We are Erin & Benj from Burbank, California. We can’t begin to express how much we respect and admire your choice to place your child for adoption. While we know it is not an easy decision, you will be bringing such joy and love to the family that you choose. We would be grateful to be part of your journey from this point forward. We have always dreamed of starting a family, and are both so excited to be parents. We know there are many ways to create a loving family, and we can’t wait for the chance to bring a child into our lives and build a home filled with love, laughter and unwavering support.

In 2003, we worked down the hall from each other in the same office in Burbank, California, both completely unaware we shared a copy room with our future spouse. We wouldn’t learn this until our first date, 13 years later, after matching on an app. This serendipitous circumstance isn’t the reason we’re together, but it was a good icebreaker.

After a lively and lengthy conversation about music and pop culture, we agreed to meet for dinner a few nights later. What followed were years of concerts, comedy shows, and late night karaoke.

Early on, Erin introduced Benj to Ernie, her pug, and we have been an inseparable family ever since. We got married in Palm Springs in 2019 surrounded by our friends and family and the beautiful desert sunshine. In 2020, we rescued another pug, George.

We were eager to expand our family with children but have not been able to conceive. While this has been disappointing, we know that families can be made in lots of different ways. Our chosen family of friends here in Los Angeles has taught us that. And we are filled with such excitement and joy about being able to bring a child into our family through adoption.

We love to travel, locally and internationally. We love to wake up in a new place, see and experience a new culture and drink some (usually) great coffee. Between us, we’ve visited five continents and have good friends in the UK, Germany and Denmark, who we plan to visit soon. When Covid made international travel difficult, we looked closer to home and made a point of visiting every national park within driving distance of Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing our adventures and love of travel with our child.

Wherever we go, we like to find a local hike to stretch our legs and explore. Los Angeles is full of short, kid-friendly hiking trails that lead to dramatic overlooks of the city, the mountains
or the sea and lots of great picnicking spots.

I’m from the east coast, growing up in shoreline Connecticut as an only child with a passion for musical theater. After going to college in Boston, I drove cross country–camping along the way- for what I imagined would be a short stint in Los Angeles. Almost 20 years later, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. But I do still love a long road trip.

I work at Disney as a marketing executive and have a passion for storytelling and connecting with people. I love what I do and the stability and creative outlet it affords me.

In 2012, I completed an MBA program at USC and in addition to what I learned I made a network of friends from a vast array of backgrounds that I treasure. I love singing in the car, snuggling on the couch with some popcorn and a great movie, and taking long walks in a new place. Also cheese. I can’t wait to bring our child into our world full of exploring, fun, learning and laughter.

I grew up in Leavenworth, Washington, a small town two hours east of Seattle in the Cascade Mountain range. Because of its beautiful mountain setting, the town adopted a Bavarian theme in the 1960s (polka music, lederhosen, pretzels) and now attracts visitors from all over the world.

It was a great place to grow up, and I appreciate it even more as an adult bringing Erin back to visit, especially at Christmas time. I look forward to introducing our child to the snow, and making memories with their cousins who live there.

I attended college in Seattle (another favorite place to visit) and earned a degree in journalism before moving to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment industry. I’ve worked as an actor, a writer, a photo editor, and I’ve even made a (very) little bit of money performing standup comedy. Today, I’m a freelance publicity consultant, working from home with a flexible schedule that I can build around our child.

We live in the greater Los Angeles area in a neighborhood that is close to all the benefits of the city, while feeling small, warm and connected. Our home is on a quiet street with lots of trees. Many of our neighbors own horses, which gives the neighborhood a uniquely rural feel. It’s not uncommon to see our neighbors out for a ride when we go for a walk to the park, or down the street to our favorite breakfast spot.

We live in a home with history and love nothing more than cooking a big meal and gathering our family and friends together to eat, laugh and maybe get a little competitive with a board game.

Beyond our neighborhood, we enjoy trips to the beach, hiking, concerts, Disneyland, and everything else Southern California has to offer.

When we’re not having adventures, we enjoy a low-key evening at home on the couch, making dinner and watching a movie or catching up on our favorite shows. We look forward to the day when our kid can school us at Jeopardy.

We love games – board games and video games. We were both raised on Nintendo and Trivia Pursuit. We’re big fans of Scrabble, Clue and Mario Kart. Mario, Ms. Pac-Man, and Colonel Mustard are some of our oldest friends. We also love puzzles and designating a puzzle table for the whole family to work on in between other activities.

As music lovers & former theater kids, karaoke is a favorite pastime. We enjoy belting out the classics with family and friends in our living room well into the night. Erin’s go-to song is Meatloaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love”; Benj’s is Queen & David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.”

We both come from large extended families on opposite coasts: Erin’s in Connecticut, Benj’s in Washington State. We try to visit each at least twice a year for Christmas, family reunions, graduations, weddings, or just to be together. We have four nieces and two nephews who are a huge part of our lives despite living in other states. Whether building Lego, playing games, baking together, or watching musical performances, we love being connected to them as they grow. In addition to large family trips, we’ve been fortunate to enjoy solo visits from the older kids and cater a weekend to their individual interests, including trips to Disneyland, Roscoe’s Chicken’n’Waffles and the Haunted Hayride.

We’re also so lucky to have our chosen family of friends here in Los Angeles, some of the kindest, most generous people around, who have been with us through good times and bad. After an unexpected death in the family forced us to leave home for a week in the early days of Covid, they stepped up to watch our home and our dog, sent food and flowers to the house, and resupplied our refrigerator so we’d have groceries when we got home.

Many of our friends have recently started families, and so there’s no shortage of small children in our social circle. We regularly attend backyard birthday parties, BBQs and trips to the park with our friends and their kids. We have an annual tradition of renting a house as a group in a destination like Palm Springs, Joshua Tree or Lake Arrowhead.

Erin rescued Ernie 8 years ago, and he has been her loyal companion ever since. Two years ago, a friend alerted us to another pug who needed a home, and soon we’d added George to our family. They are both bottomless wells of affection, and immediately bond with every kid they meet (and not just because they tend to drop more food on the ground than adults.) Our two youngest nieces have a very strong affinity for our dogs.

Our relationship will be based on love, respect, and communication. We believe children need to be treated as people who have agency and whose thoughts and feelings are heard and valued. We prioritize learning and understanding over blind obedience and want to raise our children to be curious and kind. To be given choices to build their autonomy and to have the freedom to grow while being supported no matter what.

We can’t wait to make lasting memories. And start traditions both big (annual vacations) and small (Sunday morning pancakes). We see our role as parents to provide guidance and support for our child to grow into the best version of the person they’re meant to be. While a child may or may not embrace our interests, we’re really more interested in getting to know them for who they are. With six nieces and nephews, we’ve seen just how unique every kid is and how much they change from year to year or even week to week. We’re prepared for a kid who surprises us and keeps us on our toes. And we’re excited to learn from them too. Our goal is to love and support them unconditionally.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us. We have so much love to share with our future child and can’t wait to fill our home with love, laughter and unending support. We hope our profile helps you learn more about who we are and why we may be the right family for your child. Thank you for considering us.