Hello from Melissa and Rob

We are asking for your help! We’ve been happily married for almost three years. Although we are very happy, we feel there is something missing in our lives. We hope to start our family, but we are unable to do so alone. With this letter, we hope that you will consider helping us to change our lives.

Melissa and Rob Skehan

We understand that you have some extremely hard decisions ahead, and we want you to know that we respect your decision to do what you believe is best for your unborn child. 


If you choose adoption, then we are grateful that you will be giving a family like ours a wonderful gift.

We hope that what you are about to read will prompt you to want to learn more about us, and how much we feel we have to offer to a child.

About Melissa and Rob

We met in 2004 through Match.com. As a newcomer to California, Rob wanted to meet new people. Melissa had decided it was time to give online dating a try. We agreed to meet, and the rest is history. We were engaged on Christmas Eve 2006.

There was never a question that we wanted to start a family shortly after we were married. However, we were heartbroken to learn last year that we would not be able to conceive a child naturally. With this news, we decided that welcoming children into our family through adoption would be a wonderful way to realize our dreams. We cannot wait to begin this journey.

About Us As A Couple and As Potential Parents

Our relationship with one another is strong largely as a result of our individual characteristics and our mutual respect for one another. We share similar values, including the importance of family and friends, loyalty and trust, self-reflection and compassion toward others. We have good senses of humor and a grounded perspective on life. Where we are different (for example in religion – Melissa is Jewish and Rob is Methodist), we have taught one another about the significance of these differences to who we are. We are happiest in one another’s company, actively pursuing our shared interests, spending time with our fantastic dog, Marley, or hanging out in our new home.

Melissa about Rob

Rob is my rock. He is calm. He is smart. He is strong. He is sensitive and caring. He is fun, and he is funny.

At the age of six, Rob was diagnosed and treated for a childhood illness. Rob is completely healthy today (and has been his entire teen and adult life), but his childhood was not easy. Rob continues to teach me about what is important, and is first to point out all of the things that we have to be grateful for.

Our decision to adopt comes as the result of tests which revealed that Rob’s medical treatment when he was a young child compromised his fertility. I believe, without a doubt, that Rob will make a fantastic father. I cannot imagine a man that is more prepared for the joys and challenges of raising a child.

Rob About Melissa

Melissa is my very best friend. She is my soul mate. She is a sweet, loyal, caring, and compassionate person, who always looks out for others before focusing on herself. Melissa is also playful and fun – with children and adults alike. It is no wonder that Melissa has a large group of friends from every phase of her life. Melissa amazes me with her strong work ethic, creativity and endless caring and determination. She puts her heart into everything she does.

When faced with the difficulty of starting a family, Melissa was sympathetic to my feelings as she set out to explore our options to ensure that we would indeed become parents. Melissa will make a great mother. I know that together we are prepared to love and care for a child. I cannot imagine a better life partner than Melissa to start this next phase of our lives as parents.

About Our Family: 
Who We Are, Where We Come From, What We Do, and What We Enjoy

Rob: I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. I grew up in a close-knit family, with mid-western values. My parents, Mike and Cindy, recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They continue to demonstrate the love and strong family values that Melissa and I plan to someday convey to our own children. My parents are anxious beyond words to become grandparents.

Rob, Melissa and Rob's Parents

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of camping trips with my parents and sister, Jennifer, to places like Maine and the Rocky Mountains. For one week each summer, we also rented a home on Lake Michigan with my cousins, aunts and uncles. We also spent every Christmas with my extended family in Southern Indiana. Melissa and I continue these family traditions with visits back to Indiana and Michigan around the holidays.

As children, my sister and I were taught to look out for one another and to be kind to others. We were taught to appreciate what we had, and to understand that there are many others who are less fortunate. We were also taught to work hard and to have fun along the way.

When I was six years old, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I underwent intense treatment for 18 months. This was a tough road, but with the love and support of my family, I made a full recovery, and have had a totally clean bill of health since age eight.

Recovery from my childhood illness instilled important qualities in me that make me who I am today. I feel that I am fortunate to live each and every day of my life with a passion and appreciation for whatever life throws at me. I am grateful, beyond words, for all that I have.

Today, I work in the medical field, as a field representative for a medical equipment company that specializes in radiology. My work is very rewarding, especially given my personal background. It also affords me a great deal of flexibility in my schedule and strong financial stability. I am ready to become a dad!

