We are honored to meet you! Thank you for considering us to be parents. We are grateful for the opportunity to share a bit about our lives with you. We thank you for your strength, love and compassion.

We live in San Francisco, California right by the Pacific Ocean. We’ve been together for 13 years (we met working on an event for a local arts organization). Our home is blocks from the beach, and we walk our dogs to watch the sunset. Our kitchen is always a warm and active place because we love cooking, eating, and hosting. We both studied art and culture and care deeply about creativity. Max is a chef by trade and worked in restaurants throughout San Francisco. Now he works in technology. Alexandra is a floral designer and event producer whose work has taken her to Hawaii, Wyoming and places in between. We both work for ourselves, giving us flexible schedules. We feel super lucky to have a close-knit, multi-racial family that we get to see almost every week.

We live in the Outer Sunset neighborhood, by the beach in San Francisco. We’re surrounded by kind neighbors with families who have lived here for generations. We love being close to nature, having a friendly neighborhood where the local grocery store knows us by name, and the ability to head downtown for museums and cultural events. Our living room is filled with color and artwork by friends and local artists. The neighborhood library is 2 blocks away and Max is constantly checking books out. Golden Gate Park is a short walk and full of trees, beauty, and playgrounds.

Alexandra was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. She is biracial–her father is Mexican-American and her mother is Caucasian. After graduating high school with honors, she traveled to the East Coast for college, only to realize how much she loves California, so she came right back after graduation! Before starting her own floral design business in 2015, Alexandra worked in the arts, helping museums and nonprofits raise funds for local artists. College also took her abroad to New Zealand and Italy, which sparked her love for exploring other cultures. Alexandra’s family and friends lovingly call her “Zane” or “Zany.”

I trust Alexandra with my life without hesitation. She is incredibly smart—often seeing clearly in moments what takes me months to realize. Her warmth and empathy are unmatched, evident when she cooks meals for neighbors and friends in times of need, or supports family, like helping her brother and his wife with their young boys. Her kindness and perceptive nature truly make her exceptional, and she will undoubtedly be the greatest gift we can offer to our future child.”

Max was born in West Marin, a rural town about an hour from San Francisco. He got to experience life on both coasts as a kid, during the school year living with his mom and grandmother in Rhode Island and the summers with his dad in the Bay Area. Max’s parents were both artists and teachers. He moved to San Francisco full time to attend the Art Institute where he studied painting and sculpture. To put himself through school he worked in restaurants and discovered his true love of cooking, working with French, Italian, and Mexican chefs he developed skill, craft, hardwork and respect for everyone’s story.

Max is the person you want on a deserted island. He is smart, resourceful, calm, kind and is always helping others. He is the person who pulls over for the stalled car on a stormy night, helps the elderly neighbor carry groceries, brings soup when you’re sick–and is happy to do it. He is a lifelong learner and can teach himself anything by reading about it! He is diverse in his interests and knowledge and can get equally excited about a new superhero movie as well as a ballet, and I’m grateful to share a life with him. I know he will constantly learn and grow as a father, sharing his love and nurturing spirit with his future child.”

We feel super lucky to have a big, close-knit, multi-racial family that we get to see almost every week. Alexandra’s parent’s live just 20 minutes away and are beyond excited to welcome their third grandchild (with your incredible help). They are both active in our nephews’ lives, helping with care taking multiple days per week and it’s been amazing to watch them fully embrace grandparent life! Alexandra’s two brothers also live nearby—well, one’s in Santa Cruz with his wife and two boys, and the other is in Hawaii. Most of her extended family (plus some seriously awesome great-grandparents) are in Los Angeles, and we love getting everyone together for family reunions. On top of that, a handful of our closest friends feel like family, too. We can’t wait to raise our child surrounded by all this love and support—there’s always room for one more at our table!

Family is at the center of our lives, and for the past five years we’ve poured our hearts into becoming parents. After many hopeful months of trying on our own and later under the guidance of fertility specialists, we realized that another path was needed. Several dear friends have built their families through adoption, and two of our cousins were welcomed home that way. Watching them thrive showed us that love—not biology—makes a family. Choosing adoption now feels less like a second option and more like a gift we’ve been gently guided toward.

We lived on O‘ahu during the pandemic. We moved there for work, but when the state-wide shut downs occurred we volunteered to distribute food resources to families in need. We teamed up with local chefs, churches, community centers, and farms to get food to families who needed it most. Hawaii is such a special place to us. It's where we feel connected to nature, to the local community, and to each other. We got married underneath the majestic mountains on Oahu’s East side—truly the most magical day of our lives! Alexandra studied cultural anthropology at Dartmouth college and focused on Polynesian culture. Some of our dearest friends live in Hawaii and we hope to move back one day. It’s our happy place, and we can’t wait to call it home again.

We’ve always been a rescue-dog family. When we met, Max had 2 Dalmatians (Zoe and Niko) and Alexandra had a Shepherd (Wilson). People would pass us on the street and say “3 dogs?!?” We were up for the challenge and they brought us joy and were always up for an adventure. They all moved with us to Hawaii! Nowadays, we have 2 pups: Zoe (who is in her senior years, 15!) and Ruby (a young poodle mix we call “Flups”). They keep us grounded, fill our days with cuddles, laughter, and lots of fresh-air walks in nature.

Max is a chef by trade and worked in restaurants all over the Bay Area and San Francisco. He now works in technology and has for well over a decade to help clients navigate an ever changing landscape on the web. His clients range from architects to comic book publishers, to nonprofits. He is constantly learning and his role as a technologist uses his skills in problem solving, listening, negotiating and strategizing.

Alexandra is a floral designer and event producer and has her own business where she creates arrangements and installations to help people celebrate their most important moments. She works with clients to bring beauty into their spaces whether for a wedding, a dinner party or a special event. She uses creativity, hard work, planning and thoughtfulness to work with clients over the last decade. We both studied art and culture and care deeply about creativity and thinking outside the box.

Thank you for considering us in your journey. If you have any questions for us, or if you're interested in us adopting your child, please contact your AdoptHelp caseworker at 1-800-637-7999.

With immense gratitude,

Alexandra and Max