Hello! We are Emily and Andy from Vejle, Denmark. Thanks for reading up on us! We’re very excited to start this journey with you and your child. We first met in San Diego, California, both east coast transplants. We connected first through a shared sense of humor and instant comfort around each other. We bonded more as we traveled, went camping & hiking, took in nerdy entertainment, and enjoyed cheap taco spots. We’ve protested together and marched for women’s & human rights. Now based in Denmark doing work we love, we want to raise a family together. This includes having an open dialogue with you and your baby.

From very early on in our relationship, we knew we wanted to adopt a child as part of creating our family. Talking about our future, early in a relationship, could've been scary for many reasons, but even then we recognized the shared desire to build a family together and how that family would be constructed. Andy always knew he wanted to be a Dad, and Emily's extended family and friends include adoptees; therefore we've easily and fully committed to adopting a child. Now, we have arrived at the point that we are ready to invite a child into our family and home.

Just less than a year into dating, we took a week-long trip together to Baja, Mexico which put our relationship to the test. The rental car agency didn’t give us the car we wanted and needed for our planned activities. The battery in that car died on our first night, and we had to get a jump from the Federales who we’d conveyed our situation to in very broken Spanish. Later on in the trip, we got stuck in the sand multiple times and had to dig ourselves out. We didn’t have all the right equipment for camping so we drank lukewarm, bad coffee. And yet, we had an amazing time, seeing each other’s sense of adventure, desire to see the world, willingness to keep things simple, and patience and humor through challenges. When we tied the knot, we commissioned our rings to be made from the lid of the pot that produced the terrible coffee.

Growing up in a small, seaside village gave me a deep appreciation for the ocean. Though cliche, I dreamed of the wider world and the adventures that awaited. I have chosen my career for two very distinct purposes: 1) I wanted to be a marine scientist / conservationist and 2) I wanted to travel. In my youth, as a field biologist, I often lived out of a backpack, on expeditions where I was getting paid (albeit very little) to see some of the rarest species in the sea. I would jump from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, to one in the Bering Sea, all while working to protect marine life. I grew to be resourceful, and have profound respect for nature. While I still go to sea, I go less often as I began to long for a garden and to study the creatures in my own backyard and bay. To be rooted also takes spirit; to immerse yourself in a loving home and family. My adventures now inform the work I do, protecting marine ecosystems. I want to be a mom to share this love I have for the greater world, and all the mystery it contains.

Emily is smart and curious. When we go out for hikes, she wants to photograph every bird and identify it; she wants to know every mushroom and figure out if she can cook it. At home she reads all the time, constantly learning and growing. Emily is protective and fearless. One night, we were crossing a street with my mother, and a car came zooming around a corner at us. I hustled my mom across the street, but Emily just kept her pace, stared at the driver and yelled, 'SLOW DOWN!!' (in her Long Island accent). Emily is loyal and caring. I've seen her not only have hours-long calls with friends and family in need of support, but travel to other states, and even countries, to give them some comfort. If she's in your corner, she's in for the long haul. When Emily loves, she loves with every bit of her being. She is going to be an amazing mom.

A lot of my life is built around the idea of play. I work for the toy company LEGO, designing construction sets for kids and adults around the world. I had LEGO when I was a kid, but I've come to see so many people didn't, because it wasn't shown to them. So one of my passions now is designing products for all the people who LEGO missed when I was a kid, and inviting them to enjoy this thing that I love. My biggest hobby is performing and teaching improv comedy, which is also about play. Its about supporting others' and your own imagination—and while you're doing it, you're also giving and receiving empathy, kindness and community. Among many things I'm looking forward to about being a dad—besides telling dad jokes—is playing with a child, nurturing their imagination and helping them learn that they can do, and be, anything.

Andy is an absolute goofball. He puts others at ease by taking the brunt of the joke. At my father’s 80th birthday, he slowly added small, sparkly hats to his head, getting fake-confused when people noticed them and endearing himself to a room full of my parents’ oldest friends. It’s one of my mother’s favorite pictures of him. Though Andy went to undergrad at one of our country’s top academic schools, he has chosen to dedicate his life to joy and play. He found that academic and career aspirations created unwanted stress and angst, and so instead, he chose to be happy. This reason, among others, makes him one of the smartest people I know. Andy is kind, living his life with an ‘only punch up’ mentality. I knew he wanted to be a dad before he told me; that’s his vibe. He wants the best for people, and is there to help with a hand or ear.

We live in a town in Denmark called Vejle. Our home is only a few minutes away from the Vejle fjord where we can go swimming and kayaking in the warmer months. We are walking and biking distance from the city center, shopping, and cafes. There are woods and natural parks all around us where we can go for walks (and forage wild berries). Being in Scandinavia, Denmark benefits from snowy winters yet still has sunny and warm summers (when it isn't raining). Vejle is a very international town, as places in Denmark go. People from all over the world come to work here and we're involved in many international groups (writing, social clubs, comedy, gaming, etc.). It's always interesting to learn more about the wider world from our friends. We have built a strong, multi-cultural community here.

Both set of parents live in North Carolina, and are excited to become grandparents! Andy's dad is a therapist and his mom helps immigrants with English as their second language. Emily's folks are retired; her father was a restaurateur and her mother was a high school art teacher. Emily's brother and sister-in-law also live in North Carolina with their six year old son, working as a roofer and middle school teacher. Emily's sister is a professional nanny living in Brooklyn, NYC. We make annual trips to visit our family during the holidays, and meet them in Europe when they come for vacation. In Denmark, we have built a community of friends from many different countries, several of whom have kids. We get together to play trivia, have tabletop game nights, or just share dinners together. Many people in our community are also from elsewhere, so we support each other in figuring out how to live happily here.

We have a cat named Beryl, a rescue from San Diego, who keeps her distance until she wants attention—we call her our little gremlin. Our dog, Artemis, was a stray puppy in Greece before she came to us. She’s playful, loves people, and adores Beryl (though the feeling isn’t mutual).

We are so very excited to be here, at this stage where we are opening our hearts and home to another, expanding our family and sharing the world with our future child. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Your child will be raised in a multi-cultural community here in Denmark, with aunties, uncles, and cousins (by blood or otherwise) scattered across the United States, taking different paths in life but connected by love. Our family circle is ever-growing, and there is a place in it not only for your child but also you, however you choose to fill it. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little bit, and considering us to raise your child.