We are both Filipino. As Filipinos, we come from a culture that is a mixture of Spanish, American, and Asian influences. These influences can be seen in our faith, families, and food. Spain, in particular, plays a large role in Filipino culture because the Philippines was a Spanish colony for almost 400 years. Spain’s influence can be seen in our language, as we use many Spanish words; in our food, as we have adaptations of many Spanish dishes; and in religion, as 80% of the Philippines is Roman Catholic.

Family holds a very important place in Filipino culture. It is safe to say that family is everything! As a family, we support each other through thick and thin; and show love during happy times and also sad times.

As adoptive parents, we look forward to sharing our culture with your child while also respecting the child's birth culture. We would be very excited to have a multi-cultural and diverse family!

Candice admires Paolo for how caring he is. Candice noticed this quality just a few months into their relationship when she got sick and had to go to the emergency room. When Paolo learned that Candice was in the hospital, he left work right away to be by her side. Paolo provided Candice with company and support through a very scary situation. Paolo even cried when he learned Candice was going to be OK! That’s the moment Candice knew how truly caring Paolo is. Even after 6 years of marriage, Candice still sees this in their daily lives - when Paolo makes Candice breakfast in the morning, when Paolo plays with his baby niece, or when Paolo helps out Candice’s parents with things around their house. Paolo will make a wonderful father and Candice looks forward to raising a child with him.

Paolo loves Candice’s kindness and generosity. Candice believes in treating others as you would yourself and in giving others the benefit of the doubt. Paolo remembers when Candice donated several days of paid-time-off to a coworker who got sick. Candice didn’t know the coworker very well but she donated the hours anyway. That act of kindness inspired Paolo to do the same for a coworker of his that also got sick. When Paolo looks at Candice, he sees a person who will be a warm and loving mother. Paolo feels truly blessed to be married to Candice and is hopeful to one day raise a child with her.

We’ve known for a while that there was a possibility that we would not be able to have biological children. When Candice was in high school, she was diagnosed with an overactive immune system which requires her to take certain medications to keep her immune system calm. Unfortunately, the medications have dangerous side effects on an unborn baby. Not wanting to risk the health of the baby or Candice, we explored in-vitro fertilization (IVF) with a surrogate, but the doctors did not know for certain whether Candice’s medications would have dangerous side-effects on a baby conceived through IVF. After about two months of reflection, we decided that adoption was the best way to expand our family. Through adoption, we’ll be able to share our love and create a lifetime’s worth of memories with a child. To be blessed with a child through adoption would be a dream come true for us.

We own a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in Northern California. We intend to rent out the condo and purchase a house soon after the adoption.

Our home is right next to a charming golf course. In sunny weather, we like watching golfers play from our balcony. Our condo complex is well maintained and surrounded by trees and pretty flowers. We have a private pool, gym, tennis court and lounge.

There are many families with young children living in our community. We can hear the kids laughing and playing when we work from home. Within walking distance from our home is our church and a large park where people can go for a stroll, have a picnic, skate or play soccer. The park also has a children’s playground, flower garden, dog park, and equestrian center. The park is connected to a nice trail that we like to hike or ride our bikes through in the morning. About a ten-minute drive from our home is downtown where there are a lot of nice restaurants and outdoor shopping.

Our city is very diverse and supportive of families. Every year there is a festival with games and rides at the park. There is also a performing arts center downtown where families can watch live performances. In the summer, families can watch movies outdoors at the park. In the winter, families can ice skate at the outdoor ice skating rink downtown. Our city also has several good public and private schools.

Family has always been very important to us. We both come from tight-knit families and we visit each other regularly. Candice comes from a family of four: her mom (Mimmy), dad (Diddy), and younger sister (Little). Paolo comes from a family of seven: his mom, dad, three brothers and sister. Paolo is the oldest among his siblings and is 18 years apart from the youngest!

Our families were very excited when we told them about our adoption plan. Our parents are already planning the babysitting schedule!

We’re very lucky that both of our families live only a short drive away. This makes it easy for us to get together and hang out. As a family, we like having barbecues, watching sporting events, celebrating holidays, and going on vacations together. On a recent trip, we went to Florida and spent four days at Universal Studios! Other places we’ve traveled to as a family are: the Bahamas, New York City, Dallas, New Orleans, Lake Tahoe, Disneyland, and Hawaii. On these family trips, we like to go snorkeling, rafting, visiting museums, sight-seeing, and trying the local cuisine. The entire family is excited to have your child join us in our family activities!

Thank you for taking the time to consider us. We realize that a difficult decision for you lies ahead as you consider adoption for your child. We hope that after learning a little bit more about us, you feel confident that we can provide a safe, stable, happy, and loving home for your child.

Our desire to become parents comes from our childhood, where we were shown unconditional love by our parents. As adults, we now wish to share this same love with a child and create lifelong memories.

When we learned that conceiving a biological child was not in our future, we must admit, we were very sad. Moving on was difficult and painful. It took a lot of prayer and reflection to understand that God simply had a different plan for us. Once we accepted this truth and started looking into adoption, the more excited and hopeful we became because we have so much love to share!

We have had many wonderful experiences during our 6 years of marriage. Now we long to expand our family and share these experiences with a child. Both of our families are tight knit and remain involved in our lives. They are very excited that we have decided to adopt and look forward to having another child enjoy the many activities we did together as a family like camping, traveling, sports, and music.

Growing up, the foundation of our families was our Christian faith and our love for each other. This is the foundation we commit to as future parents. On top of this foundation, we commit to establishing the values of integrity, respect for others, and a strong work ethic. Our parents worked very hard to ensure we developed our strengths and achieved our full potential. As future parents, we commit to doing the same by encouraging and being present in all of the child’s interests and endeavors.

Our hope and dream for a future child is that they grow into a kind-hearted, confident, and intelligent person capable of succeeding in each and every endeavor. Whether they wish to be a doctor, artist, singer, or even President of the United States, we feel that our job is to ensure the child has everything they need physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

If you entrust your child to us, they will know and feel that they have been loved from day one. But not just by us. The child will know that you, their birth mother, loved them and will always love them. As the child grows, we will share with you your child’s growth through email updates, letters, pictures, and videos. If you are open to it, we can arrange for visits when the time comes. We want your child to know you and about your courageous decision.

Thank you again for taking the time to consider us. We have been looking to grow our family for some time. Adopting your child will be a dream come true for us. We know in our hearts that we can provide all the love, care, and devotion a child or parent could ask for. Please know that you are in our prayers as you go through your decision.

Sincerely,

Paolo & Candice