Hello! We are Emilie and Anthony from Sacramento, CA. We are both doctors, married in our 30s, and we can’t wait to be parents! We welcome you into our life so that you might get to know us better. We imagine this letter finds you in the midst of many emotions about your pregnancy, so we wish you strength as you make this important decision. We feel honored that you are considering us as possible adoptive parents to your baby. If you grant us this great privilege, we would look forward to raising your child in a loving home surrounded by supportive family and friends.

~ Emilie & Anthony

Our Story

We met in 2006 during our first year of medical school at UC Davis. We began to study together at coffee shops around Sacramento. A close friend with a tendency for matchmaking invited us to help her make lasagna for a holiday dinner party. We realized there in her kitchen that our romantic feelings were mutual! Our first date was January 6th, 2007 at a sushi restaurant, during which Emilie revealed her lack of skill with chopsticks and her tendency to talk too much when she’s nervous! Anthony proved to be a great listener and very forgiving of her clumsiness. The months that followed were full of study dates, weekend trips, and celebrations with friends. We leaned on each other through the stresses of medical school. We moved in together in 2009 and rescued our dog in 2011. Anthony proposed in our backyard on a rainy day, and of course Emilie said yes! We got married on June 9th, 2012 in Capitol Park, surrounded by our family and friends. One of our teachers served as our officiant! We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon, and began to imagine our family’s future...

Our Life Today

We both work as doctors at UC Davis hospital where we take care of individuals who are struggling with illness. We feel it is a privilege to be with our patients during these difficult and vulnerable moments in their lives, and we strive to be a source of comfort and support for each person in our care. We also spend time teaching ∑ the next generation of physicians, both in the classroom and in their clinical training in the hospital. 

We spend our free time cooking, connecting with friends and family, and playing with our lovable dog Enzo. We often get together with friends to share a meal and play board games. We also enjoy watching political comedy and listening to educational podcasts. We see a few shows every year at local venues. We watch movies at home and read books in bed. Occasionally we travel for relaxation and exploration. 

Mostly we find joy and meaning in our simple life, and look forward to the wonderful complication of welcoming a baby to our family!

Emilie

Emilie grew up in the Midwest before moving to Sacramento for medical school. She enjoys nurturing relationships, spending time with family and friends, and playing the “auntie” role to the children in our lives. She is especially close with Anjali and Xaria, twin girls born in April 2017 to our close friends. In fact, Emilie is often the person that others lean on when they need practical or emotional support. Emilie loves music and looks forward to sharing that with our child through lullabies and music groups. As a creative outlet, 

Emilie sings in a local community chorus. The piano in our home is the same one that Emilie learned to play on as a child, though her skills are not what they used to be! Emilie also serves as Anthony’s sous-chef and Enzo’s primary caretaker, walking him 2-3 miles every day in our neighborhood. 

In Anthony’s Eyes: Emilie is thoughtful and kind. She has a knack for understanding people. She sees and loves people for who they really are, which makes her relationships even more meaningful. Friends and family gravitate to her for her honesty, warmth and easy going manner. She inspires me to self-reflect and always prioritize the most important things in life. When I think about Emilie as a mother, I know she will love our child unconditionally, put our baby’s needs before her own, and help him/her develop into a secure, grounded individual. It’s not hard for me to imagine, because I see her do this with our loved ones every day.

Anthony

Anthony has lived in Northern California all his life. Before pursuing medicine, he worked as a legislative aid for a California Senator for 6 years. He aspires to combine his two careers one day, working in healthcare policy. 

Anthony is known for his calm, kindness, and friendly disposition. In his free time, he purses many hobbies, including photography, home improvement, auto repair, cooking, and woodworking. In fact, our walls are decorated with his colorful photos, and he constructed many of the important pieces of furniture in our home, including our bed, dining room table, and media console. 

In Emilie’s Eyes: Anthony is a steadfast partner in all areas of our life. He is there for the ups and downs, but also shares in the most mundane things like housework and relaxing on the couch. When I think about Anthony as a father, I know that he will always be a warm and caring presence. Our child will also bring out his silly side, as I’ve seen when he is with our friends’ children. In fact, he is 4-year-old Avni’s favorite person! I hope that our child also learns from his intellectual and studious side when he/she starts school. Anthony will be the best home tutor and homework-buddy! And above all, Anthony will be a great role model for our values of generosity, honesty, integrity. 

Our Home and Community

We bought a newly remodeled house in 2015, our “forever home.” Our favorite part of the house is the “great room,” where the kitchen, dining room, and family room all share a large space, allowing us to spent time together while cooking, eating, working, and relaxing. We have 4 bedrooms, including one that we can’t wait to transform into a nursery. We have a fenced in backyard with grass and shade, a perfect place for kids to play, and visible from the great room via large windows and French doors. 

Sacramento is an easy place to live with a casual, comfortable feel that we really enjoy. We live in East Sacramento, a great place to raise a child with lots of trees, parks, and excellent public schools. Many of our close friends live just a few blocks away and have young children. Our community will be a safe place for our child to explore and enjoy, surrounded by supportive and protective neighbors and playmates. 

Anthony’s parents are local and excited to be involved grandparents! We get together with them at least once a month. Anthony’s sister lives in San Francisco and also hopes to be a mom soon. Emilie’s parents are supportive from a distance (San Diego and Florida.) Emilie is also very connected to her aunts, uncles, and cousins who get together for family reunions twice annually. Over the last 10 years, we have developed many close friendships here in Sacramento, folks who we see often and can call anytime we need a hand, our own adopted family!

Why Adoption?

We have struggled with recurrent pregnancy loss over the last 4 years, and though it is clear that we are not meant to conceive a child, these losses have only strengthened our desire to be parents. We hope that open adoption will help us to start our family. We feel that we have a lot to offer a child, and that our lives would be enriched by the wonderful journey of parenthood.

Emilie plans to take 6-12 months away from work to ensure that our baby gets a strong start. Anthony has a flexible schedule that allows him to work 7 days, then have 7 days off, so he will also be a very hands-on parent. We would look forward to welcoming a child from any and all backgrounds, raising him/her in a multicultural way. We want to be thoughtful and nurturing parents, exploring and responding to our child’s unique and individual needs. We look forward to watching our child grow toward an independent sense of self, and guiding that growth along the way.

Thank you!

Thank you again for considering us as potential adoptive parents. In this letter, we have enjoyed sharing our life, values, personalities, & vision for our family with you. We hope that you will choose us to adopt your baby, and that you will feel confident in our ability to give your baby a loving home, a strong education, and a bright future.

It feels important to us to develop a partnership with you as we go through this journey together. We want you to know us so that you can make this decision without any doubt in your mind. And we want to know you so that we can connect your child to his/her family and heritage as an important part of his/her identity. We know you may always feel a connection with your baby, as you do now as he/she grows inside you. We want to acknowledge and honor that connection always in a way that feels safe and stable for everyone, especially for your child. 

If you would like to learn more about us, please contact Adoption Connection at 415-355-4636 or [email protected]. We wish you all the best on this emotional journey and beyond.

~ Emilie & Anthony