HI! We're Brandon + Matt from Los Angeles, California. We’re so grateful you’re taking the time to read this. We’ve individually always wanted to be dads, and after we met 8 years ago, we became even more sure. We live in Los Angeles, at the start of the suburbs. We travel, cook, have a dog, go to the movies, watch tv, read, and have big families. We both have a brother and a sister (one of us is a twin!). Our siblings have kids who we love more than anything. To us, there is nothing more important than being there for the kids in our life. We can’t quite imagine what you’re feeling in this moment, but we are honored for the chance to share our story with you. We hope you keep reading, and if you connect with it, we’d love to hear from you.

We saw in one another patience, a sense of humor, and a knack for teaching. We are 35 and 37. One of us is a screenwriter and director, and the other is a lawyer. We own a home, and are proud to have steady careers and finances. We have good relationships with our families, who are just as excited as we are that we are ready to adopt. We know this can be a roller coaster, and we feel so grateful to be on it. We’ve worked really hard to get here and to be as prepared as possible to give our children the best lives and the strongest launchpad possible.

Like many millennials, we met on a dating app. Our first date was around 8 years ago. We have been married for the last 4. We instantly connected over our shared love of the tv show Survivor and how close we both were with our grandparents. We often host family events at our home - holidays, birthdays, and gatherings - with dogs and kids, cooking for everyone and going overboard on decorations. We also host game nights and movie nights. We regularly go to the theater and amusement parks. We’re both quite active, spending time at the gym, hiking, and playing with our dog. We both value traveling. For our honeymoon, we went to Ireland and Scotland. Last year our big trip was to Spain and Italy, and this summer we went to Germany, Austria, and France.

I am a lawyer and Brandon has made me promise that I will make sure our kids are smart (he says I am smart—I am not so sure). Growing up, my parents worked, so I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house with my siblings and cousins. There are 19 of us, and I am one of the oldest, so I ended up helping with the younger kids and I loved it. As I got older, I still spent every Saturday afternoon that I could with them and, occasionally, accompany them to the casino, their favorite hobby. I went to law school at the Univ. of Georgia and had a great time living there. Ultimately, I decided to move back to California to be closer to family and I am so glad I did since I met Brandon soon after moving back.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time and playing with our nieces and nephew who are the absolute best part of our lives. I love sports, running, listening to history podcasts, and watching tv shows (my favorites are The Office and Parks and Rec). Lately, I have really gotten into cooking and love making meals for Brandon and our families.

Matt’s nieces and nephew call him “Uncle Mikey” because his mom accidentally called him Michael once and the kids thought it was hilarious. He never talks down to them, and smiles while pretending to resist the nickname.

Matt was a boy scout, earning his Eagle Scout, which is still incredibly important to him. He came out to his Catholic family during law school. He was nervous, but they were loving and accepting.

Matt is level-headed, can see many points-of-view, excels in his career, and is humble. He’s witty too. He enjoys work (mostly), but he knows how to clock out. Matt cares deeply for his friends and family, and he would do anything for us. He’s unbelievably supportive. He can be shy at first, but he’s a sweetheart.

“Uncle Mikey” is already a great dog-dad, and I know he is going to make an incredible father. I’m so lucky he’s my husband.

the one with reddish hair. I’m a director and screenwriter, and Matt has made me promise I’ll be super creative with our kids. I also have a big family, 15 of us between my siblings and first cousins, though we have more cousins and family who we love and see regularly in LA. I’m very close with my twin sister who just had a baby. I see my niece a few times a week. The best part of babysitting is reading to her before bed. I love getting to work with my brother in film, theater, and podcasts. Growing up, our family went backpacking, camping, and hiking a lot. We still do! We go boating with friends and waterski in the summer. We ski in the winter too. My family has always had dogs.

In my spare time I take a lot of photos and videos, and I read as much as I can. Our oldest niece, now 10, reads with me on every family trip and we discuss what books she is reading. I watch and read a variety of genres, but I think suspense-thrillers with a great twist are the most fun.

The first time Brandon met our oldest niece, when she was 3, I knew that he had to be a dad. He was amazing, so natural, that he immediately seemed to fit in the role. Now 10, our niece is still obsessed with Bran. He is able to meet her and our nephew where they are, and is always down to play silly games or read with them. I have never met anyone who cares more for the people in his life than Brandon. He has a wide group of friends, yet he still manages to see them all regularly (and makes sure that he never misses a birthday). He is fiercely loyal to the people in his life and is always the first to volunteer to help when someone is in need. He is kind, thoughtful, incredibly creative, talented, and quietly funny. I love how passionate he is about his career, how hard he works and how committed he is.

Brandon wants to make the world a better place, in big and small ways. He is on the board of a charity that specializes in supporting LGBTQ youth and has volunteered for political campaigns.

