Dear Expectant Mother,
As we write this, our hearts are pounding and our hands are shaking with excitement and nervousness. While this could be the happiest moment of our lives, we recognize it might very well be the most difficult of yours. We don’t want to be callous or cavalier by saying we remotely understand the emotions you’re feeling. All we can say is that we hope and pray you feel loved and supported no matter where you are in your decision and journey.
We thank you for taking the time to read about us. We hope you got the impression we are a kind, fun-loving couple that love each other very much and would like the opportunity to have a baby in our home. In our 16 years as a couple, we’ve built a solid foundation to start our family with a safe home, reliable income, strong community-focused values, a very large extended family, and an abundance of love.
If there is anything we want you to take away from our letter, it’s this: We promise to respect you and whatever openness and contact you may want to have with your child. We promise to cherish you and always talk about you in the best of terms, and we promise to love your child unconditionally and provide a happy life full of opportunities.
With love,
Ryyn & JP
Beyond everything else, please remember this one, sure message: We are so excited to be fathers and so, so ready to love this baby.
-JP & Ryyn
Our life together started after meeting at a Halloween party in 2006. Ryyn was immediately taken by JP’s smile and intelligence, while JP was drawn to Ryyn’s outgoing personality and silly sense of humor. It wasn’t long before we knew we were destined to be together, as if we’ve done this over and over before in other lifetimes. So after 16 years, married for eight, our love has only gotten stronger. You’ll often hear us laughing at each other’s corny dad jokes or see us dancing together in the living room (sometimes to ’90s hip hop, other times just holding each other and swaying to slow jams). Professionally, JP is a community college dean helping students achieve their dreams through education, and Ryyn works with the health department protecting people from disease (like COVID) and working to improve the quality of life for vulnerable communities.
We live in a three-story house within a quiet, family-friendly neighborhood on the central coast of California. Our resident complex has a gated swimming pool area and is walking distance to a nearby park with several playgrounds. We’re only a couple miles from the beach, so we often spend our summer weekends enjoying the sun and sand, playing volleyball and flying kites with family, or just walking along the shore together while we talk and wait for the sun to set. We sometimes even watch the ships and kayaks in the ocean, occasionally getting a visit from a friendly dolphin or whale. And we’re only a drive away from family amusement parks like Universal Studios, Legoland, and Disneyland.
Filipino families are known to be very tight knit because family is deeply important to us. Ryyn comes from a family full of talent, so gatherings are typically musical in nature. They sing karaoke as if they are performing for a sold-out concert. When they aren’t singing together, they’re gathered around the dining table sharing stories and memories while cooking and eating.
For JP, you would never know he is an only child because he's been surrounded by many cousins throughout his entire life. They all treat each other like siblings. During every family gathering, whether it's a wedding, birthday, or the holidays, JP’s family is known to greet you with a hug and kiss, ply you with food every hour, force everyone into a group picture, and make sure you leave with more gifts and food than when you arrived.
But it doesn't stop there, because our family extends to our friends. Like many in the LGBTQIA+ community, the trusted friends we have made from our community, church, school, and work expands our definition of family. One thing is constant: Love is always around in every gathering from all members of our family.
We regard adoption as the deepest form of families bonding together. From our own lived experiences, we know this deep form of love and care firsthand as Ryyn was adopted at the early age of four and JP has had adopted family members. Our blended families are nothing but incredible blessings as we’ve had countless memories of happiness and joy. Our positive lived experiences have led us to choosing adoption as our first option as we start a family.
Interested in learning more about this family?
