Pradeep and MaKenzie

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From Us to You

There is so much we want to say to you and at the same time, we are at a loss for words as we attempt to articulate the gratitude we have for the extraordinary decision you are making. We thank God for the bravery it must be taking to even read our letter and consider allowing us to grow our family through adoption. Though we ourselves do not know what the future holds, we know that we will unconditionally love and care for the child we are blessed to bring into our family.

We grew up in very different worlds. MaKenzie was born and raised in a small farm town in Ohio and Pradeep lived in India, where he was born, until the age of 12 when he moved to Michigan. Our paths first crossed in 2010 in Chicago when we both attended a Christian conference for college students. Though we would see each other off and on over the next few years, it wasn’t until 2013 that we realized we loved each other! MaKenzie moved to Michigan to be closer to Pradeep in 2015, and in August 2016 we were married! Blending our different cultures has been one of the greatest joys of our marriage!

Though we have experienced so many blessings in our lives, early on in our relationship we learned that the chances of us having biological children would be small. Though we prayed for a miracle, we realized that our prayers were being answered, just in different way. The more we navigated the world of fertility treatments, we felt strongly that we were to focus our efforts in growing our family through adoption. Though we have experienced our own type of grief and loss in infertility, we believed we had the capacity to love and raise any child that we would be fortunate enough to call our own through the miracle of adoption. This was proven true when we brought home our son, Elijah, in October 2020. Elijah was born in the middle of the pandemic, and we were lucky enough to be there when he was born and spend time with him, his birth mom and his grandmother for a few days before heading back to Michigan as parents. We cannot wait to watch Elijah become a big brother!

One of the biggest parts of our lives is our church community. We are lucky enough to be surrounded by friends who love us like family and provide love and support through all the journeys of our life. We can say with full confidence that your child will not lack friends to run and play with nor a community of people who will love them unconditionally alongside us.

Your child will grow up in a home that is filled with love, laughter, joy and endless support. You, birth mother, will forever be part of our story. Just as we have done with Elijah’s birth mom, we will share your story of sacrifice and love. Thank you for considering helping us grow our family.

Pradeep and MaKenzie

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Why We're Choosing to Adopt

We are choosing to adopt to grow our family because of our infertility and inability to have our own children. It took time to process the disappointment of infertility, but we chose to see the path that was available to us when one closed. Through prayer and the support of our friends and family, we believe that adoption is the way for us to grow our family. That prayer became a reality in 2020 when we adopted Elijah. It’s truly been a dream. Elijah is an answer to years of prayer and longing to become parents. But we are confident that our family is not complete. We long to adopt again because we have so much more love to give and desire to bless Elijah with the gift of a sibling. We are choosing to adopt because blood doesn’t make family, love does.

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About MaKenzie, by Pradeep

Makenzie is a kind, loving, and supportive wife and mother. I was lucky to have met her while we were both in college. Over the years, it has been my privilege to watch her grow. She is compassionate towards others, always going out of her way to serve those around her. Her ability to connect with people and make friends inspires me and is an excellent role model for Elijah. She is the absolute best mother to Elijah and a supportive wife to me. Makenzie is a leader in her work and has impacted many lives through her expertise in helping children with Autism. I am excited to see MaKenzie love, care for, and raise another child.

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About Pradeep, by MaKenzie

There are many great things that can be said about Pradeep, but one of my favorite is that he was born to be a dad. Since I have known him, Pradeep has held many titles: student, son, brother, friend, husband, doctor. But my favorite lately has been the title of Dad. I can’t think of anything that brings Pradeep more joy in this life than being a father. There was a time in our relationship when we didn’t know if we would ever get to hold the titles of Mom and Dad, but it’s one of our greatest blessings that we get to. Despite his busy schedule at the hospital, Pradeep makes time and space every day that he is able for his family. One of his favorite things to do with Elijah is share treats (literally anything dessert you can think of!).  Pradeep is so gifted in making the people that he cares for feel special, and I am so proud to call him my husband. He has sacrificed so much, especially in the last few years, training to become a doctor and I am grateful to be able to navigate this thing called life with him.

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Our Sweet Pup

Mose is our 2-year-old Border Collie Poodle (Border Doodle). He is a spunky, energetic, loving and kind dog, and we couldn’t imagine life without him. We adopted Mose about 5 weeks before Elijah was born, and they have literally grown up together in our home. We cannot wait for Mose to be a big brother to the next addition to our family, and watch them all grow together!

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Home Sweet Home

We have fallen in love with our home and little town. We moved into our house in 2019 and have so much enjoyed making it our own. Pradeep built our fence with some friends and now our dog, Mose, and son, Elijah, get to run around and play in the yard! Our backyard is our little oasis.