Melissa: Like Rob, I was brought up in a loving and supportive home with my parents, Lois and Victor, and older brother, Jason. I grew up in a small town outside of New York City. My parents worked hard and were involved in the community and our schools. My parents also can’t wait to become grandparents.

Melissa and Rob, along with their parents and siblings

When I was young, and before my parents were divorced, my family often traveled to visit my father’s parents in Florida and also spent family vacations at my parent’s cottage on a small lake in western Massachusetts. Rob and I love the lake in Massachusetts (we were married there) and try to go there when we are on the East Coast visiting my family in New York.

As a teenager/young adult, I worked hard at school, played sports, and was involved in many after school volunteer activities. I graduated from public school with a solid group of long time friends, several of whom I continue to be in close contact with today.

After graduating from college and earning my masters degree in business, I was lucky enough to get to travel to some great places and experience some unique adventures (training for a triathlon, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa and trekking in Nepal). My latest adventure has been starting and operating my own business - helping to raise money for public schools. I am having fun, and doing something that I am passionate about.

The challenges of having started my own company and seeing it grow have been rewarding. Although I have enjoyed starting a business, I believe that becoming a parent will allow me to focus on something far more important to me than my career. Parenthood is a part of my life that I am extremely excited to begin. I feel lucky that I have the flexibility to make significant changes to my work schedule to ensure that Rob and I can share in the day to day responsibilities and rewards of raising a child. I want to be a mom!

About Our Dog, Marley

Meet Marley, our chocolate Labrador retriever

We recently moved from an apartment in San Francisco to a home in San Anselmo, California with our dog, Marley. Marley is a 4 year old, male, chocolate Labrador retriever. Marley is mellow in the house, but loves to run around outside. We enjoy spending time with Marley (walking, hiking, playing at the dog park or swimming at the beach.) Marley is great with people - young and old. He will definitely enjoy having a playmate!

We chose to move outside the city so that we could have a yard for Marley and for our children to play in some day. The neighborhood is diverse, and the parks and the schools in our town are excellent. Our neighbors have been so welcoming of our family, and can’t wait for a baby to arrive.

Activities We Enjoy


We want to be parents so that we can share our love of life with little ones. Recent weekends have been spent getting settled into our new home. We still like to get into the city of San Francisco for dinner or to see live music concerts with friends but we also enjoy quiet evenings together at home.

Rob is an avid football, baseball and soccer fan. Melissa also likes hockey. Although we like going to watch games and matches, we also like to be active ourselves. We especially love to ski (Melissa) and snowboard (Rob). While we enjoy winter activities, we eagerly await the spring and summer for hiking and camping. Rob looks forward to playing golf, and Melissa likes driving the golf cart almost as much as Rob likes to play.

Our newest activity is stand-up paddle boarding (a cross between surfing and kayaking). Having moved from the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California, we are excited to be closer to the mountains of Tahoe for skiing in the winter and Lake Tahoe in the summer. We hope to provide our children with an appreciation of the outdoors.

Rob is a self taught guitar player, and has a passion for music. Although she has no musical talent whatsoever, Melissa loves listening to Rob play. We have had the opportunity to travel to many interesting places, and look forward to someday soon sharing these memories and future experiences with our children.

To The Person(s) Reading This Letter

We are grateful that you are considering adoption, and that you are considering us in this plan. While we understand that your circumstances are very challenging right now, we know that you are making a decision out of love for your baby.

Our families and friends are extremely supportive of our decision to adopt. We feel lucky to have a large network of people who look forward to welcoming children into our lives. We are firm believers that there can never be enough love for a child. Should your child become part of our family, we welcome any form of participation that you feel you can provide, now or in the future. Through this letter, we hope that you have gained some understanding about who we are, what we value, and how excited we are to start a family and to make sure that a child will have a happy and healthy life.

We are working with a San Francisco-based adoption agency, called Adoption Connection. If you are considering adoption, and if you would like to get to know more about us, please contact the agency by calling toll-free (800) 972-9225.

Or you can always reach us directly at (415) 785-7129, or by email at RobandMelissafamily@gmail.com. We really look forward to hearing from you, so that we can share more about ourselves, and learn whatever you are interested in sharing about yourself.

Respectfully,

Melissa and Rob

Please Contact

Melissa and Rob Skehan

(415) 785-7129

Email: RobandMelissafamily@gmail.com