Welcome! Meet:

Jon + Stella

Supply Chain Manager / Vice President of Client Audit Management

Maryland

Caucasian / Asian

Jewish / Christian

All About Jon & Stella
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Jon & Stella

Hi there! We are a loving, committed couple looking to enhance our family with the addition of a baby. Having the opportunity to love and care for a baby is one that we cannot accomplish on our own, and we are so grateful you are considering this adoption journey with us. We promise your child a life filled with unconditional love, laughter, and wonderful adventures. Thank you so much for considering us.

Why Adoption?

We have always wanted children and while our lives together is amazing, it feels incomplete. We relish our dogs, but although they act like 2-year-olds, they’re not quite little people. We want all the emotions and complexities of having a child – the little joys, the scary moments, the frustrations, the proud moments, and the unconditional love. We desire to be able to mold our child into a moral and caring person. As is probably the case for most adoptive parents, adoption wasn’t our first choice, but after trying to get pregnant for two years, this was our alternative and we are very much looking forward to welcoming a new member of our family!

Family & Home

We live in a large and comfortable house in a family-friendly neighborhood just outside Baltimore. Our house is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. Our neighborhood is a new development and everyone is very friendly and connected since we all moved in around the same time. There’s a neighborhood Facebook page, where neighbors organize events, send notifications when the weather is bad, or alert when there is a lost dog, etc. It’s a great place to live, with lots of space and close-knit neighbors.

We can picture our child scootering around the circle, fishing in the nearby creek, or playing on the neighbor’s giant bounce house with the neighborhood kids. It seems every Halloween and Christmas (well generally every holiday!) that each house tries to out-decorate the next.

We are also near great schools, and there are lots of outdoor activities nearby as well. We are also close to hiking trails, a lake with boating and fishing, and also a farm nearby that hosts an annual Easter Egg hunt.

Jon’s parents live in Washington DC, which is about an hour away, and offers lots of museums, the National Zoo, and kayaking in the Potomac River.

How others describe me

Jon is intelligent, energetic, adventurous, and patient. Jon has zero shyness, and is comfortable in all social settings. Jon is very diligent with housework and general home duties, and does a great job keeping the household on track (Jon even does our taxes early every year). Jon is very adventurous, and is willing to try most anything at least one time. When we go on vacation, Jon is the first volunteer to jump off a big rock when waterfall jumping, Jon is also a talented cook. Jon also has a great sense of humor and has been working on his dad-jokes since we met.

Stella is caring, generous, intelligent, upbeat, and a great listener. She loves to host friends and family over for get-togethers and always adds a little touch of personality to each gathering, such as a personalized Christmas stocking for her sister when she stayed with us. She confidently leads her team at work and is great at remembering to praise them when they do a good job. Stella’s default mood is cheerful and always lights up the room.

We have complementing strengths and are a great team. Together we are unstoppable! While Stella is more impulsive with decisions and goes with a gut instinct, Jon likes to do his homework before making a decision. Usually, we come together to make the same choice for a decision point, although it may be for different reasons. We are also each other’s biggest cheerleaders and best friends.

How We Met

We met on Halloween 14 years ago at a party at Jon's house in Baltimore. She was invited by Jon's roommate's girlfriend, who was Stella's best friend in high school, but ironically, Jon did not attend the party at his own house. He thought he had better plans hanging out with his friends in the city that night, not knowing the love of his life was waiting for him back at his house. We wish we could say Stella was dressed as mustard and Jon as ketchup, but it was more like Stella was dressed as a bear and Jon as a not-so-attractive Hogette (Google it you’re curious). When Jon came back, the party had wound down, but he was drawn to Stella and they started chatting and hit it off. Conversation was so easy and it seemed meant to be right from the start. A little while later, we had our first date (dinner and ice-skating) and have been in love ever since.

Advice to Future Child

Being adopted is just one of many attributes that makes you unique, like having red hair or being part of an interracial family. You didn’t do anything wrong, and your birth parents didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you have two sets of parents who love you very much! Your birth parents loved you so much that they made an incredibly hard decision to give you to another loving family so you could have the best life. It’s ok to be confused and it’s ok to be mad, but you will always be loved, and we will always be there for you.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

It’s natural for a child to be confused and possibly hurt learning that they were adopted. We intend to not shy away from the subject, so the child feels comfortable expressing their feelings about it to us. We are very hopeful that the birth mother will want to have continual contact with the child and us, as we think this will be beneficial to the child. The open adoption visits will help keep that dialogue open.

Favorites

Jon

Favorite Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: holiday: Thanksgiving / tradition: searching for the Afikomen during Passover
Hobbies/Interests: anything competitive, strategic, or different. I love all sports, strategy games like poker, outdoor adventures, and building things
Dream Vacation: Hawaii
If I Could Choose a Superpower: time travel

Stella

Favorite Movie: Resident Evil
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: holiday: Christmas / tradition: decorating the Christmas tree
Hobbies/Interests: traveling and shopping
Dream Vacation: any place new
If I Could Choose a Superpower: ability to fly