HELLO THERE!
WE ARE
JOEL & ROBIN
FROM NEW YORK
We are so grateful to have this opportunity!
Long before we were married, we made the decision to expand our family through adoption. Neither of us had ever assumed or expected to have biological children, but we both knew we wanted to become parents. Adoption has always been the way we imagined expanding our family, we agreed to this before we agreed to get engaged. In 2022 we welcomed our first daughter, Penelope, through adoption and hope to raise her and a future sibling in a way that they are known first and foremost for their kindness.ABOUT JOEL
JOB
Lawyer
PLACE OF BIRTH
Dallas, Texas
FAV HOBBY
Gardening
FAV HOLIDAY
Halloween
The most important thing in my life is my family. My parents live two blocks away from us, and my brother, who has Downs Syndrome, also lives in our neighborhood. My parents spend a lot of time helping him to become more independent. Our daughter Penelope loves all of them very much, and we’re very fortunate to have them so close. We all tend to be very busy during the week (Penelope at school, my wife and I at work), so I am always so happy to get to the weekend when we can spend time together – especially when the weather is nice and we can be outside. It’s always a blast watching Penelope run around with the neighborhood kids, many she knows from preschool.
ABOUT ROBIN
JOB
Customer Success – Tech Industry
PLACE OF BIRTH
Providence, Rhode Island
FAV HOBBY
Traveling
FAV HOLIDAY
Halloween
The most important things in my life all start with the letter F – family, friends, food, and (things that are) funny. To me, the perfect day is spent running around my neighborhood catching up with our friends, followed by dinner with my large family of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc where we sit around a table eating and laughing. The only thing better has been becoming a mom and enjoying this tradition with Penelope. One of my greatest joys about living in Brooklyn is not having to get into a car to visit with so many people and places I love, I can quickly walk to my in-laws house, many of my closest friends, and so many delicious local spots. All of my favorite things.
ABOUT PENELOPE
MEET OUR DAUGHTER
AGE
2.5
FAV CARTOON
Octonauts
FAV BOOK
Madeline
FAV COLOR
Pink
Penelope was born in September 2022 in Buffalo, New York and we were placed with her right at her birth in the hospital. She has always loved people and been very social. She developed a sense of humor at a very young age, she loves to make other people laugh. She loves music (her favorite singer is Chappel Roan right now), coloring with ballpoint pens for hours, scootering around the neighborhood, and taking care of her dolls. She has definitely developed a big interest in babies over the past six months and she really wants to be a big sister. We know it will be special to share the adoption journey with her future sibling and we are hopeful they will relate to each other’s lived experienc
OUR PETS
MEET OUR DOG
Marcelle joined our family in early 2021. We like to joke she broke us in because house training her required more patience than almost anything we have experienced in parenting so far. The most lovable thing about her is her gentle soul – she has never growled at or shown her teeth to anyone. A toddler can yank her tail, and Marcelle will just want to lick the child’s face (maybe a few too many times) and sit near you on the couch to cuddle. She is our little teddy bear who came to life.
OUR HOME & COMMUNITY
We live in a brownstone in Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York. Joel’s brother David, who has down syndrome, lives on the ground floor, and our family lives on the three floors above. Joel’s parents live two blocks away and are over almost everyday to help David and visit us. We’re two blocks from Prospect Park, the biggest park in Brooklyn. This is where you find us most weekends at the playground, farmer’s market, or soccer practice. The best part of living in New York City is having access to so many cultural events and institutions. From where we live we can walk to the Brooklyn Museum and Botanic Garden in ten minutes or be at a Broadway theater in 30 minutes by train.
OUR FAVORITE THINGS
WE ENJOY
Joel
Robin
Food
Tacos
Cereal
Movie
Independence Day
10 Things I hate about You
TV show
Love is Blind
30 Rock
Candy Bar
Twix
Peanut M&Ms
Dessert
Coconut Cake
Ice Cream Sundae
Music Artist
Changes Daily
The Queen - Beyonce
Family Activity
Cooking together
Park picnic
Vacation Spot
Vermont
Anywhere on a beach
Sport
Baseball
Tennis
Team
NY Mets
NY Liberty
Color
Blue
Green
Board Game
Life
Rummy Cube
Children’s Book
Grumpy Monkey
Madeline
Animal
Dog
Turtles
Dream Job
Dog Walker
Ice Cream taste tester
THANK YOU
FOR CONSIDERING US
Thank you for taking the time to look at our profile and getting to know our family. Most importantly, thank you for carrying this beautiful child into the world and caring for it so deeply. We hope we can continue the work of ensuring this child has an amazing life and wakes up every single day happy and knowing they are loved by so many people.
If we are chosen as adoptive parents, we promise to commit our entire selves to this child. We promise to give this child endless love and patience, and provide them the best possible education, an active lifestyle, and a large network of family and friends who will care about their wellbeing – this child inherits a whole tribe on Day One. We promise to instill a strong sense of right and wrong, and teach them to lead with kindness and compassion for others.
Lastly, we are open to providing you with the level of openness you prefer and promise to remind this child of how amazing and strong their birth mother is for making an adoption plan. We can say from the experience of Penelope, her birth mom and birth dad are people we speak about with love and compassion, even if she is still too young to fully understand.
We are hopeful there is a future date where we all meet, but until then we wish nothing but the best as you make the decision about what is best for you and your baby.
Joel, Robin and Penelope