Introduction
Dear Expectant Parent(s),
We would like to thank you for reading this letter and learning more about us and our family. Although we could never understand what you are going through, we see your bravery and how much you already care for and love your child.
If we were able to meet you in person, we would invite you into our home, sit at our kitchen table and offer you a cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake (we are Italian, after all!). Gabriele would try to break the ice with a couple of funny comments (he is the talkative one) and I, Anna, would speak softly, trying to better understand your feelings while also showing our willingness to be open and transparent in such a precious and hard time for you.
If you should choose to tell us your story, we would listen, because we know how important it is to feel heard. We would share something about our family with you, letting you into the vulnerable places of our hearts, as well. In our family, we believe that talking and expressing emotions is a key in building relationships.
We’re a big family, with three kids and three pets, but we have room in our hearts and more love to give! There are a few things we’d love for you to know about us:
1. We are Italians, but the United States is our home. We have been living here for 11 years and our family has grown in this country.
2. At the same time, we feel like “Citizens of the World.” We love to travel and want to be exposed to all the rich diversity the world has to offer. We have a constant desire to learn and experience different cultures and traditions.
3. But more than anything else, we love to spend time together. Even when our lives and schedules get crazy, we always put our family first. Loving each other well is our top priority.
No matter where this journey takes us or what you decide, we will always respect and desire the best for you. We hope you find exactly what your heart needs.
About Anna
I’m 40 years old. I’m 5’5 with brown hair, brown eyes, and a genuine smile. I have a college degree and work as an assistant for my husband and his business.
I was born and raised in Italy, and my Italian DNA is reflected in many things I do and love – from putting family and friends before anything else to a passion for cooking and spending hours around the dinner table talking and laughing with the ones I love. I am very organized and determined. Once I have a goal, I give all my effort to achieve it! I like to travel, read, cook and work out, but most of all I love when my family is all together. My favorite place to be with them is the beach; I love summer and warm weather! But I also love winter traditions and the holidays – especially Christmas with its smells, magic and anticipation.
I choose with no hesitation to be present for my kids every day. This is my top priority, and I have chosen a lifestyle that makes it possible. I work part time as an assistant for my husband. This allows me a very flexible schedule so that I can spend most of my time with our kids.
Taking care of the people I love is one of my favorite things. And being a mom allows me to do this every day. I love helping my kids through every step of their growth. I work hard to keep the right balance between leading them and leaving them free to decide, learn and become more independent. I also love to celebrate with them, like organizing big, themed parties for them and filling the house with friends, other kids and laughter. As my kids grow, I want them to always know how important they are. I want them to know they can come to me with the good things and the hard things, and that I’ll always be there to listen.
Anna in Gabriele’s words:
Anna is more than I ever could have asked for. You can say I am biased, but she is the most important element in my life that made me the businessman, the father, the man I have become. She is caring, determined and pure. She is always putting the kids in first place. When she has a goal in mind, nothing can stop her, and she was able to transfer this focus and determination to me too, who thought that she could push me to wake up at 5:30 am to exercise together for years?! But the most important of her qualities is her purity. She never tells a lie, never hides, never pretends; she is sincere and expressive, and that is what makes her a very special mom, wife, and accomplished woman.
About Gabriele
I’m 40 years old. I’m 6’2 with brown hair, and blue eyes. I have a Master’s Degree and work as the CEO of a healthcare company.
You can call me Gabe. I am also Italian, but sadly the consulate has warned me they will revoke my Italian passport if I keep saying I like to eat at Olive Garden and Five Guys Burgers! (Just kidding.) You should know that I love to spend time with my family. In my daily life, I am a disorganized, intuitive and an ambitious dreamer. I love to lead and inspire. I am a strong believer in the importance of self-awareness and think that exposure to diversity, of any kind, is the key for growth. I love to play sports with my kids and be super loud when I cheer for them at their games. I am a very bad cook, but I am the one often starting new discussions or triggering laughs at the dinner table.
I have a very busy job as the CEO of an international firm in healthcare, but nothing and no one can take away my time with family. Even my employees are getting tired of hearing from me about the importance of family in all my speeches, which I style as Al Pacino in God-father or Vin Diesel in Fast and Furious.
Anna and our children give me all the energy I need to face each day with speed and endurance. They inspire me and are my biggest fans in all that I try each day to achieve. There is no greater thing than being Anna’s husband and my kids’ dad, and I couldn’t take on half of what I do without them. I love including my family in the various aspects of my life, telling our little ones life stories around our fire pit, and reading them cool books before it is their bedtime. They always have and always will come before everything else, and I cannot wait to be a new dad again.
