Michael & Wilfredo In California

We met by complete chance while vacationing on Cape Cod; it was an instant connection! Michael fell in love with Wilfredo's bright and cheerful personality and Wilfredo loved Michael's kind and compassionate spirit.

At that time, Michael was living in Massachusetts and Wilfredo was living in California. After six months, countless hours of getting to know each other over the phone, and a few cross-continental trips, the distance was too great. Michael decided to move to California, and we started our life together. Our relationship has truly blossomed and strengthened over the past five years. In 2021, we "tied the knot" and bought a beautiful home in the Bay Area, eager to start our new family.

Wilfredo is 36 years old and works as a clinical trials manager in the pharmaceutical industry. Wilfredo was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and spent most of his childhood growing up near Orlando, Florida. Wilfredo's Hispanic heritage, family values and traditions bring so much love and joy into our household. Michael is 39 years old and feels so fortunate to have his dream job as a specialty registered nurse at the University Hospital. Originally from Boston, Michael grew up in a very active family, spending most of his childhood playing sports and exploring the outdoors.

Over the past four years, our lives have revolved around our spoiled fur baby Drogo! Drogo is a 4-year-old miniature Australian Shepherd with one blue eye, one brown eye, the biggest heart, and is truly our four-legged baby! Drogo is a little gem; he is by far the smartest dog either one of us have ever owned. While Drogo loves running through trails on long hikes and playing fetch at the beach, his favorite past time is lounging on the couch and watching tv. Drogo loves people, other dogs, and most importantly is fantastic with children. We are confident that Drogo will form a beautiful bond with our future child.

We are blessed to live in beautiful suburb in California's Bay Area. When deciding where we wanted to settle down, our top three priorities were a multi-cultural community, a quiet neighborhood and a strong school system. We lucked out on all three! Completely updated in 2020, our Spanish style home is 1,200 square feet with an open floor plan, two bedrooms, one bath, and plenty of outdoor space. We have excitedly started to design the nursery with construction to be completed in Fall 2023.

Our house is only a few blocks from a playground, community swimming pool and our beautiful town beach! Many of our neighbors are young parents with children ranging from toddlers through middle-school. Our community loves to celebrate the holidays especially Halloween, Fourth of July and of course, Christmas. Our supportive community will be an ideal place to raise our child.

Both of our families play vital roles in our every day lives. Wilfredo’s parents value their Puerto Rican heritage and plan to share their culture and language with our future child. Latin cuisine, music and dancing have been a central part of household traditions. Christmas is especially important for Wilfredo’s family. Along with celebrating Latin culture, the family also incorporate American celebrations like Thanksgiving and Independence Day.

Michael’s family still live close by each other just outside of Boston, with values deep rooted in family traditions like Thanksgiving dinner and football, it is really the consistent “get togethers” that are tradition for them. Getting together to hike, bike ride, ski or for family dinners are a big part of their household traditions.

We have both had the privilege of being uncles to some amazing nieces and nephews. Wilfredo’s sister has a son and a daughter. Michael’s sister has a son and a daughter, and his brother has two sons. These kids are fun, energetic, loving, empathetic, and are looking forward to another cousin to join them!
We value quality family time rooted in love and acceptan ,'ce. Our families are important forces of support, love, and encouragement in our lives; we would love to share them with a child of our own.

Health and fitness play an important part in our professional and personal lives. As a couple, we love working out together, exploring the West Coast on our bikes and hiking in National Parks with family and friends. We are both musical theater fans, and try to see as many Broadway and live music shows that come through town. We also have a group of friends we consider like family and enjoy spending time with them. Community, giving back and the sense of belonging are very meaningful to us . Wilfredo is active in his company's Veterans Group, Latino Employee Resource Group and LGBTQ Alliance. In addition to Michael's full time nursing career, he also volunteers providing health care to our city's homeless population. While we are very active, some of our favorite moments are just relaxing at home watching a movie, hanging out with Drogo or reading a book.

Growing a family has been on our minds since we first met, and adoption has been the obvious path since starting our journey towards fatherhood. We have experienced so many blessings in life and feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to share these gifts with our future child.