Hi/Konichiwa!  We are David and Yooki from El Cerrito, California.  We have been married for almost (!) ten years, and we are ready and excited to become first-time parents through open adoption!

We want to express our deepest gratitude to you at this crossroads in your life.  We can’t imagine what you are going through, but we know the fact that you are even considering adoption means that you love your baby very much.  We are committed to open adoption, and we look forward to learning what that may look like to you.

About Us

We have been married for 10 years.  We met through Match.com!, fell in love at first sight and married 6 months later.  We immediately tried to start a family and eventually sought help through fertility treatments.  After several years and many heartbreaks we persevered, and now feel stronger than ever that it is in God’s plan for us to become parents through open adoption. We feel destined to have a child through open adoption, where our child will receive more (not less) love. Open adoption is an incredible act of love; an ultimate act of love and generosity.

Yooki about David

David is the love of my life. He is smart and funny. Above all else he puts family as his number one priority.  David's life is all about helping other people. He works as an acupuncturist at Kaiser Permanente treating patients with chronic pain and cancer. 

He attends church regularly and has helped friends at church with life problems.  I would have to say that David is selfless; he always puts other people's needs ahead of his own. He is a great cook; he loves to eat good food. He takes me out to eat at least once per week.

We are an inter-racial couple. I am Korean-Japanese and he is American.  David is very sensitive to cultural differences. He is always aware when issues come up regarding these issues.  We have an open dialogue around such differences; he makes me feel safe in this regard. He also has a great sense of humor. We laugh a lot together.

David is also an athlete. He teaches and trains regularly in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We also go together to a local gym to work out with weights and using the machines. He also loves to surf. He surfs locally and we have taken trips to Hawaii for surfing as well.

I know that he will be a great daddy! He will be very active in the life of our child regarding scholarship and athletics.

David about Yooki

Yooki is my everything! She is my best friend. I live for the weekends when we have extra time to spend together. Although I do cook, Yooki cooks most of the time; she is great cook, always trying different recipes. We love to watch cooking shows on TV.  We have two cats, Mako and Haru.  Yooki takes great care of our cats.

Yooki is a gentle person, but very determined about certain things.  She has had a very positive influence over the adoption process. Her family has also been very supportive of the process; as have my parents, my sister and her family.

Yooki loves Yoga. She likes to do Bikram Yoga -- hot room yoga. She rarely misses a class on the weekend.

Yooki works at City College of San Francisco as an accountant. She has been there about 7 years. She really likes to work at the Community College because she enjoys helping students. Yooki has natural maternal instincts. When interacting with children, she really gets kids to open up and be themselves. She is very loving and kindhearted, and plays games with children with a natural ease.

Yooki is herself bi-cultural. She was born in Japan, yet she is a Korean citizen. For all the hardship this created in her life she is very much open to new cultural experiences. She is very strong emotionally and very compassionate, especially in matters of cultural difference. Yooki is very special and will certainly be a great mommy!

Our Home

We have lived in El Cerrito for 10 years. We have been at our current residence for 3 years. We have a good sized house; 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We bought our current home because we love the location. We are close to many parks, a community swimming pool, the ocean and several hours drive to Yosemite National Park. We love living in the Bay Area because of the diversity of cultures and the perfect weather. It is a great place to raise a family. We have a good school system and there are many ways to get involved in the community.  There are so many activities for our child to join and grow into. We can hardly wait to have the laughter of our child to fill our home.   I can envision our child playing in their room and running around our yard.   

Raising a Child

Becoming parents will be the most significant change that we will ever have gone through. We are so looking forward to it. We look forward to everyday life, but especially the holidays. Dressing up for Halloween and unwrapping Christmas presents are times that we look forward to.  We are Oakland A's fans and cannot wait to take our child to a game with us.

We love to go camping and love to go hiking. We can hardly wait to share these activities with our little one. We love to travel and visit family. David's family is on the East Coast and Yooki's family is mostly in Japan. We love to travel and enjoy the company of our families.   All of our family is very excited and supportive of our adoption experience.   

We have discussed the open adoption process with both of our families.  We feel that it is very important for our child to know where he or she comes from. We value this connection as we know you do also.   We know that you love this child and want the very best for him or her.  It's all about love, the more love the better!   This decision that you are about to make is one of incredible significance.  We would love to meet you and get to know you and help you on this journey.

Neither of us approve of corporal punishment. We want to help our child learn from his or her mistakes by teaching the right way to behave.  Talking and timeouts are the appropriate means of disciple that we envision.  We are both very patient people and we see this working to our advantage in regards to disciple. 

Fun facts about David

Favorite activities:  martial arts, surfing, cooking, going to the movies,  singing (either in the shower or karaoke!), good conversation

Favorite foods: Just about anything that Yooki makes! sushi, fried chicken, cupcakes, spaghetti and meatballs

Favorite animals: whales (because they are so big and smart and graceful)

Secret talent: playing the accordion,  acting (David was a theater major in college)

Favorite childhood memories: going fishing with my father and going to baseball games with him too.

Fun facts about Yooki

Favorite activities: hiking, yoga, snowboarding, camping,cooking, playing Ping-Pong in the basement where we have a Ping-Pong table, getting a massage or acupuncture from my husband

Favorite foods: Japanese Ramen soup, Korean barbeque, ice cream, oysters,lobster tail

Favorite animals: cats of course! We have two cats that are a part of our family. I love to play with them every day.

Secret talent: playing the piano and needle point. I have already made Winnie the Pooh needle point for our baby's room!

Favorite childhood memories: Going camping with my family, helping my mother in the kitchen.

Our promise as parents

To provide a loving, caring, nurturing home for our baby

Support from extended family

High quality education both inside and outside the home

To create a loving, warm, safe environment (filled w/ lots of hugs and kisses!!)

To be forever patient and kind

Knowledge, awareness and celebration of how our family was created through you and open adoption

To live and teach by example of how to be a compassionate, honest person

Thank you

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to learn more about our family and home through this letter.  The process of open adoption is very likely to be emotional for us all.  Open adoption is a series of little miracles that lead to the formation of strong, meaningful relationships. Hopefully ones that will last a lifetime.

We are open to any questions you may have, and hope to get to know you better too, so feel free to contact us anytime at our phone number and email address.

May God Bless you,

David and Yooki Bates