship, we are excited to share our adventures with our future child. We have already begun searching for safe ways to include them, such as a baby bike seat or a child carrier for hiking. Outdoor activities like these are core memories of our own childhoods and we wish to pass that on to our future child as well.
Another one of our favorite things to do is to spend time near the water: whether it’s spending the day at the beach, hanging out on David’s parent’s boat, or in swimming in a pool. These are some of the wonderful things about living in Southern California!
When we are not spending time outdoors, we enjoy relaxing at home, watching movies and making home cooked meals.
David loves to try new dinner recipes and Susie loves to bake her famous Nutella pound cake. As a couple, we have diverse cultural backgrounds. We find it important to express our cultures and often do so in our cooking: Susie makes her Mom’s Vietnamese curry chicken and simple traditional French dishes, and we’ve spent time with David’s Grandma Mague learning how to make her amazing Mexican tamales and handmade tortillas. We are excited to incorporate our future child’s heritage in our everyday lives as well.
For the past 6 years we have lived in Pasadena, California. Our home is a comfortable 2 bedroom & 2 bathroom house with a large backyard. We have kind and reliable next door neighbors. The neighborhood itself is calm with families of diverse backgrounds that we see regularly walking their dogs or biking. Within walking distance we have parks, playgrounds, & libraries that we love to spend time at. Pasadena also has many community pools that we wish to take our future child to.
We also love our area because of its proximity to beaches & mountains. We can get to our favorite beach or to the local ski and snowboarding resort in a about an hour or two. The Los Angeles area also has a lot of fun sightseeing areas like Hollywood or the Malibu Canyons.
Susie’s Family: Susie is a middle child between her 2 sisters and 1 brother that currently live in France, Belgium, and Indonesia. Her parents still live in her childhood home in France. Their home remains the hub where everyone gathers when we go visit every year. Though her family is globally dispersed, they stay very connected with modern technology such as daily group texting, video chats, sending pictures and videos. We are the proud Aunt and Uncle of 3 beautiful nephews under the age of 4 and they are the center of attention of the entire family, usually the main characters of the videos sent in our group messages. Within the LA area, Susie also has many Vietnamese cousins that we traditionally see over big family meals.
David’s Family: David is the youngest of his family, growing up with 2 older brothers. Both of his brothers live in the Los Angeles area and are married with two children (4 more nieces and nephews under the age of 4!) His parents live locally in Apple Valley where David and his brothers were raised, which is about an hour drive from LA. We see each other often at family barbecues and backyard hangouts. In addition to his immediate family, David also has a large traditional Mexican-American extended family on both his Mother’s and Father’s side. The families still get together regularly for holidays and celebrations. His Grandmother’s house is a place of love and warmth where all are welcome and where everyone is family, whether you are blood related or not.
What will be most important to us is for our child to truly understand that they are loved and supported. We will want them to feel the love not only from us, but from our families and friends. We will be honest with them and support them as they get older and begin to better understand their adoption story. We want to raise our future child to not only understand the history of us— their adopted family— but to also have an understanding and pride of their biological background as well. We will show them that we love every part of them, regardless of cultural, religious, or ethnic background.
Our goal as future parents is for our future child to understand that they can accomplish anything that they set their minds to.
We hope to help them find their passions and will support them to reach their full potential, whether it’s a hobby, their relationships, or their education.
As parents, we want to provide our future child with as many opportunities as possible. The fact that Susie grew up bilingual helped open a lot of doors throughout her life and we wish to do the same for our future child. We want to raise them to speak English and French at home, and later Spanish with lessons and at school.
Adoption was something that we both had individually envisioned in our futures, even before ever becoming a couple. We found this to be unique since it was not the “traditional way” most people build their families, but also unlike many adoptive parents we know, we didn’t face infertility issues before choosing this path. Together, we’ve always known that this was the way we wanted to grow our family.
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to learn a little more about who we are. Our promise as future parents is that we will be loving, open, and supportive to our future children. We promise to raise them knowing their adoption story and to remind them that your love for them is a huge part of who they are and will become.
We recognize that creating this adoption plan must feel challenging at times and that this profile likely does not address all of your questions and thoughts. We invite you to please reach out to us and get know us more to help you with this decision. This is the most selfless act you could be doing for your child and we know that whichever choice you make, it will be the best one to fulfill the vision you have of the baby’s future.
