INTRODUCTION

Hi! We’re Audra and Joe!

We’d like to sincerely thank you for considering us.

While we love our little family, we also have so much more love to give and always envisioned we would adopt. We had River after several miscarriages and in-vitro fertilization. Miraculously, modern science helped bring her to us. But her birth was medically difficult for Audra and so it helped us finally take the plunge to fully pursue adoption!

Our journey to adoption: We became foster parents in 2017. We knew we had more love to give. We were willing and open to expanding our family in any way we could. We know from both our foster care training and our adoption training, that a child “cannot be at peace without all of their pieces.” For us, that means maintaining a connection with their birth parents and heritage and we’re looking forward to working with you to ensure your child grows up knowing about you and your love for them.

about us

Our love story began in London.

We met in London in 2011. Some people meet at the gym. Well, we met at a BBQ that our gym was hosting. It was late summer and Joe was finishing up his degree at the University of London. Audra was in an internship with her graduate school program. The first few days we hung out consisted of us walking all through London and going on long runs together. Joe actually went back to Boston about 2 weeks after our first meeting and we continued “dating” via Google video calls for 2 more months. Once Audra’s internship was done, she decided to join Joe in Boston. 

We fell in love over long conversations about the state of the world and a shared interest in traveling and exploring the world. We both encouraged one another to pursue our dreams and passions and it wasn’t too long before we realized that we were better together. 

After moving to Boston, we continued dating for about two years, before Joe proposed in the Summer of 2013. 

The ocean is a place where we both feel at home and even though it’s a little farther away, now, we love spending time by the water. It reminds us that the world is vast and it helps us see our place in it.

We want to raise our children to be kind, honest & brave. We believe these are values that will help our children succeed in life. Whatever our relationship might be with you - we will make sure your child knows that the decision to place them for adoption was an act of kindness, honesty, braveness - and above all - love. 

about us

Meet Joe (by Audra)

Joe is the most kind, loving, patient human I’ve ever met. He’s a wonderful father and I love watching how he interacts with River. He loves exploring the world with her and patiently pointing new things out to her and allowing her to investigate those things. Sometimes, after a long day, Joe will come down to the living room where River has been with our Nanny. After the Nanny leaves, he’ll lay on the floor to play with her. 

River will immediately crawl on top of his tummy and just cuddle with him, while he hugs her back. I did not grow up living with my father, so it’s very special for me to see River with her dad and the bond they have formed. 

Meet Audra (by Joe)

Audra is a true “Mama Bear” in every sense of the term. She passionately protects and advocates for the people around her, while also being incredibly kind and gentle. This passion sits beautifully alongside the caring and sensitive way she cares for people. She showers those around her with affection, particularly our daughter, River. They cuddle and play, and kiss booboos to make them all better. No one can make the day brighter for River, or fix something that isn’t right like Mama can! 

When I think of the way that Audra interacts with children, and the young adults she mentors, what really strikes me is the way she makes those around her feel safe. Whether it is River climbing a playground ladder for the first time, or hugging away a fall; or when her adult friends need a space to feel heard.

a look into our life

Meet our daughter, River

River is just over 2 years old. We believe that she will be very excited to share her home with another child. Every time she sees a baby when we’re out for walks, she calls them out “Baby! Baby!” and she waves at them. She’s very bright and knows all of her colors, has many words in her vocabulary, and loves to play “go, go, go” (a game we play at home). She also loves playing the “hug game” (where she goes between us and gives us hugs). She’s very sweet with our dog, Ellie and she is very empathetic. If she sees that you have a “boo boo” she’ll offer to kiss it. Her favorite book is currently “The Grumpy Monkey” and she is close to learning the A, B, C song.

We live in Virginia

We live in a classic brick house with four bedrooms and a big backyard, including a swing-set. We live near a giant park and love spending time outdoors, especially walking around the pond and looking at animals and birds with our River. 

fun facts

A few of our favorite things

Animal
Joe Other than our dog, Ellie, I love sea otters!
Audra Our dog, Ellie

Athlete
Joe Ray Bourque
Audra Megan Rapinoe

Author
Joe Ray Bradbury
Audra Ibrahim X. Kendi

Can’t live without
Joe My family
Audra Fizzy water

Children’s Book
Joe I Love You To The Moon And Back
Audra You Are My I Love You

Things that make me happy

Joe

• My family, especially Audra, River and Ellie

• Time spent outside

• Making/building things

• Board and card games

Things that make me happy

Audra

• My family

• Anything with Amy Pohelr, Mindy Khaling, and Tina Fey

• Corny “Dad” jokes

• My friends

• Political skits on Saturday Night Live

in closing

Thank you for learning about us.

We are excited to embark on this journey with you and hope this profile gave a little glimpse into our story. But we'd love to share more and also learn about you and what your hopes are for your child.