Katie and Omar bring Samara and Ritaj Home

Omar and Kathryn

Seattle,

We are Kathryn (Katie) Powell Rachid and Omar Rachid Zaim, and we are honored to share our story and our hopes as we apply for support towards our adoption journey. We have been together for 15 years and married for 10, building a life centered on love, stability, service, and family. From the earliest days of our relationship, we have dreamed of growing our family through adoption, and today, we stand in the midst of realizing that dream.

In February of this year, we were matched with our daughter Samara, a young child in Morocco. Soon after, we learned that Samara has a half-sister, Ritaj, who is also in care at the same children’s home. From the beginning, we knew we would never separate siblings, which is why our finalized home study and USCIS I-600A application include approval for “Samara or a sibling group.” This commitment has expanded our journey in unexpected ways, but it has always been our guiding value: children belong with their siblings whenever possible, and we are determined that Samara and Ritaj grow up together in the same home. Our path has required working with two agencies—Holt International here in Seattle, which completed our home study, and New Beginnings in New Jersey, one of the only U.S. agencies licensed to facilitate Moroccan adoptions. This dual-agency process, alongside international legal requirements, has added significant expense. Despite being in the most financially stable place we have ever been, the compounded costs of international adoption—combined with living in one of the top three most expensive cities in the United States to raise a family—have created financial challenges that we cannot meet without help.

We believe our strength as parents comes from the solid foundation of our marriage and the values we live by daily. Omar was raised in Venezuela in a mixed Moroccan-Syrian family, speaks Moroccan Arabic, and maintains strong ties to his extended family and cultural traditions. Katie and Omar share a commitment to raising children in a home that is rooted in love, joy, and cultural continuity. We are committed to ensuring Samara and Ritaj remain connected to their Moroccan identity through language, food, traditions, and regular visits to family in Morocco.Our home study describes us as dedicated, resilient, and deeply supportive of each other. Omar brings warmth, positivity, and a gift for humor, while Katie is described as thoughtful, empathetic, and highly resourceful. Together, we have built a partnership based on honesty, encouragement, and shared purpose. Both of us work in helping professions (Katie as a licensed clinical social worker and Omar as a teacher) where we have devoted our careers to supporting the growth and well-being of children and families. We bring professional training in trauma-informed care, parenting children with special needs, and building resilience, as well as personal experience supporting children in our community and extended family.

Adoption has always been our path to family. We are not only committed to providing a loving home, but also to honoring our children’s full identities—their sibling bond, their cultural roots, and their personal histories. Your support would directly allow us to continue our journey without the heavy weight of financial strain, ensuring that resources remain available to provide for Samara and Ritaj’s ongoing needs: stability, childcare, healthcare, education, and nurturing experiences that will allow them to thrive.

We know that financial stability is one measure of readiness, and while we are proud of the stability we’ve achieved, the reality of international adoption is that costs rise far beyond what a family can reasonably anticipate. This support would bridge the gap between our ability and the financial requirements, allowing us to live out the values we have always held: to keep siblings together, to honor cultural identity, and to raise children in a home filled with love, stability, and opportunity.

We are grateful for your consideration. We believe our story reflects not only our desire to grow our family, but also our capacity to provide a safe, loving, and culturally rooted home for Samara and Ritaj. We hope you will join us in ensuring these sisters grow up together, connected to their family, and their heritage.

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