Cei and Jordan

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From Us to You

Since the beginning of our relationship, we have imagined what it will be like to show our child the world. We will teach them the names of plants and animals, and tell them about thunderstorms and rainbows and blue skies. We will read them stories about courage before bed, draw birds with them on the living room floor, have dance parties in the kitchen, and sing silly songs on road trips. We will give them opportunities to ask questions, form their own opinions, stand up for their beliefs, feel how they feel, and speak their truth. Our goal is to raise your child to feel capable and competent to build a life that is uniquely and deeply their own.

I [Jordan] have wanted children for as long as I can remember. So many of my choices—choices to develop my integrity, my education, my career, my financial position, and my sense of self—  have been in the service of the moment that I would be blessed with the opportunity to love, protect, and nurture a baby. When I discovered that I could not have children as a result of the cancer treatment I received in my 20s, I was devastated. I had wanted so much to feel a small life grow inside me. It has taken time and patience to accept the impossibility of having a baby the way I thought I would have a baby, and I am grateful for the opportunity I have now to wait, with all the vulnerability and bravery I can hold in my heart, to be chosen to be the future mother of someone’s special child.

I [Cei] am a transgender man and have been living full-time in my gender identity since I was eleven years old. For me, being transgender means that I was assigned a female sex at birth, but that I am a man and have used medical gender affirmation tools like surgery and hormones to align my body with my identity. Because of this, I am unable to have biological children. Jordan and I have always wanted children, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to adopt and love a child as our own.

We believe that every child that is adopted has the right to know their story, of who they are, and where they came from. From the beginning, your child will know their story and you will always be a part of their story. “Our” and “we” will always include you, especially when we tell your child that they are loved. We look forward to discovering who your child is and sharing those discoveries with you and should you desire an open adoption, we want your child to know you too.

With all the love in our hearts,
Jordan and Cei

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We are choosing to adopt because we are unable to have biological children. It would be our honor to have the opportunity to raise your child and believe that families are built in many different ways, including adoption.

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About Jordan, by Cei

Jordan is the most brilliant person I have ever met.  One of the things I love most about Jordan is how she cares for the world and other people. Jordan believes in doing the right thing, even if it is hard. She is unfailingly kind and generous—the kind of person who was always nice to everyone in school and didn’t have any enemies. I am so excited to see Jordan be a mother because she is already a wonderful aunt to our nieces and it is a joy to see her show them the farm, how to cook, and how to play with all her old Barbies and beanie babies. I have wanted to raise children with Jordan since very early in our relationship and am excited to have a way to make that dream a reality.

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About Cei, by Jordan

Cei is the person I want to do hard things with. It doesn’t matter how tough things get, he will never quit, and he will act with love, integrity, humor, and encyclopedic knowledge throughout. He has an unshakeable sense of self that inspires those around him to be as brave as he is. As a teenager, when he had no language to tell the world that he was transgender, he put one foot in front of the other until he could speak his truth. When he knew he was transgender, but couldn’t find doctors who understood what this meant, he educated them so he could get the care he needed. When I was re-diagnosed with cancer and underwent a stem cell transplant a few weeks after our wedding, he biked to the hospital before dawn to be there when I woke up, worked a full day, came back to tuck me in bed, and went home to do my laundry so I wouldn’t have to wear hospital clothes. I remember that he folded my underpants in little squares and put them in Ziploc baggies so they would stay as clean as possible. When I came home, he held me while I cried. He painted my little bald head with henna flowers and birds. He disinfected the house every day. He is the reason I emerged with not only a healed body, but a healed soul. I chose Cei to be my husband because I saw through these experiences that he will be an incredible father. I look forward to watching him feed your baby mushed carrots, teach them about the finer points of a squid’s lifecycle, and kiss their skinned knees to make them feel better.

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Lifestyle

Our lifestyle includes lots of gardening, many hikes, wanderings through the natural areas near our home, and plenty of time to read. Jordan is a photographer and likes to take macro-photos of plants and flowers. Cei is a birder and enjoys watching the birds at our feeder as well as looking for birds while hiking and biking.

Cei is a tattoo artist, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, and a professor at the local university. He enjoys finding the ways in which his jobs intersect—he prioritizes diversity and inclusion in his tattoo business and invests his consulting work with a lot of creativity; he teaches art and can apply a lot of his skills from tattooing to teaching and feels that his experience as a teacher makes him a better consultant and tattoo artist.

