Porto San Giorgio (Fermo), August 27, 2026 — “We are officially a family”. Just a few words, accompanied by a photograph of four intertwined hands, to tell the happiness of Benedetta Rossi and her husband Marco Gentili. The Marche food blogger announced on social media the completion of the adoption process of Natacha and Sharlyn, two girls aged 10 and 9, whom they met in Costa Rica after a long wait.
The couple had flown to the Central American country last month to meet the two girls for the first time, who were living in an institution where they had grown up.
A long-awaited moment experienced with emotion, fear, and also some inevitable questions. Then, Rossi recounts, everything changed in a few moments. “On July 13 at eight in the morning we went to the institution where they lived and grew up — she recalled — We had our hearts in our throats, teary eyes, and a bit of fear, but a little magic happened“. The scene that follows is one the food blogger will hardly forget: “A door opened and they came running towards us, full of joy, shouting ‘mom and dad!’”.
A door opened and they came running towards us, full of joy, shouting ‘mom and dad!’
Fears vanished in a second: “It felt like we had known each other forever”
At that moment, Rossi explains, “the long wait and all the fears vanished in a second”. A meeting that, in her words, had something immediate and surprising: “They trusted us from the very first moment and it was all so natural that it felt like we had known each other forever“, she said. From that first hug, a new phase began, that of everyday life. In the following weeks, Benedetta, Marco, and the two girls lived together, learning to know each other and gradually building a relationship: “It was the most intense, exciting, and demanding period,” Rossi explained, also recounting the delicacy needed to accompany the girls through this transition.
“We took all the time necessary to get to know each other, with patience and gentle steps — she added — We welcomed their stories, interpreted their fears, listened to their silences”. A family, then, that begins to take shape without forcing, leaving room for emotions and each one’s timing. Rossi chose a particularly simple image to introduce Natacha and Sharlyn also to her huge community: the family’s hands held side by side. “Our girls are named Natacha and Sharlyn, they are 10 and 9 years old, they are wonderful, full of light and desire to live“, she wrote, letting all the happiness for this new chapter shine through.
“Our family is a seed that sprouts every day”
“Our family now is like a small seed that has just sprouted and is growing day by day,” the blogger continued. For Rossi and Gentili, in fact, the trip to Costa Rica was only the beginning of a journey destined to continue even once back in Italy.
And the return home is now near: “We can’t wait,” Rossi admitted, also because waiting for them is Cloud, their dog. “We miss our little Cloud terribly!”, she wrote affectionately. Finally, a thought for the thousands of people who followed the story from afar and accompanied the couple with messages and words of affection. “Thank you for the flood of positive thoughts you sent us from afar — Rossi concluded — for the immense respect and affection with which you understood and protected this moment so important to us”.