Spending time close to home: We like going to the movies, to plays, and to concerts. We go to the Hollywood Bowl for shows at least once a summer. We like holding hands and each reading (Brandon averages a book a week). We listen to music (mostly pop and musicals) and podcasts (news, sports, history, culture). Wherever we are, we love hunting for the best burgers and fries. We have gotten into a bit of gardening and have started using the herbs from our garden to cook. We love preparing meals for our extended family and we watch Top Chef with the enthusiasm of two sports fans. (Naturally, we are a Dodgers / Angels house. Lakers, too, of course.) We watch college football, especially when Georgia is playing. And, on Wednesday nights, we watch Survivor.

Seasonal Fun: Our family has a cabin in the mountains, so we spend our summers biking, and boating, and waterskiing with friends. We hike with our dog, CJ, and throw the ball for her in the pond. In the winters, we ski and sled and make snowmen and snow-angels with our nieces and nephew and CJ. One of our main hobbies is teaching CJ new tricks and training.

Travel & Adventure: We’ve been lucky enough to travel a bunch in the last few years, including to Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, France, and many states within the US. Besides the family trips to the beach and mountains, we are excited to take our family to New Zealand, Australia, and Greece. Matt also can’t wait to take Brandon (and our future kiddos) to Finland where his family is from.

People say LA is a city of suburbs, and we love our suburban neighborhood. On weekends, we walk to coffee, the movies, and ice cream. Our town throws a giant Halloween block party every year, and we’re excited to attend with our family. We are in a great school district known for its excellent elementary school. We also have parks, a rec center, and a lake where we enjoy walking and reading.

Our home is 3 bedrooms with plenty of space for hosting, and one room will soon become a nursery and playroom. We have a great yard that our dog, CJ, loves, with big trees for shade while friends come over to BBQ and the dogs and kids play. We’re even planning to get a swing!

Brandon’s family lives in LA, and Matt’s parents are an hour away. Our central location makes us a natural meeting point for family and friends. We also have the best of both worlds, with the Santa Monica Pier, Malibu, museums, Hollywood, Universal Studios, and Disneyland nearby.

We got our lovable Labrador Retriever CJ almost three years ago. She is the sweetest, most friendly dog and loves to eat! She is energetic but patient with kids and puppies. She loves cuddling with us while we read in bed on weekend mornings. All the kids in our life love her because she’s always happy and ready to play!

Our extended families are incredibly present and supportive. With Matt’s side, we go to the beach all the time. We see Brandon’s family at least once a week. We always spend the 4th of July at our cabin in the mountains, and watch the fireworks while eating KFC. We have cousins in LA, San Francisco, Colorado, and New York and make a point to see them often. Many of them are having babies so our children will have many cousins.

Matt’s brother lives in Texas and we do trips together with his kids and Matt’s parents at least twice a year. Matt’s extended family celebrates Christmas together (there are over 50 people) including a bunch of kids. Our favorite tradition is watching the Home Alone movies (our nephew loves doing the “Kevin scream”). Throughout the year, we take the kids to zoos, aquariums, LegoLand, and Disneyland, where Matt’s parents met scooping ice cream. Our parents are crushing it as grandparents, always down to babysit even if it means flying across the country. Everyone enjoys giving gifts and sharing meals.

Some of our family members are funnier than others, and there are always some good laughs. Movies, tv, games, puzzles, dogs, the outdoors, travel, rainbows, and love are common threads across our family.

Our Catholic and Jewish grandparents played huge roles in raising us. We will pass their values and traditions onto our children, while also exposing them to other religions and cultures. The generations who came before are so important to us, and we want to honor them. Our grandparents took us on tours of the Griffith Observatory and to shows. Our house is decorated with art from Brandon’s grandma, and during Christmas and Hanukkah, we have Matt’s grandparents’ snow village and a nutcracker from Brandon’s grandparents.

When we asked Brandon’s grandma for parenting advice, she was direct and to the point: Listen. Listen to your kids. Guide them, but always listen.

The generations before us modeled the importance of showing up for each other. As kids, we went to our siblings’ games (soccer, basketball, baseball, football). We show up. For the big important life events and the small stuff too. We work hard and celebrate whenever we have an excuse to. We want to do good in the world and contribute positively. We believe a parent’s responsibility is to help our child become a good citizen of the world, and to give them an even better childhood than we had.

When we have kids, we will go to their games, performances, or whatever type of events they participate in. We want to support them and try not to be too overbearing. We want to let them be themselves, in ways we feel we couldn’t always be ourselves growing up. We know we will be imperfect. What parent isn’t? But we will try to always listen and learn and improve ourselves and the lives of our family members.

We’re over the moon that you’ve taken the time to consider us. If you connected with anything, we would love to meet you. We (obviously) cannot have biological children on our own. We’re grateful and excited for the possibility of growing our family through adoption. Though we’ve only just begun our adoption journey, the process has already been so meaningful. Wherever this finds you, we hope you are doing okay. We never could have imagined our lives would bring us here, to this moment — yes, it is daunting, but also so overwhelmingly exciting to us that words can’t possibly do it justice. We appreciate you for taking the time and are happy to answer any questions you may have. We wish you well on your journey, and hope to meet you if our paths are meant to cross.

Be well, Matt + Brandon