Hello! We are Ria and Wayne from L.A. We are a kind and fun-loving couple that love to laugh! Thank you for considering adoption and taking the time to learn about our lives! We really respect the courageous decision you are making. Through your selflessness and love for your child, we are hoping you’ll make our dream come true.

We’ve always believed that families come in all sorts of forms, and a family is made not just by blood, but also by love and openness. We’d love nothing more than to bring joy and happiness to your child.

While we always wanted to have some exciting story to tell people about how we met, the truth is that we met online. We hit it off, and the only regrets were that we wish we’d have met each other sooner. It turned out Wayne only lived about three miles away from Ria, so sometimes he rode his bicycle to see her.

Our first date was in Burbank, and we met for happy hour. It turned out that we had parked right next to each other, without even knowing it. On our second date, Wayne gave Ria a gift – an avocado from his dad’s garden. Ria knew Wayne was different by this avocado gift, and she was won over.

After realizing we were meant for each other, we got married in 2015. Wayne proposed to Ria on Valentine’s Day in Malibu. Afterwards, we celebrated by having dinner at Five Guys burgers, and it’s been our Valentine’s Day tradition ever since. We had a small wedding at a small chapel nestled in the redwoods overlooking the Pacific coast in Palos Verdes (where Ria had always wanted to get married). It was followed by a fun, beachside lunch with family and friends who had traveled from all over. We danced to a ukulele player who played live Hawaiian music.

We share a great sense of humor, love to eat, travel and also enjoy just staying at home to watch TV and movies. We are both affectionate to each other and really believe that hugs are like vitamins. After dealing with infertility issues the past few years, we realized that adoption would be a great blessing for us. Going through this made us closer to one another and made our bond stronger. We’d love nothing more than to become parents.

Ria works as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, taking care of sick babies in the ICU. She only works three shifts a week and has a flexible schedule. She loves her job and can’t imagine doing anything else. Seeing the sick babies get better and go home with their parents bring her a lot of fulfillment and joy.

Did You Know? Ria has traveled to over 20 countries. She’s been to Australia, Iceland, Italy, Peru, Spain to name a few.

Wayne works from home. He is a Senior Marketing Specialist for a large real estate company. He helps train real estate agents on the company software tools and programs. He enjoys his job because it is rewarding to see someone learn and use the programs to do better in their jobs. He also used to work as a substitute teacher, teaching kindergarten to 12th grade.

Did You Know? Wayne loves to play disc golf, tennis and online chess and hearts.

We just moved to a new house in a gated community in Porter Ranch, CA. It has a community playground and swimming pools. There's nearby parks, where we can take a baby out for a stroll and play ball when the child is older. Award winning Castle Bay Lane Charter School is nearby. There are many other families with young children in
the neighborhood. Los Angeles is a diverse and fun city to raise a child in!

Ria’s extremely close to her family. Her parents still live in the Philippines, and pre-Covid she tried to see them as often as she could. She has weekly Facetime calls with her parents, older sister and younger brother. Her older sister lives in Colorado, and she and her husband are excited to be an aunt and uncle.

Wayne’s family lives close by in Southern California. Wayne’s father is excited about being a grandfather for the first time. Wayne’s sister is also very excited about being an aunt, and she’ll be our legal guardian as well. She’s very smart and kind and loves children.

One of Wayne’s best friends from elementary school (he’s known him since they were 5 years old), has adopted two boys. He and his wife love their boys, and both say that it was the best decision they ever made. They were very instrumental in educating us about the adoption process, and what it was like to be an adoptive family.

Being multi-racial and from another country, we really understand the importance of maintaining one’s identity, background and culture. We are hoping for an open adoption because we believe that birth parents and their stories are important in forming the child’s identity.

We also believe that education goes beyond textbooks and schools. We plan to expose your child to different races and cultures and hope to raise an open minded and curious child.

From both of us, a big THANK YOU for getting to know us and considering us as adoptive parents for your child. We will use the love and affection for each other to provide a warm and nurturing home. No matter what choice you make, we thank you and wish you peace and happiness.