Rachel

Thank you for considering this choice and taking the time to consider me as an adoptive parent to your child. I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom.

I grew up babysitting and love seeing the world through the eyes of a child—playing outside, making up stories together, building forts—and teaching them about the world. I’ve helped raise my friends’ children, am very involved with my niece and nephew, and volunteer with local kids’ organizations.

To me, being a parent means unconditional love, most of all, and adapting to each child. I’m ready for it all. I always imagined that I’d both adopt and have biological children.

A few years ago, I learned that infertility would prevent me from having a biological child, and I knew then that I’d parent through adoption; I’ve taken time to process that, and I come to this with a heart wide open, ready to love and raise a little one.

I Promise:
• I’ll help find their own passions and joys.
• Teach them about the world and guide them through their education
• Help them find the community that inspires and challenges them and helps them grow
• Be both a rock of support and a soft place to land.
• To be devoted, reliable, and consistent
• To support and nurture a child with all the fun and delights of the world, while also providing boundaries and structure.

Things That Make Me Happy: I live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in a beautiful and quirky little lakeside town. I work as an English professor at the local university. I am a writer and quilter. I’ve written a few books of nonfiction and fiction; right now, I’m writing about an antique quilt and racial justice. I love to travel quite a bit during my down time.

I enjoy attending the local events my town offers with friends and their kids. I go to the Blueberry Festival, walk my dog out on the beaches or trails along the lake, bike the trail that runs through town, cross-country ski in the winter. I volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and spend a lot of time with my “little,” often working on art projects together. I volunteer at a local kids’ art camp each summer.

I love to get together with friends to sew, or to gather with my art group; we share our work over dinner every few weeks. This summer, I joined a recreational soccer team; I’ve never played before, so I was truly terrible! I had a lot of fun with new friends.

My Thoughts on Parenting: I’ll love your child unconditionally, encourage him or her to follow their passions, and offer structure and boundaries to make him or her feel safe. I’ve always nurtured strong friendships, and plan to share with your child meaningful involvement in the community, the importance of education, creativity, a sense of adventure, helping others, and learning by seeing the world.

I will put my future child first, adapting as I need to, parenting in the way he or she needs.

I’ll teach your child about their cultural heritage and background with stories, language, music, travel, and involvement in community. I have a diverse group of friends around the country. I promise that I’ll work out with you a relationship that feels comfortable.

My Career: I am an English professor at a university; I teach creative writing. I have lots of flexibility to make my schedule around a child’s needs. I have a month off each winter, three months off each summer, and very flexible work weeks with at least three days at home the rest of the time.

My Travels: I’ve been lucky to travel around the world and look forward to traveling and exploring with my future child!

• I visited Montreal, Cuba, Bali, and Iceland this year
• In Cuba, I discovered a love of rumba and café con leché
• Last year, I got to see the Grand Canyon
• I love the Rocky Mountains and the Maine coast
• I visit Charleston, SC, and Rhode Island a few times a year for research
• I love visiting New York for its magical art, culture, and food!
• As a young adult, I spent a year in Australia and Southeast Asia
• I studied abroad in Paris and traveled Europe
• In the next few years, I hope to see Nigeria, Kenya, and Chilé

My family: I’m close with my brother Josh and sister Becky and their families, and I’ve made my friends my family here in Marquette and back in Boston. I visit the east coast a few times a year to see family and friends, and because I have such deep roots there and it’s more diverse, I imagine I’ll eventually return there to live.

Back east, I stay with friends Jenn and Brian and their two kids, and spend time with other good friends and their children.

I take a few trips a year to see my sister and her family in Miami; she and her husband adopted my nephew, Ezra, three years ago, and we’re very close. Ezra, who’s multi-racial, is looking forward to having a cousin who was adopted and promises to teach him or her how to eat popsicles and how to ride a bike. My brother Josh and his wife Jess, who’s half Filipino, and their daughter, Lily, now two, live in Massachusetts and are expecting a baby this fall. We all stay in touch via Skype calls two or three times a week, gather at Christmas at my parents’ house by the sea, and fly to visit each other a few times a year.

My Friends: I’m surrounded by good friends whose children range in age from babies to high school and college age. We support each other and pitch in to help when someone needs it. Everyone is excited to rally around me and my future baby, and help raise a child. I’ve connected with parents of adopted children here. I visit four or five times a year with my old friend Meg, who lives a few hours away with her adopted son, Manny.

A Note from Becky & Sam (Parents of Ezra): “Rachel has always been great with kids. We adopted our son three years ago and Aunt Rachel has always been his favorite. We visit together a few times a year, and she makes a point to call him several times a week; he looks forward to seeing her. She’s always up for playing and goofing around. He thinks she is ‘sooooo fun!’”

A Note From my Close Friend, Stacey: “Rachel was one of the few we trusted to watch our baby, Beatrice. She cares deeply for Beatrice, and this is evident in her love and protection of her. Rachel and Beatrice have formed a special bond. I trust Rachel completely when our daughter or our other children are in her care. Rachel has a core group of friends that would jump to help her if she needed anything, and I know they will be a part of her support system for her new family, just as she was for ours.”

I live in a beautiful lakeside town in Michigan with events and festivals all year long. I live within a few blocks of:

• The library
• The lake and bike path
• What my friend Meg’s son Manny calls “the best playground in the world,” a huge wooden castle
• Children’s museum
• Downtown shops and restaurants
• A playground across the street
• The children’s theatre, which puts on 4-5 shows a year with hundreds of kids
• The university, where I work
• A bakery where they have amazing homemade giant muffins!

I look forward raising a child here, because it has so much to offer and I have so many friends with kids nearby who are eager to get to know my future child and will provide love and support for us both.

My Furry Friends:
• Piper, aka Pipes, is twelve years old, an old and happy pup! She loves kids and is eternally patient with babies and toddlers who snuggle, pull her fur, and chase her around the house.

• I rescued my two cats, Penny-the-Lion and Mr. Boots from the local shelter last year. Penny-the-Lion goes completely limp when kids hold her. Mr. Boots is ten. He had a hard life, so I worked hard to help him trust me. He loves kids, too, and is very gentle.

Thank You: I know I can’t possibly understand how you’re feeling right now, but please know how grateful I am for this chance to tell you a bit about myself and my life, and all that I want to give to your child.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom, and have waited for the time when I can give everything I have to a little one. I’ve delighted in the days when I sang friends’ babies to sleep in nurseries full of soft light and soothing music, cleaned my friend’s daughter Bea’s tiny chubby hands of baby food, picked an avocado with my nephew Ezra on a walk around his neighborhood—and I’m eager for the days when I can do all these things with a child of my own. I promise to love that child unconditionally, and to raise him or her in a community full of love, support, and guidance.

I wish you all the best as you make this decision.