Matt has experienced firsthand the joy adoption can bring to a family. He has one biological sibling, Molly, and two adopted siblings, Megan and Mitchell. When Matt and Molly were young, their parents started pursing an international adoption to see what God might have planned for their family. Matt remembers the preparation, excitement, and anticipation for his siblings’ arrival! In the summer of 2001, his parents traveled to Ukraine and adopted two young children from an orphanage. Since Matt and Molly were older, the adoption of older children put everyone closer in age.

After a long trip back to the States, Matt and Molly were finally able to meet their new siblings! Megan and Mitchell didn’t speak any English, and their first days in America happened to be during the county fair – complete with carnival rides, ice cream, and staying up late. He also remembers their first Christmas together and how much fun it was to watch Megan and Mitchell experience it all for the first time. Even though the road wasn’t always smooth, they knew it was all part of God’s plan to complete their family. Megan and Mitchell aren’t his “adopted siblings”, they are his sister and brother; the true siblings he was always meant to have.

Matt About Sarah:

Sarah has a great capacity to love unconditionally. She has a deep, abiding, sacrificial love for me, and for our future children. Sarah has shown strength in adversity on the journey to start our family. When the days get tough, she rises with deeper faith and even more determination. Sarah is fluent in showing love to close family and friends in ways that are meaningful to them. Sarah will be a fantastic stay-at-home mom with our children, as she’s dreamed of raising a family since she was a young girl. Sarah already demonstrates this ability in the ways she loves and bonds with our nieces and nephews. I can’t wait to see Sarah helping our children grow up to be exceptional people!

Sarah About Matt:

Matt is truly the kindest person I have ever met! He is my best friend and I love being able to share my life with him. He is my rock and my beacon of light in the dark days of life. I truly admire Matt’s level of patience, deep love of me, and his respect for all human lives. He is a man of profound faith who is always quick to help anyone in need and aspires for everyone to feel special. He has so much love and wisdom to share with our children. He will teach our sons and daughters what it means to be kind, loving, Christians. I am so excited for Matt to be a Dad!

Having grown up in large, Catholic families, we both have many traditions! Our most cherished tradition is eating meals together as a family. We value the time together to discuss the day around the table. Holidays, especially Christmas, are a focal point of the year. At Christmas, we deck our house out in holiday attire and make a variety of Christmas cookies and candies for our neighbors and family. We spend Christmas Eve with Sarah’s family and go to the Children’s Mass, where our nieces and nephews have parts in the re-enactment of the nativity. Christmas Day is spent with Matt’s family enjoying traditional family recipes, puzzles, and games.

For the 4th of July, we go visit Sarah’s family and enjoy a variety of activities including: the parade, activities in the park, yard games, and the fireworks display at dusk. Each summer we invite family to our house and go to the drive-in movie theater. We buy snacks and treats for all the nieces and nephews, and then everyone camps out at our house. The next day we all go to our neighborhood pool where the kids enjoy playing with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents in the water.

Our guiding principles in life are faith, family, and friends. We both grew up in large Catholic families including lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Some of our fondest memories are playing with our cousins at grandma’s house, and we hope to provide that same experience for our children. Both of our parents have four children: two boys, two girls. Matt is the oldest and Sarah is the second oldest.

Our dads are both farmers and we were both raised to work hard and understand the value of a day’s work. Since Matt was little, his mom has worked as a part-time nurse so she could stay home and be with the kids the rest of the time. Sarah’s mom was a stay-at-home mom until the kids went to school, and then she began working as an administrative assistant at the elementary school. We have nine nieces and nephews that are all close in age, so there is always something fun and exciting going on. Sarah’s sister lives close by and the rest of our family lives a few short hours away.

Our families get together often for birthdays, for holidays, to spend time together, and to allow the cousins to play. Both sides of the family are thrilled about us adopting, as they know how deeply we are ready to share our love with our children. Everyone is excited to meet our new bundle of joy and welcome this blessing into the family!

Our home is located in a large cul-de-sac that is quiet and has very little traffic, even though we live in a suburb of a large city in Missouri. Our home is a beautiful raised ranch with four bedrooms. Our favorite room is our living room with cathedral ceilings, fireplace, and large mantle. This room is especially our favorite at Christmas, when we put up our nine-foot tree and lots of decorations.

We are within walking distance of our neighborhood’s park, tennis courts, and swimming pool. There are many children in the neighborhood who are constantly playing outside, as well as friendly neighbors who are always quick to lend a helping hand. Our neighborhood is close to modern schools that have many academic and extracurricular activities. We are also a half mile away from our church, which has many children’s programs that will help our children grow their Catholic faith. Being near a metropolitan city, we have access to zoos, museums, shows, sporting events, theme parks, and children-focused activities. We can’t wait to share these experiences and our home with our children!

Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and get to know us better. Family has always been and always will be one of our highest priorities. We have always dreamed of having a large family and can’t wait to expand our family through adoption! We recognize that you have a difficult decision to make. Please know we are praying for you during this time.

Since our Catholic faith was important to us as individuals, we sought to find a spouse with similar faith and views on a Catholic dating website. We met in 2010 after realizing we had a lot in common, and there was an immediate connection. After our first date, we were inseparable and were married 10 months later. We began trying to start our family shortly after getting married and quickly found that this journey to become parents was not going to be easy for us. We discussed adoption early in our relationship, as Matt’s family was blessed by adoption with the addition of his brother and sister. As the years of struggling with our infertility went by, we became more excited about adoption as a manner to expand our family.

Matt is a consultant at a healthcare software company. He enjoys helping improve the quality of healthcare by customizing software to help the doctors, nurses, and staff better serve the patients they treat. Sarah is currently an internal auditor at a mid-sized regional bank. Though this has been fulfilling work, Sarah is very excited for her next job of becoming a stay-at-home mom! This has been a lifelong dream of Sarah’s to be able to stay at home and teach our children during their formative years, as her mom did with her.

After our faith, we feel our highest calling in life is to parenthood. At the end of the day, raising children to be kind, loving, Christians is a legacy we want to leave behind. Parents have the opportunity to impart morals, values, and wisdom on children so they can become the best versions of themselves. We will provide our children with a loving home filled with laughter, faith in God, respect for others, hard work, and opportunities to explore the world. Education and a love for learning is also important to us, so we will encourage our children to pursue higher education and a field of study they are passionate about. We have seen the joys and challenges that parenthood brings and we are excited to embark on this journey.

You will always be the hero who started our family, and you will be discussed lovingly and with much respect. Our child will know how much you love them and how much thought you put into choosing adoption. We plan to read them age-appropriate books about adoption and discuss it with them often. We are open to sharing pictures and updates with you via phone, email, or letters, to the level you desire. We are also receptive to making arrangements for a visit when the time is right.

Whether you decide to parent your own child or choose another family besides us, you are giving them life - a tremendous gift only you as birth parents can give. The decision to place your child for adoption is a selfless act of love. Know that we hold your decision in high esteem and will forever be grateful to you for allowing us to raise your child as our own. Early in our adoption journey, we began praying for you, long before we knew you. We continue to pray for you daily as you discern your child’s future.

Sincerely,

Matt & Sarah