We work to live rather than live to work. We moved from Chicago to Saint Louis to be closer to family and to make it easier to engage in outdoor activities. We love being outside as much as possible. We go on walks around the park near our home with our puppies almost every night. We live near different bike trails and want to explore the city on two wheels once Becky purchases a new bike later this year. We would like to visit every National Park in the United States and have visited at least one park every year since we married. In the Spring of 2023, we spent several days hiking and camping with friends at the Redwoods in Northern California. We would love to go on road trips with our future child and explore different parts of the country together.

We also love sports and enjoy supporting the professional baseball, hockey, and soccer teams in Saint Louis (especially baseball). If the Cardinals are playing, we are either watching it on our television or in person at Busch Stadium! Tristan is interested in learning how to play hockey and attends ice skating classes. We both grew up swimming competitively and want to join our local YMCA so we can teach our future child how to swim and love the water as much as we do!

We each took intensive classes on cultural diversity during our graduate school programs. These classes required us to learn about many different cultures and to address any of our own conscious and unconscious biases. Since graduating, every one of our employers required us to take additional continuing education credits based on cultural diversity. We will continue to pursue other educational resources throughout this adoption process as we learn more about the mothers of our potential adoption matches. We are currently connected to several Facebook groups that provide support to families who are of a different race than their children. We live in a culturally diverse city and are open to maintaining a relationship with the birth mother. We will also attend a religious organization with a congregation that matches the racial identity of our child to build fellowship.

We live in a small neighborhood on the south side of Saint Louis in Missouri. Our home is close to a number of restaurants, museums, and sporting facilities.

We've formed strong relationships with many of our neighbors and check in with our next-door neighbors daily. Our community is very supportive of families. In fact, several generations of one family live on our block! If you were to drive down our street, you would likely see children running from one house to another, walking to get ice cream, and riding bikes to the park.

We live in a four-bedroom, two-bath, Gingerbread-style home. We have a beautiful, grassy backyard with a patio and frequently have outdoor movie nights, complete with a fire pit and an inflatable projection screen! We live within two blocks of a 180-acre park that hosts athletic fields, a playground, and tennis courts. There is a renovated YMCA on the other side of the park with an indoor and outdoor pool.

Holidays are an important part of the neighborhood culture. Our neighborhood hosts a large number of trick-or-treaters every Halloween, most houses decorate for Christmas, and you never have to leave your backyard to get a big fireworks show for the 4th of July.

We love our home and can't wait to for our child to enjoy everything our neighborhood has to offer!

Our extended family is large and full of love!

Becky's dad, Mike, lives 40 minutes away from us, and we do something fun with him at least once a week. We enjoy going to movies, plays, museums, and sporting events together.

Our neighbors, Jeff and Katelyn, live one block away from us, and we often cook, play board games, and watch Marvel movies together with their state-of-the-art entertainment center.

Our child's future godmother, Tricia, lives in Chicago, and she visits Saint Louis several times a year. Tricia loves exploring different restaurants and going for walks around the parks in our neighborhood.

Tristan's dad, Ed, and stepmother, Tricia, live in the D.C. area, and enjoy visits from us. They love grilling, watching movies, and trying new restaurants.

Every person in our extended family is looking forward to spending time with our child. All of us cannot wait to provide our child with love, support, and fun experiences!

We are so thankful that you have considered us to be potential parents to your baby. We have been married for four years and have a very loving and supportive partnership. We are both individual therapists and take pride in providing support to our clients while continually working on our own mental and physical health. We have wanted to have a child for many years and cannot wait to add another member to our family. We currently have two dogs and two cats who cannot wait to meet their new brother or sister!

During our first date, we went to a restaurant and sat next to a couple with several children. While we were waiting for our food, one of the couple's sons moved next to us and started talking about a complicated math problem. We were amazed as to how this young child was able to understand such a complex equation and started smiling at each other without saying a word. Months later, we talked about that experience, and realized we both came to the conclusion that we could see ourselves and each other as parents. From that moment on, we talked about how we wanted to have children and realized that adoption would be the best fit for our family.

We will provide an amazing life for your baby. Becky is a kind, compassionate, and patient woman. Tristan is a fun, protective, and generous man. We live in a beautiful home and in a safe neighborhood with a diverse and reputable school district. Tristan works from home and Becky works for herself which allows both of us a lot of flexibility. Becky's father, Mike, lives close to us and will be an important part of your baby's life. We know that being a parent is an enormous responsibility and we take this role very seriously. We have a large support network made up of neighbors, close friends, and family, who are all very excited to welcome this child into their lives.

We promise to send letters and photos of your baby to you regularly. We would love to develop a relationship with you, depending on your comfort level, so that you can continue to get to know your baby as he or she grows up. We are of course open to exchanging emails, talking on the phone, and arranging in-person visits. We want to create the largest community possible for your baby so they have all the love and support that they need to live a happy and fulfilling life.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are both very open people and are very excited about this adoption process. We can only image how difficult this decision must be for you and want to provide you with whatever support we can.

Wishing you all the best,

Tristan & Becky