Bia & Nina

We acknowledge your decision to explore open adoption and all the complexities it may bring. We extend gratitude for reading our profile. Our sincerest hope is that you will find resonance with all of our dreams for your child.

We chose to pursue open adoption because we love children and wanted to parent again. Bia has a son, Diego, from a previous marriage. Diego was born in Philadelphia in 1992 and lives there currently with his girlfriend. Bia raised him primarily as a single mother, while working full time. Bia is unable to give birth, and Nina never desired going through the pregnancy and birthing process. Further, we want to expand our family and believe open adoption is just and fair: We want to be engaged in an adoption process whereby an expectant parent(s) is empowered to choose adoption and us as parents!

Our Story: We met while living in Philadelphia, PA, through a mutual friend. Since our first date in May 2011, we have not been apart.

We have many similarities in our upbringing; our mothers challenged their families’ expectations and became the first women to go to college and become educators. This has been most influential and made us the strong women we are today!

Our professional lives intersect: we are committed to human rights. We came to this work through personal experiences. Bia and her family moved to the United States during the military dictatorship in Brazil, when she was a teenager. Nina was raised by a single mother in The Bronx, New York City, where she witnessed firsthand the oppressive effects of poverty. Currently, Bia works to advance gender rights, and Nina works on advancing children’s rights. One benefit of our current employment is that it will allow for flexibility that is needed with a newborn.

We are spiritual: we believe all people are interconnected and innately good; love is more powerful than hate; and in consistently acting from a place of humility, faith, and love. We strive towards these beliefs in everything.

Our life is grounded in love, mutual respect and support, and humor. We come from Brazilian, Argentine, and Italian families that spend lots of time together, sometimes in small spaces! Last Christmas, 8 of Bia’s family members, including Diego and her 80-year old mother, spent 10 days in our home. We spent most of our time cooking, eating, and discussing what to cook and eat next! We value and prioritize spending time together with our families. We imagine this will only increase when we adopt!

Fun Facts About Us:
• We both have roots in Latin America and Italy. Bia is from Brazil, and Nina is from New York City.
• We are both fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
• We love to read, watch films, listen to music, dance, swim, do yoga, and go on hikes.
• We love to cook for others.

Meet Bia, by Nina: Bia is warm, kind, and generous. She thrives on spending time with loved ones. She connects by discussing politics, art, and interests. She attunes to others by celebrating what is going well and listening to what is challenging. Bia is a knowledge seeker; she is always reading about current events and loves a good mystery book. She is creative- she is an avid knitter and is always working on projects for loved ones.

Bia is a natural leader and has endless positive energy: this draws people to her in the work setting and in our family. Bia is easy-going: she does well with change and is great at supporting others who struggle with it. Bia is profoundly patient. She has a playful side: She can play with young children in our family for hours. Her smile and humor lights up a room and draws many to her, children and adults alike. I have experienced first-hand Bia as a mother; thinking about parenting another with her brings me great joy! Our employers value family/work balance and will allow ample flexibility for us to balance parenting with our work schedules.

A Few Favorites:
• Favorite Food Bananas
• Favorite Movie Black Panther
• Favorite Book The Harry Potter Series
• Favorite Singer John Legend

About Nina, by Bia: Nina is smart, generous, loyal, loving and driven by integrity and balance. She thinks long and hard about what is the moral/ethical thing to do and is open to having difficult conversations. Nina is curious and has an infectious adventurous side: this is how she shows up as a leader and gets loved ones to do great things. Nina loves cooking for others. She also values self-care and reflection/down-time and builds this into how we spend our time and resources. She exercises regularly, prepares food mindfully, and plans travel that includes quiet reflection and renewal.

Nina is passionate about having people in her life; she has strong relationships with family and friends that have lasted for 20-30 years.

Nina cares deeply about how her family and friends are doing, what they are feeling, and how to connect with them in meaningful ways. She values maintaining strong connections to her family and visits them regularly.

