“Life has a way of taking a difficult circumstance and creating something beautiful, bringing people and families together in unexpected new ways.”
We’re Melissa and Chris!
A California native and a British import living in Southern California. We met in 2007 in England, got married in 2009, and bought a home in a suburban neighborhood close to the mountains in 2015. We’ve been married 12 wonderful years and have always wanted to fill our home with the pitter patter of little footsteps. When we discovered we couldn’t have biological children of our own, opening our home – and our hearts – felt like the natural path for us. A few years ago, we became foster parents and were fortunate to have two little ones touch our lives. Although saying goodbye to each of them was hard, we felt enriched by their time with us.
Our experience with fostering opened our eyes to the need for loving homes and the importance of biological family connections. It has also taught us the kind of parents we will be, as well as patience, perseverance, and that diaper explosions are real! We strongly believe in a child centered environment, and our two foster loves quickly became the center of our world as we adapted our home — and our lives — around their needs.
Having both adoptees and adoptive parents in our family we’ve always felt called towards this journey. We now feel ready for the next chapter in our story, and hope to walk that path with you.
About Chris by Melissa
Chris grew up in southern England (yes, he has the accent!), and has three older siblings. Despite the distance he maintains a close relationship with his family, and we travel to visit whenever we can. Chris is actively in touch with his inner child–he loves building Lego sets, watching cartoons from his childhood, and dressing up for Halloween (he has been a Ghostbuster for the past 11 years, complete with a proton pack he built from scratch). Chris is also a Trekkie and has watched episodes of Star Trek so many times that he can recite the lines.
In addition, Chris has a passion for DIY — working on various house projects, weeding our backyard, or generally building ‘things‘. Most recently, he built a ‘Toddler Tower’ for our former foster daughter so she could be up and involved in the kitchen.
About Melissa by Chris
Melissa grew up in a small rural town in Northern California. She is the youngest of three and was raised by a single mother who sacrificed much so that she would have the opportunity to go to college and to travel abroad. Fluent in Spanish, Melissa lived in Spain for a year and traveled throughout Europe.
Melissa is passionate about history and works to preserve historic buildings in Los Angeles. Melissa applies that same protective dedication towards her family and friends.
Melissa also loves animals, something she has encouraged with both our former foster kiddos, often taking them to petting zoos, on pony rides, and to the aquarium to teach them to respect and love all living things.
Life has a way of taking a difficult circumstance and creating something beautiful, bringing people and families together in unexpected new ways. Deciding to place your child into the care of others must be overwhelming — but we believe that it can be the beginning of an exciting new relationship, filled with new possibilities and bright futures. Though we cannot begin to understand the difficult decisions you are considering and the emotions you are experiencing, we are here to support you, even if it is just a caring and nonjudgmental voice at the end of a telephone.
We will love and cherish your child as our very own, but also want them to know from the beginning that they are loved by their birth family. Choosing adoption for your child is one of the most selfless acts of love possible – we praise and respect your decision and promise to do everything we can to honor the sacrifice you’re making for the future of your child.