Welcome! Meet:

Joseph + Melicia

Program Owner / Licensed Professional Counselor

South Carolina

Caucasian / Multi-Ethnic

Christian

All About Joseph & Melicia
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Joseph & Melicia

Hello! We are Joseph and Melicia from Upstate South Carolina. We are really excited for you to get to know us and want to start by thanking you for looking at our page. We cannot imagine the many and mixed emotions you must currently be experiencing and the decisions you are facing as you consider adoption for your child.

Joseph earns a living by running an immersive training program for entry-level Consultants for a software consulting company to teach Consulting. Melicia is a Licensed Professional Counselor and works as a Behavioral Health Curriculum Director for a Family Medicine Residency Program. On a typical weekend you can find us hanging out with friends for a board game night, attending church, and serving as youth group leaders. Melicia loves to curl up with a good book and Joseph finds joy in playing and coaching basketball. We both love a good Marvel superhero movie and spending time with our extended families.

Why Adoption?

When we were married, we exited the church to the song “Multiplied” by Needtobreathe. One of our groomsmen later joked that everyone thought it was a message about having lots of kids.

We’ve always wanted children, but we hadn’t even thought of the song that way. We simply chose the song because we wanted our marriage to be a picture of the Gospel. In fact, infertility is the most difficult thing that both of us have gone through. Now, we have the opportunity for growing our family and showing God’s love in a significant way to our future child. We also want to support an expectant mother well and respect the weight of her decision.

It has always been our heart to grow our family by adoption. Scripture is very clear that we have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and are now fellow heirs with Christ - and we can’t keep that to ourselves. This isn’t to say that we view adoption as a rescue or ourselves as Savior, but rather an opportunity to love on an expectant mother and step in during a tough and unpredictable season in her life. We wish to walk alongside her through the ups and downs of adoption, supporting her where we can. While this child may not be related biologically, we will love them as our own and celebrate their biological roots. We want to provide a safe, loving, and healthy home, and be able to share our blessings as we have been blessed.

Family & Home

We live in a small town in South Carolina. We love the comfort of our three-bedroom home with a backyard and flower and vegetable gardens. Our vision for our home is to use it for hospitality. We love inviting people into our home and having them feel comfortable and at rest. We also love that our decor is a reflection of our relationship with both of our personalities represented. When we’re home, we love to cook, watch TV, play board games, and chase our puppy Ollie around!

Our home is in a neighborhood with a mix of families, from single people to young families to retirees. We are very close to schools (elementary, middle, high) all within five miles. Our town is a very friendly place, especially for families. Our church is very involved in the community and our recreation center has lots of opportunities for sports like basketball, soccer, and more. We also live two and a half miles away from a library, which has lots of programs for kids. We love reading, which we plan to encourage in our kids, so we will definitely be utilizing story times and library cards.

MELICIA’S FAMILY: My family consists of my dad, mom, and younger sister. My sister lives in Florida and we enjoy having beach days together when I visit. My mother lives about 45 minutes from us, and we love to cook Puerto Rican food together. She was born there and is an amazing cook, so I have a lot to learn from her! I also enjoy practicing Spanish with her in an attempt to become fluent. My father lives in Ohio with his wife and we bond over Marvel movies. They will absolutely be involved in the baby’s life! We see my mom about twice a month on average, my sister twice a year, and my dad whenever we get a chance since he lives far away.

JOE’S FAMILY: I am close to my parents and my younger brother. My parents live in North Carolina and we see them about once a month. They are looking forward to being grandparents! I’ve learned a lot about hard work from my dad and I spend time with him working on house and yard projects. I’ve also learned from my mom how to be generous and think of others. My brother is married, and recently moved to Oregon, so we expect to see them about once or twice per year. We’re close and talk and text often. All of my family will definitely be involved in the baby’s life.

How others describe me

Joe about Melicia: Melicia is the most supportive person in my life. We are the perfect balance of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and I’m constantly amazed by how well we work together. Melicia has an incredible combination of skills and personality to help her understand people, communicate effectively, and show hospitality. She will make a great parent because she is responsible, compassionate, reliable, and fair. I’m so confident in her ability to connect with and nurture our future child(ren), and I’m looking forward to being able to parent alongside her.”

Melicia about Joe: It’s hard to say what I love most about Joe. He is a very selfless person, always thinking about how he can best serve others. He is very thoughtful and is always trying to learn and grow. He’s passionate about knowledge and teaching others. He is going to make a great parent because he is patient, loves to teach, is steady and calm which brings such comfort, and loves deeply and well. He loves kids so much and pours into so many, whether through our friends’ children, the boys he coaches basketball, or the youth group at church.

How We Met

If you had told us back in 2010 that we would be married, we probably would have laughed! We met in our sophomore year of college and were friends for six years before we started dating. During those years, we both grew a lot and recognized that we were a really great fit! In 2018, Joe bought a ring and planned an engagement that would be a complete surprise for Melicia. On one of the first warm days of the year, he asked Melicia to meet him at a local park on the lake for an outdoor dinner of Chick-fil-A. When Melicia arrived, there was no chicken, but instead a gorgeous ring! Now we have been married for almost four years.

Advice to Future Child

Love Jesus and seek after Him. Give grace and mercy as you respect and serve others. Pursue justice and accountability. Strive for better over perfect.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We commit to doing what is best for your child. We believe that includes a relationship with you. We cannot make promises as to what that will look like any more than you can, but we commit to prioritizing that relationship and working with you to define it. One of the beauties of open adoption is the ability to cultivate a relationship with you and provide encouragement during a really difficult time of your life. We commit to doing that while hearing from you how best to do that.

Favorites

Joseph

Favorite Movie: Remember the Titans
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Thanksgiving
Hobbies/Interests: cooking, watching sports, playing with our puppy, spending time with friends, coaching youth basketball, volunteering at church, serving as a youth group leader for high school boys, reading, tending our vegetable and flower gardens, playing board games, listening to music, and watching Marvel movies
Dream Vacation: cruise to Spain and Italy
If I Could Choose a Superpower: flight for dunking on people during basketball

Melicia

Favorite Movie: Pride and Prejudice
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas
Hobbies/Interests: taking care of my houseplants, reading, baking, playing board games, serving as a youth group leader for middle school girls, snuggling with our pup Ollie, rewatching my favorite show for the 1000th time, listening to podcasts, and serving in the cafe at church, trying new types of foods and new restaurants. I am passionate about the Gospel, serving others, mental health advocacy, and issues surrounding diversity and muticulturalism
Dream Vacation: Greek Island Cruise
If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation