We’re Hannah and Richard from Alexandria, Virginia. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our profile. We can’t imagine how difficult and personal this decision must be, and we want you to know that we respect and honor whatever choice you feel is right for your child. We hope you feel supported and understood as you navigate this journey. Your love for your child is clear, and we admire the care and thought you are putting into this decision. Sending you all our love.

We can’t wait to become parents! While having a biological child is challenging for us, and although it’s not impossible, IVF no longer feels like the right path. Adoption feels like the way our family is meant to grow, and we are excited for the journey! We’ve been lucky to have several incredible people in our lives who were adopted, including Hannah’s grandmother and aunt, as well as close friends. We can’t imagine life without them. They have brought so much love and joy into our lives, and it’s all possible because of adoption.

We met by chance, twice, before finally connecting over dinner. On our second date, Richard cheered Hannah on during a half marathon—but did not realize this would require a 4 AM wake-up and a morning spent hungry because he’d skipped breakfast! Even then, we found ourselves imagining the future and the adventures our children might have. By our fourth date, the Covid lockdown had begun. What we thought would be a two-week quarantine together turned into a year. By the end, we were engaged, officially living together, and planning a winter wedding. People say, “When you know, you know”—and for us, that was certainly true. We are not perfect; we have had our ups and downs especially trying to start a family, but we would not want to live life with anyone else.

Almost every trip we take starts with Hannah cutting it close at the airport, sprinting to the gate like a scene out of Home Alone, which she insists makes travel more exciting. We love exploring new places whenever we can: every year we spend a week at the beach, and we take a few extended weekends visiting family and friends across the country. For our five-year anniversary, we’re heading back to where we honeymooned, and Hannah is especially excited to run a half marathon in California this spring.

On a recent trip to Rome, we checked off some of Richard’s bucket-list historical sites. We visited the Vatican, where Hannah shocked Richard by saying the Sistine Chapel wasn’t that impressive, the Colosseum, and famous spots like the Trevi Fountain. Richard was in pure heaven, completely in his element, while Hannah, who’s not a huge history fan, was enchanted by a street performer playing trumpet and keyboard at the same time on a bridge as the sun set. Then we indulged in what Hannah calls the perfect night: eating loads of pasta. It felt like a scene out of a movie and perfectly shows how we compromise, enjoy traveling together, and make the most of every adventure. We’re excited to show our kids the places we love and discover new ones together!

I grew up the oldest of three girls and have never lost my “take charge” attitude. My mom still jokes that she had to buy a parenting book called The Strong-Willed Child when I was a baby! That drive shows up in my career, where I lead an organization of over 300 people, and at home, where I usually take point on planning our weekends, vacations, and family gatherings.

Losing my dad in high school shaped me in ways I didn’t understand at the time. It taught me that life is short and that everyday moments matter just as much as big milestones. It also took time to work through that loss, and it wasn’t until my early twenties, when I found running, that I really began to heal. Training for and running marathons helped me believe I could endure hard things, feel joy again, and still love and remember my dad. Music is another big part of my life. There’s rarely a quiet moment from morning to night, sometimes to Richard’s mild annoyance! I sing along to my favorite songs even when I only know half the lyrics and still take piano lessons now.

Someone once described Hannah as “a force of nature,” and while true, she is also the light and joy in my life. Constantly in motion, she approaches each day with enthusiasm and relishes even mundane tasks, such as walking our dog, Bailey. Her positive energy and outgoing personality first attracted me, and six years later, she remains that same person. Her desire for activity has produced many spontaneous adventures, including the purchase of our home, and I simply cannot imagine my life without her. Hannah, or as I call her, "Lovey," has taught me two important lessons: (1) take risks and (2) enjoy life. Our home is always warmer and more welcoming when she is there, and we hope to share this positivity with a child.

I’m also the oldest of three, and growing up with two younger sisters taught me early on that sometimes it’s best to just go with the flow. I’ve always loved learning, especially about history, so I read whenever I can. My interest in history is what brought me to Washington, D.C., where I started my first job working in government. When Hannah was in grad school, I read 25,000 pages while she was in class at night—though I never got a diploma for all that reading!

I’ve always been highly competitive—I swam through college and loved being part of a team, though I don’t miss the cold water. Nowadays, I enjoy lifting weights and have turned a small corner of our basement into my “man cave,” where Bailey sometimes keeps me company. I’m very routine-oriented and love simple pleasures, like relaxing on our screened-in porch with Hannah and Bailey after dinner and watching baseball or football games.

When I walked up to Richard for our first date, he smiled at me, and I felt like I’d known him my whole life. He’s calm, steady, and the kind of person who cares for others without even thinking about it. He’s usually up for most of my ideas as long as he’s had breakfast first, a lesson he learned on our second date! He’s a natural connector and always makes an effort to develop relationships, which means the world to me. He has built strong bonds with my mom, sisters, and their husbands. Family is important to both of us, and his efforts make all the difference in keeping us close. He’s disciplined, too—he even keeps me on a bedtime schedule when I want to stay up binging a TV show. He will make an incredible dad because he’s smart, kind, patient, and the voice of reason when times are hard.

We live in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., and love it here. There’s always something to do—especially when friends and family come to visit—with tons of parks, great restaurants, museums, and concerts. It’s also easy to escape for a quick trip to fun cities like New York, Boston, or Philadelphia, or head to the mountains in Shenandoah or the beach, all within a short drive. We fell in love with our house not because it had the four bedrooms and three bathrooms we were looking for, but because we could picture kids racing around the backyard and playing on a slip and slide with friends. We weren’t even planning on buying when we saw it, but made an offer that very night.

After moving in, we realized we truly lucked out—our neighborhood is incredibly close-knit, with a great mix of young families and recent empty nesters. Neighbors gather for Sunday night roasts, fall pumpkin carving, and crab picks, and every year we host a backyard barbecue for the block. The kids all agreed this last one was the best yet, mostly because we let them pop every balloon from the balloon arch!

Bailey is our eight-year-old Irish Setter who keeps us on our toes. Every Christmas we send a letter to friends and family written from his perspective, sharing updates on his recent adventures. This year’s highlights include eating an entire crab on our beach trip (don't worry - he was completely fine), perfecting his favorite pastime of supervising neighbors walking by from the porch, and continuing his never-ending quest to steal food from the kitchen. He is very popular with the neighborhood kids, some mistake him for a "pony" that goes “nay-nay"!

We have so much fun with our families. A few years ago, Hannah’s family rented a lake house to celebrate Richard’s “half birthday” since it falls on Christmas. We spent the week water skiing, riding bikes through the neighborhood, and had a Sandlot-themed birthday dinner for Richard. Now with two young nieces, family time has gotten even louder and more fun! Our baby niece, who is 18 months old, already loves to FaceTime us just to see Bailey, or “Dog Dog,” and when we visit Hannah’s family in person, she has dibs on the nieces the whole time.

Richard’s parents live near the beach in a neighborhood with pools, tennis courts, and a golf course, plus a 24/7 snack shop that will be very dangerous for future grandkids. Richard’s sisters are in New York City, just a couple hours away by train. We switch off holidays each year—Thanksgiving with one side and Christmas with the other—and usually both families come to see us at least once during the year. We also head home for special celebrations like surprise birthday parties and, last year, Hannah's grandparents’ 70th wedding anniversary (yes, that is not a typo!). We love that our kids will grow up surrounded by this kind of fun, love, and family traditions.

Hannah is very close with her grandmother, who was adopted. As a baby, she was adopted from a hospital, likely because her birth mother wanted to be sure she would be placed into caring hands and deeply loved. We often think her birth mother would be so proud to see the incredible woman she grew to be. At almost ninety, she still texts and calls from her “wrist watch,” and she is the happiest woman we know and the light of our family! She is so meaningful to us that Hannah’s sister even named her daughter after her.

Above all, we want our child to grow up to be kind, thoughtful, and confident in themselves. We hope to help them enjoy learning, try new things, and always do their best without feeling pressured to follow a particular path. We want them to have plenty of time to play, explore, and discover what they love - whether it’s sports, music, or art. We’ll give them the chance to try different activities and support whatever interests they decide to pursue. We attend church regularly and value the traditions, community, and lessons it teaches.

There are lots of schools in our neighborhood—large and small, public and private—and we will focus on finding the right fit for our child so they enjoy learning. More than anything, we want our home to be a safe, calm place where our child can feel happy, loved, and free to just be a kid. We can’t wait to cheer them on, support them in whatever they choose, and watch the life they build for themselves.

We are deeply grateful for our life as it is today, but we long to be parents and to raise a child. One day, our future child will want to know their story, and we want to be able to share it fully and honestly. The most meaningful explanation we have heard is, “God would not let us have a baby so that we could find you.” After years of pursuing fertility treatments without success, we have come to believe that our path to growing our family is through adoption. The rest of this story—one we will always share—begins with their amazing birth mother, an incredible woman who loved them deeply and made a thoughtful, courageous decision for their future.

We hope you will consider trusting us to love your child with our whole hearts, to teach them right from wrong, and to support them as they follow their dreams. We would be honored to
meet you and learn more about your hopes and dreams for your child.