You decide whether you would like to let them adopt your baby.

We are here for you to help make the decision that best suits your needs.

We have one son, Eli, who is 3 years old.  He has literally transformed our lives, helping us to see the world as if for the first time, teaching us the magical power of laughter and tears, of tickles and snuggles.  We have created a warm, fun-loving and affectionate home and we want to expand our family from three to four.  Always knowing we wanted to have two children, we feel so excited to adopt a baby after experiencing secondary infertility.  Both of us love all of the joys and challenges that parenting brings.  We have learned the thrill that comes with watching a child grow, discover and experience the world and can't wait to share these things with a new addition to our family. However our children join this family, they will share fully our love, commitment and caring.

As a Couple:

We met 9 years ago in San Francisco and quickly found ourselves drawn to one another through a shared sense of humor, passion for food and arts, and a love for adventure.  We got married 7 years ago at a small vineyard, surrounded by more than a hundred of our family and friends.  Since then, we have built a life together that includes a passionate romance and deep friendship, our son Eli, a beautiful home, a great neighborhood, two successful careers, many close friends, and our combined families. 

A Little About Lara:

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the fourth generation born and raised in California.  Professionally, I am a lawyer specializing in estate planning.  I help families plan for their futures and I really enjoy working with my clients and assisting them in emotional times.  I am passionate about my work and I also love the flexibility that it affords me.  I’ve chosen to work part-time so that I can spend more time with our children.  After we adopt, I will also take six months maternity leave so that I can spend some one-on-one time with our new baby.  When I am not working, I love to curl up in the window seat in our living room with a novel or with my travel books planning our next trip.  I love to take a yoga class or a long walk in our neighborhood.  I have a group of close friends who I see regularly and we catch up on our work, our relationships and our kids.

In Jim’s words: I admire Lara’s incredible appetite for knowledge, her deep caring for her friends and family, and her enjoyment of all that life has to offer. Oh, and not to mention her great taste in men!  She puts so much thought into planning our meals, often cooking up impromptu hearty and flavorful dinners for Eli and me from a new recipe discovered online.  Lara takes the same approach in planning our trips since we both share a thirst for travel.  She always leaves plenty of free time for the adventures you can only stumble upon when you aren’t looking for them.  She loves to laugh and shares that silliness with Eli every chance she gets.  One of my favorite moments is to peek in on Lara while she’s reading Eli a bedtime story, animating each of the characters in turn, as he snuggles in her lap, totally entranced. 

Something About Jim:

I grew up just outside of New York City in the little town of Ossining, the youngest of three boys.  I graduated from the Yale School of Drama 12 years ago and came out to the Bay Area to begin my career in arts administration.  I currently manage one of San Francisco’s large ballet companies and have enjoyed helping the company reach new and younger audiences.  I also run my own theatre company, nurturing and cultivating emerging playwrights.  It’s a mission that draws heavily on my parenting skills—learning to educate, support and encourage but ultimately let go so the writers can succeed on their own.  My work affords a great deal of flexibility so Lara and I can meet the ongoing and changing needs of our children together, as a couple.

In Lara’s words:  I love Jim’s passion—for his family, for his work and for everything he does.  Jim has an incredible attitude about life.  He takes everything in stride and has an amazing sense of humor that helps us get through tough times.  He is willing to try anything—when we first met he and I rode on a two-day 50-mile bike ride.  I had trained for weeks but Jim just jumped on his bike and went along for the ride and was in great spirits the whole way.  I love to watch Jim and Eli together—Jim makes up funny games and does great accents for Eli and Eli laughs and laughs.  Although Jim has many interests and takes pleasure in sharing them with me—theater, skiing, sailing—he has always made his family his first priority.

Eli - The Big Brother in Waiting:

Eli enjoys life with gusto, whether he’s bopping to “Baby Beluga,” running into our arms for a welcome hug, eating his favorite meal (sesame beef and cashew chicken), or mastering his Pooh jigsaw puzzle.  Eli loves to go to a wonderful park in the hills near our house.  Here we take a ride on a steam train, feed lettuce to the goats and ride our favorite animals on a beautiful, restored carousel.  Eli loves playing and sharing with his friends and has shown a particularly gentle and sweet side with babies.

Those We Love & Who Love Us:

Lara: My family lives nearby and we see them often—for holidays and birthdays, and for no special reason at all.  My mom comes once a week for the afternoon to take care of Eli and they have a special “tea party” at the local coffee house.  My dad frequently takes Eli for a fun afternoon of riding the trains, splashing at the beach or gardening.

Jim: I have always treasured family because of my own family’s special story.  My father came to the U.S. from Vienna, Austria when he was just 11, sent by his mother to escape from Europe during World War II.  After coming to the U.S., a loving family in New England raised him.  This family has come to be a very important part of our extended family.  I have always felt so grateful for the gift his mother gave to him.  I also know that he has a special understanding of adoption and will share that with our child.

 We feel so blessed to have many family and friends to share our lives with. Our neighborhood is full of young families, many of whom we’ve become quite close with.  Eli frequently has impromptu play dates with the kids across the street.  We have taken great pleasure in introducing Eli to the sights, sounds and tastes of the Jewish traditions we have enjoyed since our own childhoods.  Holidays are a particularly festive time for get-togethers and celebrations over a special home-cooked meal.

Where We Live:

We moved to a special neighborhood in Berkeley shortly after Eli was born.  Here we can stroll down gently sloping sidewalks on wooded residential streets enjoying the varied and colorful gardens of our neighbors while Eli pedals his tricycle.  We occasionally will stop into the corner soda shop that still makes an incredible chocolate ice cream soda!  Our almost 100-year-old house has loads of charm and plenty of space for a family of four with a recently added downstairs playroom, back deck and stone patio.  A lush private garden and ivy-covered fence surround it.  Berkeley’s schools are among the best in the area, and we plan on having direct involvement in our children’s education.  Northern California’s outdoor activities are endless and we try to squeeze in as many as we can from hiking to the top of Mount Tamalpais, biking through the wine country, to cross-country skiing at Lake Tahoe, or picnicking at the Oakland Zoo.

Our Passions:

The arts have always played a major role in our family.  Jim’s career has given us access not only to the completed project onstage but also to the creative minds and fun that occurs before and after each production.  Eli has already taken quite a liking to the dancers in Jim’s company and is frequently seen backstage, or in the audience, for the company’s many performances, and even joined in on their recent tour to New York.  We look forward to sharing those experiences with our children just as our parents instilled a love of art in us. 

We love to travel.  Our bookcases are jammed with travel books and maps, tracing journeys taken and those to come.  A few years ago we took a bike trip in France where we rode through the countryside enjoying the views of ancient towns.  Hawaii is where we meet up with Lara’s family each year to build sandcastles with Eli, swim and snorkel in the tropical waters.  We also have an annual trip to Ashland, Oregon (home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival) where we immerse ourselves in an incredible weekend of theatre with several of Jim’s closest childhood friends and their families. 

What We Value:

From our parents we learned the value of education, play, love, and commitment and have built our own family on those cornerstones.  We can offer a warm and loving home for your baby, full of laughter, kisses and a lifetime of adventure. 

We look forward to expanding our family through adoption, discovering the unique person our next child will become.  Thank you for taking the time to read our letter.  We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you as you create your adoption plan.  Call us directly anytime toll-free at 1-800-781-3256, PIN code 54, email us at larajim@waitingcouple.com, visit our website at www.waitingcouple.com, or call our adoption agency, Adoption Connection at 1-800-972-9925.