WHERE THIS COMES FROM
We don’t match either. That’s the whole point.
I'm Jessica, a Jewish woman from Cleveland married to Raj, a Hindu man from Kanpur, India. We have two kids: Emoni, our adopted daughter, who who has been ours since she was two days old, and Sam, our biological son. We have two dogs who also, for the record, don't match.
People ask us a lot of questions. Which one is really yours. Where she's from. Why they look so different. Raj and I don't always agree on how to answer — how much to say, to whom, and when. That part is still a work in progress. But we agree on the thing that matters most: we want to build our own family culture, and we want our kids to grow up empathetic and confident in their own unique story.
I don't have every answer. My kids are young and the questions are going to keep changing. What I can offer is what we're figuring out in real time — for our family, and maybe for yours.
WHO THIS IS FOR
If your family doesn't fit one box, you're in the right place.
We are here for families at the intersection — where more than one thing is true at the same time. Your kid is multiracial and adopted. Your family is interfaith and blended. You're raising a Black daughter as a white mom in a Jewish-Hindu household. (Hi, that's me.) The families who end up checking "other" on the form because none of the boxes describe you.
The heart on this page has four colors. They come from a photograph of my family — four skin tones, four people, one family that doesn't match, but belongs. Our Whole Story is built around that idea.
What we’re building
Everything here is made by someone living this. None of it exists yet — but here's where we're starting, and where we're headed.
The book - coming November 2026
We Don't Match — But We Belong is the first book from Our Whole Story. A warm, joyful picture book for families raising kids who come from more than one world. Written for Emoni and Sammy and for every family like ours. Learn more.
Resources - coming along with the book
Free conversation guides, activity sheets, and educator materials to support the book at home and in the classroom. Built to do real developmental work, not just check a representation box. Learn more.
Honest writing - coming soon
Writing about the questions I'm facing now and the ones I haven't hit yet. No manufactured confidence. No pretense of expertise I don't have. Just someone paying close attention.
Community - TBD
A space for parents who aren't performing — where you don't have to explain your family before you can talk about it. We'll build this only if research tells us it's what you actually need.
What we believe
Belonging doesn’t require matching.
Empathy, curiosity, and perspective-taking are muscles. They need to be used or they atrophy. Start young.
Identity is life-long work.
Who a child becomes is shaped by who they’re born to be and by the family and world that raises them. Both matter.
A parent’s job isn’t to have every answer. It’s to sit in the not-knowing alongside our kids while we figure it out together.
Research and lived experience are both real knowledge. Neither one alone is complete.
Start with the book
Be the first to know when the book is available. Unsubscribe anytime.