Jordan loves bringing her love of science, business, and empathy together in her work as VP of Business Development at a software company that helps dairy farmers manage their cows humanely, sustainably, and profitably. She is on the board for a university’s soil department and works with a startup on a mission to improve the microbiome for the forestry industry.

We are both involved with community service and have mentored young people through a local organization serving teens. We have also volunteered with numerous wildlife and ecological organizations. Cei volunteers with a local program that rehabilitates birds of prey, and Jordan volunteers to provide her business expertise to various groups including school groups learning about business and agriculture.

We have many close friends with newborn babies and are enjoying getting to know these beautiful new humans. Our friends are excited for us to have a baby to join in the fun, and we look forward to playdates and family and friend adventures with everyone’s children. We love helping to care for our friends’ babies and know that when it’s our turn, our friends will be right there with advice, assistance, and lots of support.

We’re excited to have a child join us on our daily morning walks with our dog Scotty which go along a tree-lined path behind our house. We are very excited to show a child the magic of playing outdoors finding the perfect leaf, building fairy houses in the garden, and running through the sprinklers in the summer. We have a giant couch that is perfect for snuggling up and reading with a cup of tea or cocoa, and we can’t wait to have a little one to read stories to. We are looking forward to joining our close friends who also have a baby on long hikes in the mountains. They have a great system for bringing their baby on the adventure and we are so excited to explore our favorite trails with our baby, too. We are so excited to welcome a baby into our lives—to roll around on the grass in our yard during lunch, to laugh with us on the couch during Friday movies, to sing a prayer with Jordan’s family on the farm at Thanksgiving, to search for shells on the beach in South Carolina with Cei’s grandparents over Christmas, and to be there for the small everyday joys of life.

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Home & Neighborhood

We live in a cozy green house with a little red door surrounded by a garden designed to attract butterflies in the perfect neighborhood to raise a child in sunny Colorado. We live in a mid-size college town about an hour and a half from a large city. We can see the Rocky Mountains from our bathroom window, and we can be on a trail within 20 minutes. Our neighborhood is a healthy mix of young families and folks who have been here for twenty or more years. The school district has some of the most highly rated schools in Colorado and is only minutes away from our house, so most kids walk to school or take a short bus ride when it’s snowy.

Our house is a cozy split level with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Inside you will find a menagerie of houseplants, interesting shells and fossils, and mementos from our lives and travels. Our den is very cozy and the perfect place to curl up by the fire and read a book together. We have been collecting children’s books from all over the world for years and are so excited to give the collection to a child and explore every book with them. We spend a lot of time on the back porch in the summer, listening to the hummingbirds whizz by, taking in the sun, and digging around in the dirt, and are so excited to teach a child about gardening and wildlife. Our yard is perfect for a swing set, and we have lots of nooks and crannies where a child can explore and play amongst the flowers and birdfeeders. We are a five-minute walk away from a huge neighborhood park with a giant playground where kids of all ages come together and play. Lots of people in our neighborhood are having babies, so we know a child will have lots of friends right around the corner!

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Our Families & Friends

Cei’s immediate family lives here in Colorado, a 45-minute drive from our home. Cei’s parents and brother live together in a house near a large open space that connects a big hiking and biking trail that goes on for miles. Cei is very close to his family, and we visit regularly. Cei’s mom retired after 35 years as a bankruptcy attorney, and she is fully devoted to her pursuits of ancient languages, archaeology, figure skating, and reading at least one book a day (she also collects classic Children’s books and is looking forward to sharing these books with her grandchild). Cei’s dad taught him his love of birds, and after retiring from a career in building online education he now spends much of his time devising more and more elaborate bird feeder setups for their back yard. He is excited to teach his grandchild everything he knows about birds, fixing things, and building jigsaw puzzles. Cei is particularly close with his younger brother, Hunter, who works as an IT professional for a distance learning company. Hunter loves history and is excited to teach his niece or nephew all about the world. Cei’s family is very excited for us to have a baby and to welcome your child into their world.

Jordan’s mom, dad, and brother (Stratton) own and manage a dairy farm here in Colorado, about 90 minutes from our home. Jordan’s mom manages the dairy’s finances and loves to ride horses. She is currently teaching Stratton’s daughters Delaney (5) and Sawyer (2) to ride their pony, Chester, and is so excited to have another grandchild to teach and love. Chester excels not only at being ridden, but also at having his hooves painted with glitter polish. Jordan’s father enjoys reading about the founding fathers and rocking out to 1980’s hair bands in the tractor. He is very excited to welcome his grandchild to the farm and to show them how amazing growing things can be. Stratton is an agricultural innovator and is always dreaming up ways to improve cow comfort and grow more crops. April, Stratton’s wife, is a fish biologist. She loves using her microscope to check on fish health, as well as baking cakes. Our nieces Delaney and Sawyer are so excited to have a new cousin to play with.

