About Us
Our love is strong and we have become stronger as people and as a couple because of the difficulties we have faced together. We bring out the best in each other and encourage each other to go beyond our boundaries. We are good for each other. Together we have built a stable, secure life.

We are not your typical couple, growing up, our lives were not perfect but we feel blessed to have each other and we feel our life’s story may help inspire you. Because we have lived through and overcome much adversity we will offer your child a unique prospective on how to make her dreams come true no matter what obstacles she faces.
As Fred and I learn and grow in our marriage we also grew our family. We have 2 handsome, loving and funny sons, Joey and Owen.

Aidyl’s Story:
I was born in the South Bronx, New York to a Puerto Rican family. We lived in a neighborhood in which our building was surrounded by abandoned buildings that were converted to crack dens. I’m not kidding you when I say every night there was a gun fight in the street or some kind of gang war.

My parents were very overprotective, as you can imagine. They did all they could to keep us focused in school and making sure we did not get caught up in the drugs and gangs. My father worked very hard to keep us in Catholic school and we rarely saw him, but when we did he spent time showing us how to fix motors, cars, and even boilers at one point, my sister, brother and I were little grease monkeys.

Although my parents loved us and wanted the best for us, when I mentioned to them how I wanted to go to college and become a scientist, they said, “you are not smart enough” and College isn’t for people like us. I am Latina and I also had a learning disability (I had difficulty comprehending written material but I have an incredible auditory memory).

Somewhere deep inside of me I knew I wanted more. I had loved biology since I was five years old. My interest grew from watching a roach lay an egg that I thought was a worm. I was fascinated when what I thought was a worm turned into a baby roach. When I told my Mom about the worms turning into roaches she asked me how I knew about that. I told her I had the roaches in a box - within minutes she had killed them all with raid. The roaches died but my love of biology lived on.

I always wanted to know about organized body parts, but when I expressed my desire to learn more about biology to my teachers they ignored my desire to learn.

The teachers at my school believed that most students would not go on to college, so we were just encouraged to do the basics, so we could graduate and find work. We were not encouraged to try to go on to college.

Not until my sophomore year of high school did I learn college was open to me. Actually, it was the Cosby Show, which demonstrated that I could be a doctor and the only way to be a doctor is college.

I couldn’t let my parents or a few teachers define my future, and I didn’t want to end up as a statistic for the typical lives of Latina Girls in the inner city. So, I studied, took the crap from my parents, my sister, my brother and my “friends”. I got decent grades but not spectacular. As for the SATs, which I took 2 times, I didn’t break a thousand. This fact plus my so-so grades gave more ammunition to my parents of how my destiny would never include college. I didn’t give up. I wrote to college deans about my interest in science, my work ethic, my family life and financial situation. With 3 great recommendations from teachers who believed in me, I made it to college.

I was accepted at an excellent engineering and science college in upstate New York. Wow, it was everything I imaged, plus more. People from all around the world coming together to learn, share ideas, and have a great time. I was so happy there but I almost flunked out during my first year. I studied hard and did not goof around but I still could not keep up.

“What a waste of money,” my parents use to say to me when I told them my grades.

I was at the brink of throwing my dreams away, until I met my husband Fred. It was Fred who changed my life. He realized how hard I had worked to get to college and that I could succeed with just a little extra help that I had never had.

He noticed my difficulty in retaining what I read, he saw that anything orally presented to me I could easily retain. Basically, he got the ball rolling for me to get tested for a learning disability. Once my disability was understood I was able to excel. Having books on tape, oral exams, recording the classes while following the professors outline he/she gave me before class plus learning new techniques to study allowed me to graduate with honors from college (3.5/4.0). I was even able to participate in student government, cheerleading, and salsa dance in the international festival all 4 years plus do very well in my graduate entrance exams. After college, Fred and I got married and moved to California for school. We both attended a top technological graduate school, Fred for a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and I for a PhD degree in Genetics.

Fred and I married 15 years ago and we continue to help each other learn and grow.

About Fred:
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut. I have one younger brother. When I was in Kindergarten I had to go the Shriner¹s Hospital for Children for 6 months to help me cure a childhood illness in my legs. With the help of the doctors at the Shriner¹s Hospital my illness was completely cured. As a child I spent about 10 years studying Karate and received my Black Belt in Shotokan Karate. In high school I ran track and cross-country. I was varsity for 3 years and Captain my senior year.