Gabriele in Anna’s Words
Gabriele and I are almost opposites in our personalities. He is an extrovert, loud, and likes to be at the center of attention. He is a leader, thinks outside the box, and is constantly putting himself in hard situations to be challenged and grow. I, on the other hand, am quiet, introverted, and like my comfort zone. The fact that Gabriele is so different than me is what attracted me to him, but it has also become one of our greatest strengths; we push each other to be our best. Gabriele is also a wonderful dad. Before having kids, he had never changed a diaper or held an infant, but after having our first child, he jumped into his role as dad without hesitation and has enjoyed every part of it. He is caring and selfless. He devotes every ounce of his energy to us, and I know he can’t wait to come home after a long day to be with us. He is patient and compassionate, and I couldn’t ask for more.
Our Story
Gabriele and I met for the first time when we were in high school. We were 14 and good friends. It was nine years before we went on our first date. Gabriele loves to tell this colorful story about how we didn’t date earlier because I had a boyfriend; he had to wait patiently for years until I finally broke up with the guy and he was able to jump in and ask me out.
Our first date was simple – we went out for pizza and took a walk. We already knew each other pretty well, but we did not know how well we would complement each other. Even with very different personalities, we found we shared the same values: family comes first, honesty and sincerity are important, and being able to talk to each other about hard things has power.
After dating for three years, one of which we spent living in Shanghai, China, we knew we were meant to be together forever. We got married in 2006 with a beautiful celebration in the Italian countryside, surrounded by all the people we loved.
After the wedding, we moved to a beautiful house, not far from our parents and the place we grew up. There were many things we loved, but after a few years, we began to feel a bit unsettled. In 2010, we took a huge leap of faith that changed our lives forever – we moved to the U.S. with our dog Platone and our two cats. It was the best decision of our lives and we love that we did it together.
What Brought Us to Adoption
From the very beginning, our family has been built in unique ways. Soon after we were married, I remember talking with Gabriele and agreeing that we wanted a big family. We didn’t know then how hard it would be. While our 3 children have come to us through infertility treatments, adoption has been on our hearts for a very long time.
While still in Italy, we were trying to understand our difficulty conceiving, but doctors were unable to figure out any underlining medical issues. Less than 3 months after arriving in the States, we received a clear diagnosis and our clinicians gave us a path forward through IVF. We felt so much hope in that moment.
After a few months of IVF, we met our daughter. The amazing news of our twin boys followed shortly after. Following our three kids, we decided to try for a fourth. But after rounds of medications and two painful miscarriages, we realized it wasn’t the right path for our family at this time.
We talked about adoption when we started the IVF journey, and after our second loss, the conversation re-emerged. Our hearts were healing and opening again. We have always loved inviting people into our home, and we have always known that family is more than blood. Despite the past heartache, we feel honored to be here, joining our family and our lives with another.
Meet Our Beautiful Children
Our children are our 3 little miracles. At the beginning of our journey with infertility, we didn’t know if we would ever be able to conceive. Then, through IVF, we had our daughter—and then three years later, we were blessed with our twin boys.
Aurora is our little angel. She is loving and artistic, curious and smart, funny and caring. She has always loved princesses, the color pink and sparkles. She believes in magic, unicorns and fairies, and reminds us often she is sure they exist! She has such a sweet, easy going personality, and we are so lucky!
Alessandro is our little tornado. He is a skinny, active, strong willed, and impulsive boy. He can’t stay still for long or do only one thing at a time – the day is too short for all the things he wants to accomplish! He is very competitive, not afraid to talk to people, a fast runner and a lover of animals and insects.
Leonardo is the sweetest little boy. He’s younger by 2 minutes, and couldn’t be more different than his brother! He is very good at sports but doesn’t want to be the center of attention. He is cuddly, shy, caring. He is always worrying about others and wants to make sure every-one, especially his brother, is doing ok.
Our Family & Values
We give a lot of importance to our Italian heritage, and we treasure many of the values taught to us by our parents. We speak Italian to our kids, so that when we visit our family in Italy, they will be able to understand and communicate. We also love to teach them about the differences between the US and Italy and how being different has made us eager to learn.
We are big believers in talking to each other. Gabriele and I always try to express our feelings and seek support in one another. We have a rule about not going to bed mad, and the same applies to our kids. We are teaching them to be open and to ex-press their feelings, even if it is hard.