We have a wonderful group of friends, some of whom have been our friends for over twenty years! Our very close friends Colin and Jason (who were married in 2017) live less than 20 minutes away and will be a big part of your child’s life. Colin is a fantastic uncle and is always thinking up new games for kids to play. Jason is the gentlest of friends and loves to get down on kid-level to look at something cool. Our friends Tanner and Molly have a one-year-old named Miles who is eagerly awaiting his new “cousin”. Tanner and Cei have known each other since 5th grade, and we are all very close.

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Family Traditions

We usually take at least one week-long trip to the mountains each year and spend the week hiking, biking, eating good food, and enjoying the mountain air. We visit Cei’s grandparents in South Carolina at least every other year, and spend our days there biking up the beach, looking for crabs under driftwood, watching the dolphins, and spotting birds on the saltwater marsh- it’s a perfect place for kids to adventure. We often travel to New Hampshire where Cei’s aunt and uncle have a lakeside cabin and swim in the lake, canoe, and hike through the woodlands. Jordan’s family like having adventurous trips to new places, especially to warm places during the winter. We’ve been to Durham, North Carolina, Miami, Florida, Scottsdale, Arizona, and other fun destinations across the US. Our nieces are always along for the adventure, so we always choose places that are kid friendly. Part of Cei’s family lives in the mountains and we spend a lot of time in the winter at their place eating pie, drinking cocoa, and skiing and snowshoeing.

Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year for both of our families, and we alternate which year we spend with which family for the actual day of Christmas, but we end up doing two Christmases every year anyway. We open one present on Christmas Eve, a tradition we learned from Cei’s Norwegian family. When we’re at Jordan’s parent’s house, we sing a prayer together before dinner. Cei’s mom bakes mince pies every Christmas and gives them as stocking presents along with plenty of new books for everyone. Wherever they are in the world, Cei and Cei’s grandma Jinny will be getting out their notebooks to participate in the Great Christmas Bird Count where you count the types and number of birds you see in one day wherever you are on Christmas day. If we’re in South Carolina with Cei’s grandparents they’ll do the bird count together, spending the whole day out in the saltwater marsh. Jordan’s mom bakes hundreds of cookies every year to share with the folks who work on the farm and there is always a flurry of activity as we all chip in to make sure everyone gets a big sack filled with homemade cookies. Jordan will be dusting powdered sugar on Mexican wedding cakes while Cei makes peppermint spritzer cookies in the shape of trees and Delaney and Sawyer pitch in by being the Official Tasters. After Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner with Jordan’s family, we always play charades, and the kids help to act out the words to the amusement of everyone.

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Our Pet, Scotty

Scotty is a retired racing greyhound with a heart of gold and a sleepy, gentle personality. Scotty has made good friends with many of the children in our neighborhood and loves visiting his kid friends when we go on walks. Scotty likes to play, but he likes to nap even more and is happy for a cuddle buddy to snooze with.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We welcome the opportunity to find out more about you and your background and look forward to supporting your child as they grow and look forward to exploring your child’s heritage, ethnicity and culture by discovering the traditions, art, dance, and food, as well as the struggles and triumphs that are part of their people’s history.

Jordan has found cultural awareness to be deeply important in her work, as she has done deals in Russia, China, Ireland, Israel, Argentina, Canada, and Pakistan. Cei is a scholar of Mesoamerican history, has traveled to Mexico, Brazil, China, and Europe, and has explored other cultures throughout his career working in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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Our Relationship with You

We are excited to welcome you as part of our family. We view adoption as a way to build a family that includes you. You are making a difficult and important decision and we want you to know that we are open to including you as much as you feel comfortable. We would love to send you pictures, find time for visits, and keep you updated on how things are going. Whether you are close by or further away we are committed to keeping you in the loop as much as you want and you will always be part of how we talk about our family to the child.

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Our Promise to You

We promise to always honor you to your child for their entire life.

We promise you a loving and caring relationship with you as we embark on this journey together.

We promise to always love and for your baby and to tell them of your unconditional love you have for them their whole life.

We promise to provide your child with whatever special tools, support, and activities they may need, be that extra help with school or finding a program for their special gifts.

We promise to nurture them both physically and mentally, and to be there for every bump in the road.

We promise to honor you and to tell your child about your love often so that they understand who you are, and how we build our special family together.