We are both Hispanic, however we come from different countries: Osman is Cuban-American and Gaby is Puerto Rican. We both left our countries in our youth and have been living in the United States for close to 20 years. Our culture as a family is mixed, we celebrate Cuban, Puerto Rican and American holidays all the same. We frequently gather at home with family and cook traditional meals, such as "Pasteles," rice and beans and Cuban sandwiches, while listening to Hispanic music and dancing. We also love to spend time barbecuing at home with friends and family while celebrating Fourth of July holiday among others.

Our siblings have also married individuals of different backgrounds and we enjoy incorporating various cultural practices into our family as we continue to grow and diversify.

We speak both Spanish and English at home. We hope to teach our child to speak both languages as well.

Our pets are a part of our family. They bring us joy, love, and purpose. Gaby has always had a variety of animals including dogs and cats since she was born. She feels a home is not complete without a pet. Osman is allergic to cats, but has had fish, hamsters and a dog throughout his life. Klein was our first long term commitment as a couple. Caring for a pet is not without its challenges; we believe they have taught us patience and given us a greater sense of responsibility, since we must consider them and their needs in all our life plans.

We have two dogs, Klein and Duke. Klein is a 12 year old miniature schnauzer who has been with us since he was 2 months old. He is all about cuddles, sleeps most of the day and loves to eat bananas. Duke is a 2-year-old standard schnauzer who came to us a year ago. He is very energetic and playful, loves long walks and chasing squirrels.

Education is highly valued in both our cultures. As immigrants, we have come to understand that the only thing you always take with you is what you have learned. We both have post graduate degrees and hope to provide our children with the same opportunity to learn and obtain a formal education, should they choose to do so.

We hope to foster the same passion for learning that we share. We would love to enroll our child in a Montessori type early education program to help develop the inquisitive mind and expand on their creativity and independence. In addition to learning didactic, we want them to engage in social interactions and learn to form friendships and make meaningful relationships.

Another important aspect in a well-rounded education is to engage in after school activities such that they may learn the value of teamwork. We also hope to incorporate life lessons into our everyday life, teaching our children how to be good human beings by teaching them morals, ethics and responsibility.

We live in a single-family home located in a lovely historic community in Georgia. Our home is new to us, but close to 90 years old since it was built. It offers ample space both inside and in the backyard for play and relaxation with four bedrooms and a home office space. Our favorite room is the den, we have a comfortable couch and TV, it opens to the backyard via glass double doors making it an ideal space for entertaining and spending time relaxing.

We have wonderful neighbors with whom we share a lot of things in common, including our love of dogs. We have at least three parks within a half mile from our house, all of which we visit weekly while walking our dogs. Some have playgrounds and walking paths, while others have benches and plenty of green space to roam. Our city is considerably one of the most beautiful in the United States, it has a lot of history and lovely architecture to admire while walking down its streets. While we have not yet had a chance to experience it, it boasts an extravagant St. Patrick's Day parade among many other festivals.

We are very close to our extended families, although in Hispanic heritage extended family = family. We are constantly in touch with both our parents and siblings. We have a niece and nephew from Osman's sister whom we visit at least 3-4x per year. Gaby's parents live only 3 hours away in a lovely beach community, we often spend weekends at their house cooking, eating and enjoying the beach with them.

We always make an effort to get all the family together for at least 1 holiday a year in addition to randomly planned trips to meet with our cousins, grandmothers, aunts and uncles. This year we are surprising Gaby's 82-year-old grandmother with a trip to the Grand Canyon with all 6 of her grandchildren and great-granddaughter.

When we get together with family we spend most of our time cooking traditional Puerto Rican or Cuban food, eating together as a family, playing board games, dancing and just chatting about life and current events.

Everyone is very excited and looking forward to our adoption! They cannot wait to meet him or her.

We want to start this letter sincerely thanking you for considering adoption and taking the time to look through our profile. We are grateful for the opportunity to adopt and have been looking forward to being able to grow our family for a long time. Early in our relationship we both knew we wanted to adopt as we imagined and planned for what our life and future together would look like. At the time we did not know that adoption would ultimately be the only way for us to have the opportunity to become parents. Having and raising children is a dream that we've both been looking forward to as long as we can remember.

We met in our early 20's while we were in college and have been together for 13 years, 7 of which we've been married. A strong marriage is not something we take for granted, we are committed to one another and everyday we continue to fall deeper in love as we grow together, finding joy in the little things and simple moments in life. We are a deeply caring and goal oriented couple. We've both dreamed of what our life together would be like, and turned those dreams into a reality. We've dedicated a large part of our lives to education and fulfilling our career goals in health sciences. Throughout these thirteen years together, we've supported one another through many challenges; coming out of moments of difficulty or adversity stronger together and with a deeper understanding and value of each other's strengths and weaknesses. We are a team that's ready for a new member. Now that we're done with schooling, we are in a place where we can offer a stable home and dedicate our time and love towards raising a child.

Should you choose us to parent your child, we are committed to providing them with a loving and stable home. This is a promise. This child would not only know the love of us as their adoptive parents, but also as people who value honesty, we would ensure our child knows the truth of their origin from early in life. We would love nothing more than for our child to know and trust we have their best interest at heart, and that they were wanted and planned for in our life.

We are not only planning on being honest about how they come into our life, we are also open to having post adoption contact to the extent both you and us are comfortable with. It would be a joy to know our child has the ability to get to know their birth parents and have positive experiences to form their adoption story. We are open to visits, phone calls, text and exchanging emails to aid in communication.

To add more color to the life we've dreamt of and have for this child, we value education and travel. We believe there is nothing more rewarding than life experiences, and building knowledge and memories to last forever. We hope to support our child with the opportunity to pursue higher education, beyond college through any post-graduate education, should they choose to do so. Although the current pandemic has put a pause on recent travel, we enjoy going abroad and experiencing different countries and immersing ourselves in other cultures while on vacation. We enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking or spending afternoons picnicking and playing in the park with our two dogs, Klein and Duke.

Beyond our immediate family unit, our child would be a part of our very close and loving extended family. We both see our siblings and parents multiple times a year, taking trips together, or relaxing with one another for casual visits. We spend a lot of quality time together grilling in the yard, or getting competitive playing board games. Our child will have love, affection and support not only from us as their parents, but our families as well.

We hope this letter provides clarity about us as individuals and potential parents. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider us for the future of your child.

Sincerely,

Osman & Gaby