We’re David and Elizabeth from Alexandria, Virginia. Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to read about us and our life together. We can’t imagine how challenging this decision is for you and we deeply admire your courageous choice to make an adoption plan for your baby.

We are best friends who’ve been happily married for 13 years. We’ve always dreamed more than anything of having a child and can’t wait to share our love with a little one! We have close friends who were adopted and whose loving and supportive families are great models for us in our adoption journey. We’re very honored to be considered as adoptive parents for your child and promise to provide a warm, nurturing home surrounded by loving friends and family who are so excited about welcoming the new addition to our family.

Appropriately for two book lovers, we met at Barnes & Noble, where Elizabeth’s best friend from childhood introduced us. We connected right away and spent the whole day talking…and basically never stopped. When we were first getting to know each other, Elizabeth lived in England and David in the US, so we spent a lot of time traveling back and forth. For one of our most memorable dates, we met in Paris!

Elizabeth moved to DC to be with David and we married in 2007. We are each other’s best friend and soul mate. We come from different backgrounds, but our personalities and values are very similar. We also share many—but not all!—of the same taste in movies, books, and music.

Our family and friends are very supportive of our hopes to start a family, and we can’t wait to share our love and life with the child we’ve always dreamed about. Because we both work from home, we’ll be able to spend a lot of time together as a family.

I grew up in a suburb of New York City. I love reading, running, and listening to music. Elizabeth and I have traveled all over the world together, and we’re so excited to show our child all the countries and cultures we love.

I’m editor-in-chief of a magazine published by a large university in Northern Virginia. I write and edit articles on a variety of subjects, including politics, economics, and culture. I work from home and my greatest dream is being a dad!

David is my favorite person in the world. I first fell in love with his friendliness, warmth, and dependability. When any of our friends or family have a problem, he’ll drop whatever he’s doing to help them. I married David for many reasons, but the fact that he translates his generous spirit into real action is one that I admire most. I’ve never met anyone as sincere, smart, and sweet-natured as David. The things I love most about him are the things I know will make him a great dad. He gives people his full attention. He loves to sing. He makes good decisions and has a great work ethic. He makes me laugh and he makes me feel safe. The child that we are blessed to adopt will find complete love, understanding, encouragement, and a lot of fun in David!

I was born in Norway and grew up in Russia, Germany, Yugoslavia, and some other countries. My parents were American diplomats, so we were never in one place very long. My travels make me really appreciate home life with David. I love working around the house and garden. I love reading, photography, and being out in nature. I also love cooking, baking, and Christmas!

I have a Ph.D. in Russian from Oxford, where I taught literature classes. Throughout high school, college, and graduate school I worked as a nanny, day-care worker, and teacher for infants and children in many different countries. I now work part-time from home as an editor and I can’t wait to be a full-time stay-at-home mom for our child!

As soon as I met Elizabeth, I knew I’d love her forever. She’s the biggest-hearted person I know. She’s the first to laugh and cry at movies and the first to help people and animals in need. She has a loving view of the world and a great sense of humor. I’m so lucky to be the recipient of her gentleness and patience. I know Elizabeth will be an amazing and deeply loving mother, whose first thought will always be for our child. Our child will learn so much from her great intelligence and wisdom, but most of all, he or she will be touched every day by her kind and giving heart.

Elizabeth’s parents and brother all live just a few streets away, so we spend a lot of time together, sharing meals at each other’s houses, running errands together, or just hanging out. David’s dad and stepmom come and stay with us often, and we visit them a few times a year at their beach home in Florida. Our parents are so thrilled about our wish to adopt and are more than ready to engage as full-time grandparents!

We’re close with David’s large extended family in Oregon and visit them often, sometimes combining it with visits to Elizabeth’s many aunts, uncles, and cousins in California. David also has a lot of family in Italy. We both have close friends from childhood in different parts of the country who we visit and who come to stay with us. Because our house and yard are so guest-friendly, we also entertain a lot with friends in the neighborhood.

• Mike (David’s friend from high school, an adoptee and father): “As an adopted person, I appreciate the importance of adoption and having a loving home to grow up in. I’ve known David since high school and can think of no person more suited to being an adoptive dad. He’s one of the most interesting, good-natured, loyal, gentle, and insightful people I’ve ever met. Elizabeth’s excellent judgment and kindness will make her a wonderful mom. Elizabeth and David’s loving relationship makes their home the kind of safe, stable, and inspiring place a child would love to grow up in.”

• Emily (Elizabeth’s friend from high school and mother of two): “Elizabeth is funny, understanding and wise, a patient listener and a person with great strength of character and deep personal convictions. David has such a warm, kind, outgoing, open personality with a deep interest in other people and a strong moral compass. Any child growing up with the stability, love, and warmth that David and Elizabeth manifest would be very lucky!”

• Jon (David’s friend from grade school): “David and Elizabeth are wonderful, loving people who will be truly exceptional parents. David is among the warmest, most cheerful and energetic people I know, with great humor and a sense of grace. He’s simply one of the best, most grounded people I know. I’ve become great friends with Elizabeth, too, sharing holidays with her and her parents, who will be loving grandparents. She’s very down to earth and her nurturing spirit leaves me with no doubt that she’ll be a fantastic mother. She’s a sweet, kind and wonderful partner for David, and together they have a supportive, nurturing home. They’ll be doting, careful, and enthusiastic parents.”

We live in a child friendly suburb in Alexandria, Virginia. The setting is very natural, with lots of trees and wildlife. We’re a few blocks from the sailboat marinas and picnic tables on the banks of the Potomac River but we’re close enough to bike into downtown Washington, DC. Our local public and private schools are highly regarded, and there are playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts, horseback riding centers, shops, and libraries all near our house.

We live in a planned, close-knit community that has its own cooperative kindergarten, prints a monthly newsletter, and has lots of neighborhood events, including Christmas cookies and caroling, Halloween parties, and a big 4th of July picnic. We own a four bedroom house on a safe, quiet street with lots of children. Our half-acre property has a fenced backyard with a vegetable garden, plenty of room for playing, and a large patio for eating out. We have an indoor-outdoor lifestyle and entertain a lot with friends and family.

Russell is our beloved orange and white cat. He was badly burned over his whole body when we rescued him, but a few months and lots of love and kibble later, his scars healed, his fur grew back, and he was running around like the kitten he was. He loves his big yard and all his toys, and is really outgoing, funny, and friendly.

Thank you so much for taking the time to learn about us. We’re deeply committed to sharing our life and love with a child through adoption and are so honored to be considered by you to raise and cherish your child.

Warmly,
Elizabeth & David