Thank you for selecting our profile. We are deeply humbled that you want to learn more about us. We have no idea what you may be experiencing or the emotions you are feeling, but we recognize you are searching for the option that is best for you. We respect you as a mother who is taking the time to educate yourself.

One thing we want you to understand about us is that we really want to be parents. It is something that we have tried to do on our own. We have struggled with infertility but we are not letting it hold us back from our goal. We are excited to raise a child (or children!) so that we can pass down our knowledge and values. We hope that adoption will help us grow our family.

We want you to know that we support your decision, whichever direction you go, and so thank you so much for your consideration! We hope you enjoy getting to know us better.

With Love,
Heather and Stuart

We met in the summer of 2005 through close mutual friends and very quickly fell in love. Following a few years of dating, we decided it was time to live together. Our apartment was in Oakland, California and though small and cramped, we made it a fun place to live and met many wonderful friends that are still part of our lives. We loved our apartment and the life we were beginning to build together. At the end of 2009, we got engaged during a trip to New York City. We could not have been happier! Ten months later we were married by our close friend presiding over the ceremony with family and friends in attendance. A couple years later, we purchased our first home in Castro Valley and said farewell to our little Oakland apartment. After 3 years of living in Castro Valley, we moved back to Oakland where we purchased our current home, a fixer-upper!

After almost ten years of marriage, we are very close to each other and still love each other very much! We are loving, stable people with a great family/friendship network. We love going on long hikes, finding new places to eat breakfast, exploring the world together, and hosting the occasional backyard BBQ. We love our life together and look forward to what the future holds for us as we prepare to grow our family!

When we got married our plan was to start a family right away, but we were faced with some complications. I (Heather) have endometriosis and it has made getting pregnant very difficult. Even prior to being diagnosed with endometriosis, I was drawn to adoption and envisioned that we would one day grow our family in this way. But, we decided we would first pursue options to get pregnant. Over the last couple of years, we tried naturally to conceive but it was not successful. We have not let these setbacks get in the way of growing our family. We’re excited about adoption because we want to be parents! We have both found purpose in many things in our life over time. Hobbies, our friends and family, and our careers. Raising a child will take us to the next level as people and we’re ready to do it. We have a lot of love in our hearts and we know that the love we have to give a child doesn’t depend on our matching DNA.

GROWING UP: I grew up in a suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area as the youngest in my immediate family. In school I was always involved with student government, sports, and various clubs. During my college years I attended CSU, East Bay which is located in the neighboring city of Hayward. I graduated from there with a bachelors in Liberal Arts and minors in French and Photography.

OCCUPATION: Today, I am an educator at Saint Leo the Great School in Oakland. I have been at my school for the past three years teaching in various roles. I am now the second grade teacher there. Once a child joins our family, I plan to become a full time mother and stay home to raise the baby. In my free time you can find me out tending the garden, reading a book or simply just taking a nap. I also enjoy traveling, hiking, gardening, running, interior design, permaculture/ sustainability, and volunteering within the community.

WHY I WANT TO BE A MOTHER: As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a mother. I often dreamed of having a family of four children when I was younger and eventually growing the family further through adoption.

FRIENDS DESCRIBE ME AS: Loyal, happy, creative and adventurous
FAVORITE MOVIE: Mary Poppins and Coco
FAVORITE BOOK: Where the Wild Things Are
INSPIRED BY: Good design, art and the natural world
FAVORITE MEMORY: The day we got married!

GROWING UP: I was raised in a small town in Virginia called Staunton with my two sisters. During high school, we lived on a farm and it was one of the most amazing experiences. After high school, I lived in Georgia for four years, making music and learning how to record bands and later headed out to California with a friend to pursue a career in music recording.

OCCUPATION: I currently work for an electric vehicle manufacturer named Rivian, focusing on the website and sales side of the business. I love helping to build companies! In my free time, I have been diligently completing restorations in our house, one room at a time. When I’m not building on the house, I like to spend time learning about a new technology or electrical engineering skill or some new way to apply either of these passions to cooking a new kind of meal. I enjoy photography, scuba diving, cooking, hiking and traveling.