After high school I went to college to study engineering. This is where I met my wife.

I enjoy movies, TV, magic and working out. I work out 4 times a week to stay healthy. I am also a certified personal trainer. I volunteer as a coach and referee for my son¹s soccer team. I had never played soccer before, but I learned it to help my kids. I spent a lot of time in high school practicing magic and now I get to show my kids the tricks and also teach them magic.

I enjoy spending time with my family playing games, going to the playground, going to amusement parks and the movies. Every night I read to my boys, even thought they are old enough to read on their own. It helps to have some bonding time. Since they both have had the occasional nightmare, I also started something called “giving them good dreams”. I tell them stories about swimming or snorkeling at the beach in Hawaii, swimming with turtles or dolphins, having a fun day at the pool or carnival with tons of yummy snacks.

I currently work as a rocket scientist for NASA sending robots to Mars.

About Our Sons:
Joey is our artist. Since he was able to hold a pencil he would sit down for long periods of time just sketching some amazing animals and people. Now as a n11 year-old, using pencil or pastels, one could see emotions conveyed in his art.

Owen is our builder/mechanic. He loves to build structures from legos, making cars with little engines and making robots. One time when he was 3, my father (a handy-man by trade) was fixing the sprinklers for our backyard. Owen got his tool belt with tools attached, put on his hard hat and safety goggles and with tears in his eyes yelled, “Abuelo, wait for me, don’t start without me!” We all fixed the sprinklers together.

Our Life Together:
As a family we love to go to all of the local amusement parks and zoos. We have annual passes and spend at least one weekend a month going to one the zoos or parks.

Some of our other activities are camping. We go to the camps at the YMCA where we get to do kayaking, archery, and fishing. We also spend time at a winter camp where we all get to go sledding, hiking, and do arts and crafts.

Around the Christmas holiday we spend time decorating the house, and driving around the neighborhood looking at the Christmas lights enjoying the holiday season.

Fred and I work full-time. Fortunately for us, our time is flexible and we could work from home from time to time. Fred is a true rocket scientist sending rovers to Mars, which is sooooo cool. I’m a geneticists and programmer. I work on deciphering genes and pathways involved in zebra fish development using a technique that makes certain organs/tissues/cells glow. Eventually, this information will allow us in the lab to create a virtual fish from embryo to adult so we won’t need to do as much animal testing in cancer research. My boys help me out in the lab all the time by spinning tubes down for me to preparing culture plates. They were brought up in the lab knowing all the equipment and what they are used for. I’m really lucky that my lab is very kid friendly which allows me to have them with me while I perform my experiments.

We always have some activity going on such as making goo/slime, to making play dough or having fantasy play with costumes but our most fun is playing with our pets. We have 2 small dogs, Tiny and Silly Putty, who loves fetching balls, a hamster, a small frog named Sparky and pretty soon, a hedgehog. We plan trips where we can observe and touch all sorts of animals; such as the zoo, the tide pools at Leo Carrillo beach, and County fairs. This brings me to a moment that changed our lives forever.

July 13, 2003 we were at the Orange County Fair, enjoying the piglets and the feathery-legged chickens. I rode a ride, which suspends me 140 feet above ground before falling into a net. To make a long story short, while my sons and Fred watched, I fell to the ground with no net in place. Our lives changed physically, emotionally and spiritually. It was such a hard and dark 5 years overcoming the consequences of this accident but it did get better and we got stronger. As my younger son said to me when he was 3, “baby Jesus saved you and that’s why you are here.” Owen made me realize things could have been worst and we are all being healed and strengthen by the grace of God. I have to admit, I enjoy every moment of my life with my family, friends, and at my work because it’s a gift to have all this. Yet, as years went by, I still felt someone missing in my life. We would have had another child around 4 if the accident didn’t happen. My husband and I couldn’t let our dream of a daughter disappear. My sons also wondered about a sister even before our decision to adopt became finalized. I guess my sons gave us that extra push which made us feel we are making the right decision. Your selfless act, keeping yourself and your special gift safe and healthy in order to guarantee her a warm, loving and supportive home with a family willing to give her as much opportunities as possible to help her achieve her goals and in turn may make our world better. You are giving your child a chance to live and make a wonderful difference to the many lives she touches.

If you would like to learn more about us or speak to us on the phone, please contact Cindy at 800-556-5635.
Thank You.
Our Warmest and Deepest Regards,
Fred & Aidyl