About Us

We met in school and quickly became close friends. Then, after spending a year apart, we began dating, realizing how important we were to each other. This close friendship forms the glue that holds our relationship together. We are comfortable talking about everything with each other and trust each other’s advice, thoughts, and judgment. When we encounter challenges we talk about them and work through them together so that we can be stronger on the other side. This has been especially important when we have run into challenging points in our lives, leading to new jobs, careers and locations. We are both interested in music, and like to watch and listen together. We also both enjoy cooking and exploring different types of food both from the variety of restaurants in our town and when we travel, as well as trying to recreate foods we love at home.

Dan about Anna

From the first time I met Anna I was incredibly impressed by her in countless ways. My first impressions focused on how smart, organized and prepared she was for every situation. Those facts remain, but over time I have come to value her caring for others and empathy above all else.  She always tries to understand the perspectives of others, and she cares about both the good and bad events in people’s lives, even when she has not seen them for many years.  I know that her empathy, caring, and generosity will serve as a great model for our child and help us supporting our child through even the most difficult times.  Anna is such a positive, fun person who encourages her sisters and cousins so often; I’m excited to see her as a mom! She will be a natural!

Anna on Dan

I have always felt comfortable around Dan, and know I can trust and rely on him. I now also see how his calmness and thoughtfulness puts others at ease. I really admire his dedication to lifting others up, whether it’s through teaching or working for equity in our community. I know that he will be a supportive and open father, calmly talking through difficult situations and encouraging exploration and independence. His openness and honesty about emotions will set a great example. I’ve seen his patience and playfulness in connecting with my nephew, cousins, and sisters (they were still kids when we met), and know that he will be a wonderful dad!

Our Families

Dan has a relatively small yet close family, including a brother who is expecting his first child this summer, and a cousin who got married this year. Anna’s family is incredibly large and Anna serves as the central communicator across a network of aunts, uncles and cousins as well as her own parents and sisters. Since becoming quarantined, she has organized weekly virtual hangouts for everyone to stay in touch. Anna’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and especially her sisters, are so excited for this adoption! Anna’s nephew, Zayn, loves to share and is looking forward to having a cousin!

Our Community

We live in a suburban area of West Lafayette, a block from the library and down the street from both the Elementary and Middle schools. We built our home with four bedrooms knowing that we planned to adopt a child, and wanting room for family to visit us. Our neighbors come from all walks of life and kids ride bikes together and play. We have a fenced backyard, where Beasley loves to run. We have multiple friends who live close by, and we try to get together for brunch on weekends.

Parenting

We expect to draw our approach to parenting on our work in education both as teachers and mentors. We believe in the need to balance structure and freedom, emphasizing our child’s ability to explore and pursue their own interests. We view our role as being there to support our child in whatever paths they choose, providing guidance, sharing our experience, and connecting them with others when appropriate. Like our own relationship, we want our relationship with our child to be based on trust and communication, and we are willing to persist even when this inevitably becomes a challenge at various points in their life. We do not believe in any type of physical or emotional discipline, but rather transparency, communication, and patience.

We each plan to take the 12 weeks of parental leave from our employers, and will stagger our leave in order to spend as much time with our child as possible. There are excellent childcare and educational programs through the local university, and we are already on the waitlist for all of them.

Thanks for reading a bit about us! We look forward to developing a relationship with you, and getting to know you. We respect and value whatever decision you make.