WHY I WANT TO BE A DAD: I’ve applied myself to many things over the years: hobbies, career, friends and family and traveling to wonderful places. I think having a child to teach about all these things that matter to me would really add a greater purpose to my life.
GROWING UP: I was raised in a small town in Virginia called Staunton with my two sisters. During high school, we lived on a farm and it was one of the most amazing experiences. After high school, I lived in Georgia for four years, making music and learning how to record bands and later headed out to California with a friend to pursue a career in music recording.

FRIENDS DESCRIBE ME AS: Funny, creative, relaxed and ambitious
FAVORITE MOVIE: James Bond 007
FAVORITE BOOK: Flatland
INSPIRED BY: Technical challenges
FAVORITE MEMORY: Our wedding day!

We live in the vibrant city of Oakland, located in Northern California. Oakland is a wonderful and diverse place. As it is centrally located, we have easy access to the country, the beach, and the mountains. San Francisco is also only a 10 minute drive away. It is one of the many reasons why we love where we live. Our street is nestled between two larger neighborhood districts. These two enclaves supply us with an excellent variety of food, shops, schools, and parks, all available within a walking distance from our home!

Our Mediterranean style home is a split level with three bedrooms and a small backyard. It is located on a quiet one-way street. We purchased this fixer-upper and have been remodeling it one room at a time, adding our own personal touches to it. We enjoy the process of updating our home to fit our personalities and getting to accomplish this project together. Stuart does most of the construction, and Heather does gardening and decorating the interior!

Our neighborhood holds an annual street party potluck every October. All of the families on the block are invited to come out and gather under the large evergreen tree at the end of the road for food, fellowship, and fun. Our close friends only live a few blocks away which makes it easier for us to hang out more often.

Chester (Maltese Poodle Mix) - We rescued Chester right before we got engaged and he’s been such a wonderful part of our lives. He loves belly rubs, long walks and licking toes. Barley (Maltese Poodle Mix) - We rescued Barley five years ago and love her sweet spirit and companionship. Barley loves squeak toys, giving kisses, and looking out our large living room window. Both dogs are very protective of their home, but they are very gentle and chill. They love all children! They will absolutely love having a sweet child to look after and adore.

HEATHER’S FAMILY: My parents, Thomas and Nancy, were high school sweethearts and got married just a few years after they graduated high school. My mother is of Northern European descent and my father is Mexican and Puerto Rican. I have one older sister named Rachelle who is married to her high school sweetheart, Tommy. They have four children, three girls and one boy. They range in age from 25 to 12 and all live in Oregon. We usually see them once or twice a year and of course we want my family to be involved in our baby’s life while we celebrate holidays and take vacations together.

STUART’S FAMILY: My parents both live in Virginia and I talk to them weekly. They divorced when I was young and my mother remarried a man named David (he has 4 sons). I have two sisters, Anne and Peyton, who live in Virginia. Both of them have children and we all see each other a few times a year. In between visits we talk on the phone fairly regularly. Both Anne and Peyton’s children know Heather and I as the aunt and uncle in California and we look forward to them being old enough to come visit us. When the entire family gets together, we usually visit a lake or a beach or spend a holiday at one of their houses.

Thank you once again for taking the time to get to know us. We hope you have a better feel for who we are and what is important to us. We realize you have a lot of options to choose from as you select the best path forward. Please know that we respect and support your decision. If you choose to go through with an adoption plan, these are the commitments we will make to you and our baby.

To honor and celebrate the adoption journey. We feel that it is important for the development of the baby as a person to know and have a connection to his/her heritage.

To instill core values such as kindness, compassion, honesty, and hard work. We believe these values were important to our own upbringing and so we want to pass on the same sense of responsibility to our children.

To encourage empathy and forgiveness. We believe strength in leadership comes from understanding and helping others.

To teach respect for people from every background. We live in a diverse area of the world and believe that understanding and participating in different cultural experiences helps enrich each other.

To provide great education and learning opportunities, inside and outside of school. Learning is constantly happening all around us. We want to have our child recognize these experiences and develop a natural curiosity of the world.

To understand that challenges are how we learn and grow. Success may not come on the first try but persistence and determination will yield learnings and develop character.

We are not perfect and we know that we have conflicts and don’t always live up to our own expectations. After 15 years together, we have learned that when we are faced with problems or decisions that seem unsolvable, some time apart and continued discussion with friends and family helps us find clarity on the best path forward. The answer is not always obvious or easy, but we hope you find some peace and comfort in our advice and we support you no matter what you choose to do.