Joanna started college one year before Matthew. However, because Joanna spent one semester of college working as an intern, we ended up taking a lot of the same classes as upperclassmen. Although we saw each other a lot in our classes, we did not meet each other until we were volunteering at our school’s Engineering Open House event. After Joanna watched Matthew and his friend repeatedly fail at an electromagnetic ring toss game, she attempted to quietly give it a try herself after they had walked away.

To their surprise, Matthew and his friend got a laugh as they caught her making it on her first try. This helped break the ice and led to additional conversations about our shared passion for watching and playing sports. Eventually, we also discovered that our upcoming summer internships were at the same company. Over the rest of the semester (and definitely during the internship where we sat next to each other every day), our friendship grew leaps and bounds. Shortly after we returned to school in the fall, we started dating.

Joanna About Matthew

Matthew is somehow able to balance an immense amount of humor, seriousness, patience, focus, and energy into all parts of life. He is always ready to share in some jokes and silliness. He can also be trusted to be careful, detailed, and thorough when it comes to making important decisions. It is an absolute marvel to watch his seemingly unlimited enthusiasm when playing for hours with the children in our lives. Matthew puts that same level of dedication into his responsibilities and the things that mean the most to him. It is easy to love his ability to make me laugh, admire his high energy, and respect his strong work ethic.

Matthew About Joanna

Above all, Joanna is a kind person who enjoys being silly and funny. She is trustworthy/reliable and we like to think this is why our nieces/nephews designate her as “home base” whenever a game of tag commences. Joanna has a passion for planning and organization. By getting the details out of the way early, we can always relax and enjoy each other’s company when it comes to having fun. She inspires myself and others to learn new things (especially when it comes to cooking and trying new meals). Joanna’s willingness to try different experiences, such as race events, ski trails, etc., is also a great quality of hers.

We learned that Joanna is a carrier of Hemophilia A, a genetic bleeding disorder, while we were dating. Throughout our engagement and in the following years, we discussed how we were both able to envision adoption as a possibility in our future together. We carefully considered our options and ultimately decided that adoption was the right path forward for us. Both the potential risks for Joanna with a pregnancy and the health of a possible biological child played a part in this decision.

Also, Joanna’s extended family has some experience with adoption, and we both experienced upbringings where our grandparents played a larger than typical role in our lives (although by no means do we consider or understand this to be the same as adoption). When viewed all together, these factors led us to this incredible journey. We would be so grateful to become a part of something as full of love and care as adoption.

We both have several family members and friends nearby. We see them to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and sometimes just a free night or weekend. They are so excited to welcome a child into our lives.

Joanna has three older sisters. Two of them live in the surrounding area with their families, and the third lives in a neighboring state with her family. In addition, both of Joanna’s parents live nearby. It has been such a joy watching her nieces and nephews grow up over the years. We love playing our roles of Aunt Joanna and Uncle Matt. Thanksgiving is spent with Joanna’s extended family, and we have a special Christmas celebration with Joanna’s immediate family earlier in December. Sometimes we’ll also have a large cousins gathering at another time of the year.

Matt has two siblings. His younger sister lives in New York and his younger brother lives in the surrounding area with his wife. In addition, Matt’s dad lives nearby in a neighboring state. Every 4th of July is spent at Matt’s dad’s lake house. We also usually celebrate a late Thanksgiving together later that holiday weekend and spend Christmas together. We look forward every year to a ski/snowboard trip in Vail with several of Matt’s extended family members. Some of Matt’s extended family also live nearby, so we see them on occasion as well.

In addition to seeing our friends and their families throughout the year, we sometimes go on another ski/snowboard trip with them.

We live in the Chicago suburbs in a single-family home with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a large, open backyard. Much of our leisure time is spent downstairs where there is a lot of natural light that we love.

In our neighborhood, you can often see people of all ages enjoying the playgrounds, sports fields, picnic area, and lake with a path over a mile long. Also within walking distance is an elementary school, a small water park, and a forest preserve with another lake and more paths. We appreciate that we have easy access to both natural areas and urban amenities.

The town library has a wonderful children’s area and a calendar full of events. Some examples for young children include story times, yoga, crafts, dance/music sessions, and learning experiences. There are also offerings for older children/teens.

Our town also holds many seasonal activities, like a summer concert series, a movie in the park, a 4th of July parade, a Fall Fest, and a Holiday Tree Lighting. Our favorite is the 4th of July festival, which is a short bike ride away. At this festival, we get to enjoy deep dish pizza and watch the fireworks. We both grew up playing a lot of sports, so another aspect of our town that we appreciate is the numerous opportunities for children to try different sports and hobbies.

As you think about making an adoption plan for this child, we would like to express our deep gratitude to you for considering us for the immense task of parenting this child. We completely understand and respect that it is your decision and your decision alone to do what you feel is best for this child. Whatever the outcome, we admire your courage and selflessness in keeping this child’s wellbeing the highest priority. If we are lucky enough to parent this child, we will always try to do the same for them by loving and caring for them to our fullest capacity.

We started our journey together back in 2011 and have been married since 2019. It comes with ease to say that we are truly best friends and a great team. We both feel that we have so much life and love that we want to share with a child. Parenting is by no means a simple task, but we are more than willing and ready to start the adventure. Given the amount of careful thought we have put into this decision and everything we have learned throughout our journey, we believe that we could provide a safe, secure, understanding, and loving home for this child.

Since it is possible for both of us to work remotely, we often spend our time together at home. This makes it easier to enjoy home-cooked meals, stay active, follow our favorite teams, and watch fun shows/movies together. Some of our favorite weekend activities include spending time with friends/family, skiing/snowboarding, and enjoying the occasional road trip. We love spending time together and hope that someday we can include a child into all of these activities as well. Sports, books, special outings, and holiday celebrations are some of the top highlights that we look forward to sharing.

From the very beginning, we would share the child’s story with them. We plan to provide them with information about both adoption in general and their specific adoption journey at progressing levels according to their age and level of maturity. We intend to take cues from them as it relates to raising or lowering the amount of discussion as time goes on.

We plan to send you regular letters and pictures (if that is what you would wish) so you could know about their milestones and watch them grow throughout their childhood. If you would like to meet us in person before the child is born, we are willing to travel to you. We would plan to be present for the birth of the child and would respect your desired level of interaction during this period. If you prefer, we are also open to arranging a visit with you and the child in their early years as well.

If we are ever so fortunate to become parents, the child would be the very highest priority in our lives. We would strive to instill the values of kindness, respect, and hard work in them, while also showing them a world of fun, wonder, and humor. There will always be new foods to try, stories to discover, activities to do, and places to go that we look forward to sharing with them. We are also eager to see the world anew through their eyes. In general, we wish to give them every chance to pursue their interests, succeed, and enjoy life to the fullest.

Thank you so much again for considering us to parent this child. We offer our utmost support in whatever you choose to do, knowing that you have the child’s best interest at heart.

Sincerely,

Matthew & Joanna