Hello! We are Rachel and Jason Woodward and we live in Oakland, California. We are very excited for the opportunity to achieve our dreams of starting a family through open adoption. Adoption has always been a part of our lives. Jason’s Aunt, two cousins and three nieces are adopted. Two of Rachel’s cousins are adopted as well. We also have close friends that have built their families through open adoption.

We hope our profile will give you a glimpse into our lives and imagine what type of parents we will be. We know you are making an extremely difficult decision and have tremendous respect for your choice to care for your child’s future. We hope that if adoption feels right for you, that you feel confident in entrusting your precious gift with us.

Our New Home

We bought our first home in the Oakland Hills this year in June. Our neighborhood is a blend of families, culinary events, open spaces and fun places to explore. We are down the street from a vibrant community center with a playground and near Lake Chabot Space & Science Center that has all sorts of children's programs and activities. We will definitely visit the center with our little one to teach them all about the stars and planets!

Upon moving into our new home, some of our neighbors came over, introduced themselves and welcomed us to the neighborhood, which made us feel really special.  Our home is very cozy, filled with lots of games, books and music. Our cat Mario likes to bask in the sunshine that fills each room in the house. We have a nice backyard that we like to garden in, with a lemon and orange tree. There is lots of room to run around and play outside.

We live about 4 miles from our close friends and their little girl, and have them over for dinner regularly. On the weekends, we like to explore our new neighborhood, work on the house or head out on a bike ride, for a swim or to yoga. Many times we invite our friends over for an afternoon barbecue.  It is important to us that we create a home where our family and friends feel safe and welcomed.

We are excited to build our lives here and raise our child in such a vibrant area.  

About Rachel (by Jason)

Rachel is kind, caring, compassionate and has a heart of gold. She was born in Washington D.C. and moved to Southern California when she was in high school. During her childhood, she also spent summers in Bozeman, Montana visiting her father.

Her family and friends are extremely important to her. She is a true nature and animal lover and has a close bond with her rescue cat Mario. One of the cute things she does when leaving the house for the day is putting classical music on for him so he won't feel alone while we are at work! I like to watch Rachel around my nephews because she makes them feel special and welcomed.

Rachel loves the outdoors, the ocean, doing yoga, reading and cooking. She can't wait to teach our child how to cook, to swim, show them the ocean and introduce them to Mario!

Rachel works as a Sales Solution Manager at a very large tech company that allows her a flexible work schedule to be with her family and take care of our child. I know Rachel will make a great mother because she is such a loving person. 

 

About Jason (by Rachel)

Jason is the nicest person I have ever known, and is very caring and respectful. His family and friends are very important to him. He was born and raised in San Anselmo, California where his father and extended family live. He has a close bond with his sister and his two nephews.

He likes to teach his nephews about cycling and plays games with them where they make funny faces and voices. Although Jason claims he's not a big cat person, he hangs out with my cat Mario. He even calls him his buddy!  

Jason enjoys the outdoors, going bike riding, swimming and sailing. He has worked as a Machinist for over 20 years. We are lucky that he will be able to work the night shift in order to take care of our child during the day.

I am looking forward to seeing Jason help our child navigate growing up, guiding them in the right direction and always being there for them. He is excited to teach our child about nature, how to ride a bike and show them what camping is all about!

Our Family

Both Jason and Rachel come from big families. Jason grew up on the West Coast while Rachel mainly grew up on the East Coast. Although we each have family in different cities, we make sure to visit them often.

We really enjoy sharing our family traditions with one another, and can't wait to share them with our child. Most of our traditions involve some outdoor activity, cooking and lots of eating! When we visit Rachel's family in Washington D.C., we love taking Jason to the museums and to see all the monuments.

Growing up Jason's grandfather taught the whole family how to sail. Today, his Aunt carries on the family tradition by taking us sailing around the Bay. It's fun to visit her, go sailing and have dinner at the Yacht Club afterwards. Both of our families like having big holiday celebrations and taking annual family trips together. It's really great that our families have ongoing traditions because we always get a chance to spend time with them.

 

Family Traditions

·Weekly Friday night sailing with Jason’s family during the sailing season.

·Going to Family Camp every summer in Lake Tahoe or Yosemite, California

·Spending holiday celebrations with our families in either California, Washington D.C. or in Bozeman, Montana

·Having board game competitions

·Throwing dinner parties for family and friends

Our Parenting Values

·We will teach our child to be polite, kind, open and to have compassion.

·We will encourage them to explore the world and ask questions, yet set boundaries to foster respect for others.

·We both feel being involved the arts such as studying music and dance will teach appreciation and spark creativity.

·We are both close to our families and will continue to carry on our traditions and introduce our child to them.

·We think travel is important, as it will introduce our child to other people and cultures, fostering acceptance and understanding of things different.

·We strongly value education and the opportunity it will bring.

·We will make sure our child knows how loved they are with lots of hugs and kisses. 

Our Decision to Adopt

We both came to the decision quickly after we met that we wanted to spend our lives together and start a family. However after struggling with fertility issues, we decided to stop trying to force something that is not the right path for us in building our family.

We feel open adoption is the next natural step to achieving our dreams of starting a family. We recognize there is a huge loss when placing a child for adoption. We hope that if adoption feels right for you, you feel confident entrusting your precious gift with us. 

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. We welcome the chance to meet you, get to know you and answer any questions you may have.

Please feel free to contact us at: racheljasonwoodward@gmail.com

Or contact our agency, Adoption Connection at: Email: families@adoptionconnection.org or Phone: 415-355-4636

With Deep Gratitude, 

Rachel & Jason