What made us who we are today are our families combined with our strong Midwestern roots and values.

We have both been fortunate to have international living experiences that have expanded our worldview and friend circle both here in D.C. and around the country. Living and working in a foreign country for two years has made us more humble and given us a deeper understanding of other cultures, and the different experiences and challenges people face.

We also think that being a member of the LGBTQ community is a big part of what has shaped us as adults today in many ways. The difficulties of accepting ourselves has made us more understanding of others who are struggling, and made us more confident and kind to others as we navigate through life.

We have a very active lifestyle that changes with the seasons.

In the spring and summer, we can always be found working in our vegetable and flower garden and relaxing in our backyard with family and friends. We regularly work out, be it at the gym, running, or bicycling through the excellent bike trails in our city. Living in the mid-Atlantic affords us proximity to both the beach and the mountains. We can be found several times throughout the summer hiking with our dog in the mountains or paddling in the Chesapeake.

During the fall and winter we tend to slow down more in our garden and focus on quality time with friends and family.

We are avid travelers, and strive for a big trip internationally once a year. We also make several trips back home to see family and we go to Andrew's family lake house in Michigan each summer for the 4th of July.

Living in a culturally diverse city has exposed us to a wide range of people from different cultures and life experiences. We live in a diverse neighborhood where many cultures are represented. We are fortunate to have access to museums like the African American History Museum and the Native American History Museum. One of the biggest benefits of living in the city are the special exhibits, festivals and restaurants that celebrate different cultures.

We understand the importance of embracing the cultural roots of an adoptive child. We are naturally curious people about other cultures, which is evident from both of our experiences as Peace Corps Volunteers living and working in rural communities. Based on that, we are excited to learn about the traditions and history relative to your child's heritage. We also think it is critical to surround our child with role models that reflect their racial identity. It is important to us that we create a space where they feel proud of who they are and that they have a connection to their heritage.

We live in a residential neighborhood just north of downtown. Our neighborhood is tree-lined, walkable, and full of young and diverse families. Our house is older with some historic charm, three bedrooms, two baths, and a large fenced backyard. Our backyard and front porch is our favorite places to hang out, have gatherings with friends, or just relax when the weather is nice. We are avid gardeners and have carved out space for a vegetable garden and fruit trees and flowers to ensure we have some color most of the year.

While we live in a large urban city, our neighborhood feels suburban and quiet, with a mixture of rowhouses, single family homes, apartments and multi-family condos. There is a large park across the street that hosts numerous events in the summer for families, as well as leisure activities for neighborhood residents, or local family gatherings or birthday parties under the pavilion.

There are several playgrounds and elementary schools within walking distance, some of them are bilingual schools with Spanish or Chinese immersion. We have several immediate neighbors with children. We also have several close friends nearby with small children that we hang out with on weekends or nice evenings for pizza.

Having a warm, comfortable home in a nice neighborhood was really important to us as we knew we would eventually want to raise a family. The diversity, young population, and walkable neighborhood make this a great place to grow up.

We both come from large, close-knit families that enjoy spending time together. This ensures there's always excitement and energy during holidays, school and sporting events with our nieces and nephews, and family vacations. While we don't live close by, we try as much as possible to equally spend time together.

Andrew's family lives in Florida where he grew up. He has a twin brother with two kids (one more on the way!) that he loves spending time with, be it golfing or skiing or spending time at our cabin in northern Michigan. Andrew's sisters each have three kids who are all unique and Andrew enjoys their visits to DC and taking them on bike tours around the monuments. Andrew's family are avid sports fans of all types, and often it doesn't feel like a gathering goes by without us watching football, especially the college rivalries of Michigan v. Ohio State or Florida v. Florida State.

The majority of Matt’s family live in Ohio, where he grew up. He has an older sister with three school age kids. It’s a short drive back home, so they are fortunately able to spend time with them frequently. Matt’s stepsister lives in the same neighborhood in DC, and his stepbrother is in the Navy and lives in Pensacola. Matt’s family is very close knit, and they’ve had a tradition of getting together for Sunday dinners since Matt was child. Since Matt’s stepsister moved to their neighborhood, they’ve brought the tradition to DC.

Both of our families couldn't be happier for plans for adoption and to have a child to grow in our home and life together.

We sincerely thank you for taking the time to look at our profile and we hope it gives you a better sense of who we are. We understand that this must be an exceptionally personal and difficult decision for you, but want you to know that your child will be raised in a home full of creativity and love, commitment and support. We admire your strength and courage as you progress through your pregnancy, and wish you peace in your decision-making process.

Since early on when we were dating, we knew that at some time in the future, when the time was right, we would be parents. As a same-sex couple, our options towards parenthood are limited, so we knew adoption would be the likely path to take.

We both come from large extended families and are very close with our siblings and many nieces and nephews. Matt's family is six hours away in Ohio and Andrew's family all live very close to each other and are a quick plane ride away in Florida. We make it a point to visit as often as we can, and can especially count on Andrew's family being at the lake house in the summer. Family is really important to us and we get so excited thinking about sharing our lives and our family with loved ones. We feel grateful to have family that is also so happy and excited for us, and eager to share a role in our future child's life.

Our life in D.C. is very fulfilling, diverse, and full of friends and community. Our neighborhood is well connected to schools, parks and public transport, but remains a quiet and close-knit residential area to live. We are fortunate to have a network of friends here and a home that keeps us busy at all times of the year. We are grateful for our jobs that provide us a strong sense of mission towards protecting people and the environment.

We met each other eight years ago through a mutual connection who is Andrew's friend since childhood and Matt's friend from when he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama. That connection and the fact that we were both Peace Corps volunteers helped cement our relationship. Ever since, our relationship has grown so much and taken us on many adventures with home buying and do-it-yourself renovating, gardening and staying physically active, to traveling internationally and backpacking through many countries. While our lives have been fulfilling thus far, we know it is time to take it to the next step of parenthood.

It is probably extremely difficult to choose the right couple for your child, and so again we sincerely thank you for taking the time to consider us. We want you to know that we are all in, we are committed to being the best parents we can be and understand that being a parents is one of the hardest things in life. As part of the open adoption, we will send letters and photos to you and are open to more if that is what feels right for you.

Thank you, again, for considering us and we wish you all the best and confidence in your decision-making.

Sincerely,

Matt & Andrew