We value time together as a family and we are intentional about making it hap-pen. We also see the importance of one on one time with each one of the kids to help them express themselves, build confidence and realize what their strengths are.
We believe in being honest and always telling the truth. We model this in our marriage and expect it from our kids. At the same time, we model forgiveness and grace, so that our kids are not afraid to come to us with their mistakes, questions, or shortcomings. We always want to encourage and support one another.
Our Home & Community
We really love our home. We moved here in 2017 when we realized there wasn’t much space for the kids to play in our old home. We wanted a big house we could fill with people, host parties for our kids, and encourage them to invite their friends over.
Our backyard and basement are our two favorite spots. There are 2 acres of space to play in the backyard, and we quickly transformed our basement into the kids’ playroom – although we must admit, sometimes the grownups have more fun!
We also love our big, open kitchen where we spend most of our time together – eating meals or simply sitting at the island and talking. Aurora loves having a big room all to herself and the boys just got their shared room remade as a “big boys” room.
When the weather is nice, we are outside playing basketball, riding bikes, drawing on the driveway with chalk, or jumping on the big trampoline. When we have to be inside, we’re in the basement playing soccer or hide and seek, doing puzzles, or challenging each other at a board game
We live in a quiet, safe neighborhood with a lot of kids. It’s a beautiful Metro-west town, surrounded by forests, ponds, and nice trails where we like to take our dog for walks as a family.
We love that our town is not too big. There are a lot of great playgrounds and a neat downtown area where we can walk. You can always find kids playing, and the neighbors are friendly. Best of all, we are only one hour from the ocean, and it’s our favorite place to be in the summer; we take day trips there every weekend.
The school system is also very good, among the top 20 in the state. We are also the best school district for athletes in the state. We have found that our kids’ teachers are amazing, very open, caring, and eager to help us and our kids with any problem they are facing.
Because we’re close to a big city, there is a lot of diversity around us. There are many different cultures, mainly from South America, Europe, and Asia, and we love learning more about the places they’ve come from. Many, like us, have immigrated here and are both embracing the American culture as well as retaining their beautiful and unique birth cultures. It’s a privilege to get to share life, stories, wisdom, and experiences, and we can’t wait for our kids to continue walking in curiosity!
Friends & Family
ANNA’S FAMILY: Although my mom, dad and brother live in Italy, I feel like we are close. I can’t see them whenever I want, but I know if I had a problem, they would always be available to talk and help me in any way they could. I text with my parents every day, and on the weekends we face-time so they can connect with their grand-kids. I can see from their smiles that they wait for this moment with great anticipation. My mom and dad come to the U.S. at least once a year. They have been here to experience the birth of their three grandkids and helped us a lot! I still remember my dad waking up during the night to help us feed and change the boys. They’re the best.
GABRIELE’S FAMILY: I could write pages about my parents, but let me start by saying they are very special – in a good way! They are a dynamic duo. My mom is very artistic, incapable of following rigid processes, with little control in speaking her mind! She is an explosion of energy and ideas and a restless fighter of injustices. She is also a hug and kisses machine. My dad is a planner, a thinker, and a leader, with great control of his physical and verbal expressions. You might think then, “How can they match?“, and believe me, I’ve asked myself the same question many times! But they are the most beautiful example of how love is about completing each other.
Our Promise
Words can’t express how grateful we feel that you are even considering us to join you in loving this child. If you should choose to get to know us more, we want you to know that we will always honor and uphold you and the unique relationship you will have with this little one.
We would like you to know that we will always see you as this child’s first mother, and we will honor whatever choice you make about how present you might want to be in his/her life. Regardless, we will only ever speak good about you. But please also know that we would love to welcome you into our loud and crazy family with open arms and excited hearts!
We know so much has yet to unfold, but what we can promise right now is this:
• We will protect and love your baby unconditionally, every day of his/her life.
• We will make him/her part of our Italian extended family who can`t wait to meet and love him/her unconditionally as well.
• We will travel a lot all together, discovering new places, cultures and traditions.
• We will share new adventures together.
• We will give him/her all the opportunities to find out his/her direction and talents.
• We will teach your child to be kind, respectful and caring.
• We will talk to him/her about you and your selfless act of love.
If you’d like to meet us, we would be honored to meet you. We know this is not a decision made easily, and if chosen, we will make sure your child knows the love that went into your choice. We promise to always put all that we have into loving each other, loving this child, and loving you well.
Please call Full Circle Adoptions at 1-800-452-3678 if you would like to learn more about us or speak with us.
Un Abbraccio,