A lot of our time is also spent in our living room; it’s truly where we live! We laugh, play, read books, watch Bluey and enjoy time together. Within walking distance of our home are at least 15 different parks, our favorite coffee shop, the farmers’ market, and countless places to eat. Our town has really become home for us, and we cannot wait to grow our family here.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

In our almost 10 years of being together and 6 years of marriage, we have not been strangers to racial discrimination. MaKenzie is Mexican American, and Pradeep was born in India and raised there for some time. It’s disappointing that in this day and age, we still experience disapproval of our marriage through the actions of others, but it also has taught us so much about the importance of educating others of racial and cultural diversity. When we first considered adoption, we felt strongly about growing our multi-cultural and racial family! Our son Elijah is bi-racial (African American and Caucasian), and we are doing our best to educate ourselves on how to ensure that he can fully embrace his background and culture, while also experiencing Indian and Mexican-American culture. Should our second child have a race and culture that differs from those that already exist within our family, we will ensure it is not lost.

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Our Faith

We have both been Christians for around 20 years. We believe that our faith in Jesus is what has guided us, supported us, and allowed us to navigate the messy world that we live in. Our church community is very important to us, and we are blessed to have been living life with a group of other families for the last 5 years. We will raise our children in a Christian home, but we also know that each person has the autonomy to choose their own path in life.

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Our Friends and Families

Without our friends, we are not quite sure that we would have come out of 2020 and 2021 as emotionally and mentally healthy as we did. Most of our friends have come from the bible study that we have been attending at our church for nearly five years. We have gotten to grow our marriage, our family and our faith alongside amazing individuals who challenge us daily to be the best versions of ourselves. Also, there are so many amazing little friends that Elijah has gotten to grow with (9 of our friends had boys in 2020!). We cannot wait to grow our family and add another buddy to the crew.

We are so thankful for our families who, though they don’t live nearby, are willing to drive, show up, travel with, and support us along every step that we have made in our family’s journey. Pradeep’s parents live just 45 minutes away, and we are so thankful for their help! MaKenzie’s family lives in Ohio, but that has not stopped them from continuously showing up for us!

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Family Traditions

Some of our favorite family traditions include opening new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and getting to open one gift each, planning a small trip in January of every year (if we are able) in order to start the year off together and create new family and personal goals This past January we got to go to Mexico as a family! But the biggest tradition is celebrating birthday week. Birthday week is definitely the most elaborate tradition that we have! Each person is celebrated the whole week of their birthday with food, little treats, and time spent with friends and family!

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Our Lifestyle

Our lifestyle is something that can, at times, be hard to explain to onlookers of our life. With Pradeep nearing the end of his medical training journey (done with residency in July 2023!) we have learned that flexibility is our best friend. Our lifestyle can be described as taking advantage of every free moment as an opportunity to be fully present with each other. This means that we are ready for last minute trips to Traverse City, sending out a group text to see who is available to go grab ice cream or tacos, or finally sitting down together for a meal on a weekday! We love checking out new cities around the country, and have enjoyed getting to bring Elijah along this past year as travel restrictions have lifted. Some of our favorite spots have been the Monterey aquarium, different parks around the area and the zoo!

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Our Hobbies

The last few years we have found it hard to enjoy our favorite hobby, traveling. But in the last 6 months we have definitely made up some of our missed opportunities to travel with COVID restrictions being lifted! MaKenzie enjoys running, painting, maintaining and growing her plants, and being outside at all times! Pradeep enjoys golfing, working on projects around the house, and trying out new coffee shops.

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Our Careers

Pradeep is nearing the end of an 8 year journey to become an Emergency Room Physician. He will be graduating from his residency program in July 2023. I, Pradeep, won’t lie, the last 2.5 years of being a doctor in training have been difficult during the COVID era of life, but I am grateful that I get the opportunity to heal or give hope to people who come to my ER. I, MaKenzie, have been working in autism intervention for the last 10 years. I am currently CEO of an autism company in India. I am so grateful to be able to give leadership to an amazing group of people who are working to better the lives of those with autism.

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Our Relationship and Thoughts about our Son's Birth Mom

Currently, we do not have a relationship with Elijah’s birthmother or family per the request and desire of the birthmother. We were so grateful to be able to meet his birthmother when he was born. Originally, she did not want to meet us at all, but we ended up getting to spend time with her in the hospital and it was healing for all of us in many ways. We have a shared Shutterfly account where we have been uploading pictures of Elijah over the months, but to date there is no other interaction. We have clearly communicated with them that if that should ever change, they would need only to reach out and ask.

When we dream of the day we hold your baby, we can’t help but think of the choice someone made to willingly give up the opportunity to parent this child so that we could grow our family. We think about the fact that we will never understand the sacrifice or level of love you have to make that choice. I, MaKenzie, will never know the journey of carrying a child or giving birth, and I will be eternally grateful for the women who did so that I could experience the joy of motherhood.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that we will unconditionally love your child. They will grow up in a home and in a family that will seek to provide for their every need and cultivate opportunities for them to become their best self. They will be surrounded by friends and family who will love and support them, and they will never be without companionship. They will grow up knowing that because of your sacrificial love, we were given the grace to welcome them into our family.