Hello! We are Judith and Marco and we want to thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. We deeply respect you and your journey.
 
We met in 1999, while Judith was studying in Mexico. After a few months of knowing each other, we fell in love and had a wonderful year of romance, travels, and adventures. When Judith returned to her home, in Puerto Rico, we spent a couple of years in a long-distance relationship that took us through Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. We were married in 2002. Since we first met, we spend most of our time together and we love it! It feels as if we started a conversation back in 1999 and we are still in it. Somehow, even in the most difficult times we have gone through together, we find the way to make each other laugh.

We have lived in Pennsylvania since 2006. Both of us are college professors, passionate about education, and proud to mentor students at different stages in their academic preparation. When we are not teaching, reading, or writing about literature and other arts, we are planning cultural events that can enrich our academic community and our town. Thanks to our flexible schedules, when one of us has to travel for work, the other can come along. This has allowed us to know many places in the U.S. and abroad. 
 
At the beginning of our relationship, we focused on pursuing our education and working hard to make a better living. When we were ready to have children, we spent several years trying to conceive. Even though we discovered that we cannot have a biological child, we are very excited about becoming parents. Adoption is the right path for us to bring home the child we so much want.

Because of our profound respect to women choosing and planning an adoption for their baby, we will let you decide on and will always honor the level of openness with which you feel comfortable. We promise to lovingly explain to your child about the journey you took, your strength, and your commitment as a mother who wanted the very best for her child. We will be very protective of your child but promise not to be overprotective. We want to nurture your child in such a way that he or she could develop his or her potential, interests, passions, etc. Even though we will take advantage of our community’s outstanding childcare and preschool programs, we will spend a lot of quality time together as a family. The flexibility that we have right now with our time will be transformed to meet your child’s needs. Your child will be bilingual and highly educated, exposed to the best values of our Hispanic and American cultures.
 
We will always be there to listen to your child while respecting his or her boundaries. We want to raise a strong, independent, critical, and caring individual. We promise to take your child on all of our adventures and travels. We respect other people’s beliefs. We will raise your child to have faith and to develop their religious and political beliefs as he/she grows and comes into contact with our diverse family, friends, and community.

Sincerely,
Marco and Judith

I was born and raised in Mexico City. I am the second of three brothers of a single mother. I consider myself fun, optimistic, relaxed, and playful. I believe this world is an amazing place and we have the opportunity to witness beautiful sunrises and sunsets, meet new people, and learn something new. I strongly believe in love and respect.
 
I grew up living with my extended family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Back in the day, we spent a lot of time together playing football, going camping, or watching TV. We have always been close to one another, as we have similar friends and like similar music and movies. When we are together now, we reminisce about that time making jokes and laughing.
 
Even though today I am a college professor; my academic journey has not been easy. In high school, I was not the best student, but college changed my life. I believe we (teachers and professors) can make a difference to improve our society.

I am a Puerto Rican woman, born in New York City. I am playful and loyal to my family and friends. I am a hard-working person and have willpower that has helped me to overcome different obstacles throughout my life. Social justice, nature, and the well-being of animals are very important causes to me.
 
I grew up with my mother as an only child in the countryside, and my extended family has been fundamental for me. My cousins and I spent our childhood reading, running through the hills, climbing trees, running after the chickens, playing with dogs and cats—I was a free child! I was a ballet dancer and practiced folkloric dances from Spain. Since I was a little girl, I have had a passion for art and exercise.
 
Since I was fifteen years old, I have always worked, and I have been a college professor of Latin American and U.S. Latino literature since 2006. I am always reading, writing, editing, teaching, and organizing events. It is a very dynamic and flexible job (never boring), which I like.
 

We live in a townhouse that has a great backyard for bird sightseeing. We spend many hours looking at nature, which surrounds our home, playing scrabble, solving puzzles, and cooking exciting recipes. We take long walks through different hiking paths that connect our house to different parts of town. In a short drive, we can arrive at spectacular mountains and lakes. Our home is also our place for relaxation: we like to watch documentaries, TV series, and movies.
 
We live in a very safe small town that is racially heterogeneous and culturally diverse. This means that we have the opportunity to have new experiences every day! Also, we have great schools and a fantastic health system. In town, there are people from different parts of the U.S. and the world, which shows in the parties we go to, the restaurants we visit, and the schools we have in town. Every day we learn something new just by talking to a neighbor or a friend!

Family and friends are everything to us. We both come from large families where women and men are raised to become independent and caring human beings. Even living thousands of miles away, we stay connected with family through phone calls, texts, and social media. We travel often to Mexico and Puerto Rico during our winter and summer breaks.
 
As we have moved between Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the U.S., we have also acquired a tight group of friends. We have good friends in State College and often visit others in Vermont, New York, Washington, D.C., Princeton, and Philadelphia. We also welcome families and friends from other places in our home. Marco and I have been present in the lives of our friends’ children. We have taken care of pregnant friends and their newborns after labor. We love to visit and play with our friends’ children!

Every occasion is a good excuse to get together with family and friends. And with such a huge group of people, there is never a dull party! Birthdays and New Year’s Eve are special events for us. A tradition that we have is traveling to Puerto Rico to receive the New Year with our family and watch the sunrise on the beach. After, we all go out for breakfast.

As we have settled our life in our little town, we continue to celebrate Hispanic traditions—a mix between Mexican, Puerto Rican, and American influences with neighbors and friends. Music, food, and people come together in a rich way for Thanksgiving—for example when we cook the classic American turkey alongside Mexican and Puerto Rican dishes.

Every birthday in our house becomes a potluck that exhibits flavors from around the world. Freshly made dumplings share the table with cohinita pibil and mofongo. Children come to our parties and spend time dancing to everything from Latin music to classic rock. When it is time to sleep, our friends put their children down in our bedroom.