I am excited to be a parent with Nina because she is the most thoughtful person I know and this will carry through when we raise our child. We both work for organizations that are led by women who value balance between work and family life and they will support us in this balance.

A Few Favorites
• Favorite Food German chocolate cake
• Favorite Movie moonlight
• Favorite Book becoming by Michelle Obama
• Favorite Singer prince

We visit my family in Salerno, Italy every 3-5 years and they are like Bia’s Brazilian family: large and lively! Like our Argentine and Brazilian families, my Italian family loves Bia and has welcomed her as my partner and as part of the family. This part of our family takes eating most seriously, and it is typical for lunches to last 6 hours!

My Italian family loves to talk, tell stories, and laugh. They are constantly cracking jokes and like to poke fun at life’s absurdities. Fun family traditions include baking pizzas in my Uncle Mariano’s outdoor oven and going on long walks, searching for mushrooms!

Our family consists of many small children; they place high value on children and will be thrilled to welcome your child in to the family. Further, your child will be exposed to other cultures, languages, etc. We look forward to this!

Our Homes Away From Home:

Bia’s Family: I was born and raised in Brazil and remain very close with my family there. My sense of family comes from my experience growing up in Sao Paulo: I grew up in a large, tight knit family that valued being there for each other, no matter what. My family loves Nina and has embraced her as my partner and part of the family. We visit my family in Brazil every 2 years during Christmas: family members travel from far and near to come together (as many as 75!) and activities include story telling, playing instruments, singing together, and lots of cooking and eating.

Nina’s Family: I was born in New York City, and my mother valued maintaining connections to family in Argentina and Italy. To this day, I have relationships with my family in both countries. Given the close proximity between Brazil and Argentina, we visit my family in Mendoza, Argentina when we visit Bia’s family in Brazil. Like Bia’s family, my Argentine family loves Bia and has welcomed her as my partner and part of the family.

My Argentine family is small so our gatherings are low key and intimate: when we gather, we spend time talking and exploring Mendoza. A fun part about visiting my Argentine family is that every day, between 12 and 4 pm, everything closes as Argentines eat large lunches and then nap! This is always great because it automatically builds in rest time! This will be especially great for your child when they are young and need to nap.

Our Home: We live in a three-unit house in Berkeley. Our home faces a beautiful, secured garden filled with colorful flowers, a hammock, and a deck where we barbeque, do yoga, read and/or hang out with loved ones. We love to sit in our garden or in our living room and observe animals (birds, squirrels, etc.) hanging out or passing through the garden. We also spend lots of time in the kitchen, cooking and baking for ourselves and loved ones. We look forward to spending time with your child in our garden, living room, and kitchen, taking in the beautiful colors of the garden, learning about the flowers and animals, and/or cooking and baking.

Our neighborhood is walkable to shops, restaurants, a children’s museum, playgrounds, a community pool, and schools. It is child-friendly, filled with families from all backgrounds and family structures. Neighborhood schools are highly ranked and offer diversity and quality education. Lastly, San Francisco is a short distance away and offers endless activities for children, year round.

Thank you! We believe now is the perfect time to pursue open adoption. This process has been both exciting and challenging, as it has reaffirmed our commitment to each other, to parent again together, and to create a family. We are committed to providing our child:

• Fierce love and security;
• Attunement to their needs, at every level;
• With the knowing of when they need support/motivation and/or when they need down time/renewal; and
• Support to advocate for what they need in the world.

We look forward to nurturing our child in every way possible; to mentoring and coaching them; to teaching them about the world, how to make meaning of it, and where they fit in it; to working through difficult moments; and to continually work towards being the best possible parents to a child. We are ready to love and care for a child.

We extend deep gratitude for taking time to read our profile and considering us in your process. Our sincerest hope is that, should you choose to pursue us, we will discuss any of this further with you. We wish you the best of luck on this journey!