We understand that going into an open adoption can look very different for all birth parent(s) and adoptive parents. Knowing this, our hopes for an open adoption is that we have an open relationship with the birth parent(s), almost like extended family. We think that with a strong foundation, we can all build a level of comfort and trust with everyone involved in this adoption. We can speak about boundaries, future meet ups, and everything in between. Our hope is that your baby will grow up knowing they are loved by us and you!

We also understand that there may be ebbs and flows, depending on different situations and we will respect your need for space, if needed!

As for updates, Grace loves taking photos and videos of the big and small moments! We will happily send updates to our birth parent(s) and provide them with pictures and milestones of their baby!

As an interracial couple, we have integrated Grace’s Korean-American culture into not only our lives, but also Kenton’s family’s lives! It was almost seamless. Since the beginning of our relationship, Kenton and his family did not hesitate to ask questions about my culture and experience it through our traditions and of course, food! Let’s not forget Kenton’s cultural background either! His family is from the United Kingdom, and boy, have we immersed that into our daily lives as well! Grace was not a huge futbol (soccer) fan before marrying Kenton, but she has taken in some of the culture with food, and most importantly, Manchester United (soccer team)!

Grace and her family really appreciated Kenton’s family’s openness to learn about their culture and if we are fortunate to also adopt a baby from a different culture, we would be sure learn about that culture by food, travel and traditions, just as Kenton’s family did for Grace’s family!

When we think of the education we want to help provide our child with, we think sparking curiosity at a young age is important! We believe fostering a relationship between a child and the unknown brings about questions and desires to figure out how things work! Taking things apart and putting it back together to show how and why things work the way they do can spark that curiosity. Grace believes that's why Kenton has built his computer's PC from scratch. Through curiosity! We also think education should be hands-on. Trying and failing until that light bulb moment hits and some little bit of understanding or connection is made. We are so lucky Washington DC is only a train ride away. There are so many museums that cultivate that kind of hands-on education! Kenton's love for reading books started at a young age and much of his curious nature comes from that love. Reading sparked his imagination about going to space and flying in airplanes to travel to new places. Explains why he joined the Air Force! While school is very important and will teach our child a wide range of subjects, we believe that sharing experiences, culture and curiosity would enhance their education to go beyond textbooks and homework assignments!

Our family has been our rock throughout our infertility struggles and they are all overjoyed as we start our adoption journey!

Culturally, our two families are different, but we hilariously have the same story, just with different fonts! Here's what we mean.

We both grew up as middle children! Kenton grew up one of three boys and Grace grew up one of three girls! Our older siblings both ended up in Texas with their families (we have two nephews and three nieces) and our younger siblings are a short car ride away from us in Maryland and both are cat parents to two cats! What are the odds?!

Both sets of grandparents are very excited to love on another grandchild! Grace's parents live nearby in Maryland and Kenton's parents live a short plane ride away in St. Petersburg Florida!

We have blended our families into each others traditions so seamlessly! Some of those traditions include birthday celebrations where we all go out to dinner as a family. A traditional Korean New Year Day, where we all go to Grace's parent's house to enjoy family time and a big bowl of rice cake soup. Thanksgiving is our Superbowl, where we host both of our families to good food and many many board games.

We truly are so blessed to have so much love and support from our families!

We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood, just outside of a growing lively community in Maryland with so much to do!

Our spacious townhouse is 2400 sq/ft with three floors, three bedrooms, two full baths and two half baths. Our favorite room of the house has to be our living room/kitchen area. It's a large open concept, but cozy! We can bake while watching tv or we can relax on our oversized couch and read a book. On the same floor, we have our spacious deck where we can sit outside to enjoy the weather and a good meal! It is also where Kenton's Traeger is, and he loves barbecuing any time of the year!

Our neighborhood has a lot of young couples who have babies/kids that your child could grow up with. We do have a community pool that is right behind our town house that we could walk to during the summer days. Just up the hill we have a small park where the neighborhood kids play. There are so many different parks and kid friendly recreational areas around us to enjoy! During the holidays, our street is festively decorated!

We want to start this letter off by saying thank you. Thank you for considering adoption. Thank you for considering us to become parents. Thank you for considering us to raise your child.

When we started dating in 2017 and got married in 2020 - unknowingly, at the very start of the worldwide pandemic (!!!) - we didn’t know what to expect, but we were so excited to grow as a couple and as a family! We have had the privilege of being around a lot of our family and friend’s kids as they have grown up and it is what has shaped the kind of parents we want to be.

We worked hard to create a family that exists based on unconditional love, believing in each other and seeing the best in all situations. Currently, our family is us and our little furball pup. We have truly seen the best in each other and grew so much as a couple as we battled infertility. After five years of many doctors appointments, IVF, health complications and two miscarriages, we knew in our hearts that mentally and physically we had to shift our plans to grow a family. While going through IVF, we always knew adoption could be our path to growing our family, so after giving ourselves time to grieve and to be at peace with one door closing, we started our research into adoption. We were able to speak with family and friends who have adopted or had been adopted, which gave us so much more perspective into how life changing and beautiful adoption is!

We have seen and learned so much leading up to this point. We understand how important open communication is for EVERYONE involved in the adoption process. We would love to establish a relationship with you, based on your comfortability of course. Grace loves capturing moments through pictures and videos! We would absolutely love to share those pictures with you through our letters and updates we send! We would also be open to more contact in the future, which again, would depend on everyone’s comfort levels, including yours!

Becoming parents has always been a dream of ours. We have gone through so much these last five years and we are still so hopeful that we will be parents in the near future. We want to be parents that show up to recitals or ball games while being their biggest cheerleaders and spend countless hours at the kitchen table explaining how multiplication works. We want to share our favorite stories and help them experience the world firsthand. The weight of this responsibility is extremely important to us and our extended family. Your child would end up surrounded by people that care about them from our cobbled together family. Kenton’s time in the Air Force has brought him to wonderful people from every corner of the world and each walk of life and Grace’s tight knit village has created such a caring community. We have learned from them that the more we experience, the more we write our own story and we want to provide the pen and paper your child can write their story with.

We can’t wait to experience life with a child. We will do our best to give them experiences we had growing up, while also providing them with new adventures and opportunities! We will pour our hearts into raising them in a safe and loving home.

Lastly, we want to say that our child will grow up knowing their origin story of being adopted. We will do our best to answer any and all of their questions as they grow up. They will grow up knowing they are a blessing in our lives, and they will also know that YOU are also a big blessing in our lives! Thank you for considering us to become parents.

Kenton & Grace