Julie’s sister plans to visit and help us take care of the new baby when he or she arrives. She will be an adoring aunt who will have a special relationship with our child. Julie’s brother-in-law, a strong, gentle man from Senegal, West Africa, also loves children.

Ruth is smitten with her nieces and nephews who enjoy visiting San Francisco and think of our house as their home in the U.S. They speak Swiss German and French, which we hope our child can pick up a little bit during visits.

Ruth stays in close touch with her mother, brother and sister in Zurich as well as her closest childhood friend in Mumbai.


Our San Francisco Family

Because our families live far away, we have very close friends with whom we celebrate holidays, birthdays and other rites of passage each year. We’ve helped raise our friends’ children, many of whom are now bright creative teens. (We will definitely have plenty of role models and babysitters!) Our friends are eagerly awaiting the newest member of our clan.

Julie has a very close relationship with Catherine, a friend’s granddaughter, who is now 14. Julie was in the delivery room when she was born and Catherine dubbed her “My Julie” almost as soon as she could talk. When Catherine was little, Julie would pick her up once a week from childcare, feed, bathe and put her to bed. Now, Julie cheers her on from the sidelines during soccer games. Catherine has taught her so much about kids and parenting.