Being a parent means the world to us! We cannot wait to adopt a child and start our family! Clare is planning to step down as a preschool teacher so she can be a stay-at-home mom to care for our child. We love kids! We love the idea of our lives being about something bigger than ourselves. We can't wait to teach them how to walk, ride a bike and give them every opportunity in the world!

Matt can't wait to coach them in sports and Clare can't wait to drive them to practice and cheer them on at every game, meet, show or competition! We will root them on and support them in whatever activity they want to join.

Matt is excited to help them with homework after school just like his mom did for him. Clare is excited to take them to Disney, as well as all over the world! Traveling has always been a big part of Clare's life and she can't wait to show them the many wonders of the world!

Together we are excited for the everyday life of having a child. Eating dinner together, talking about our days, watching them grow and helping them learn along the way! We can't wait to help them become whoever they want to be!

In our leisure time we love to spend time together and with our family and friends.

Matt is in a basketball league in the spring and a bowling league in the summer. He like to cycle after work to get some exercise.

Clare likes to do Pilates, and kickboxing classes roughly 5 days a week. She is in a book club and her favorite thing to do is to try new recipes! Clare loves to go to flea markets with her mom and sister!

Matt loves to watch all sports. He can't wait to bring our child to their first Cub's game and Bears game! Clare likes the fun of going to game but isn't a fan of watching sports.

We like to play pickleball together, board games and go to the movie theater!

We are extremely close with our family and friends. We see our family almost every week for a dinner or a family party. We really value our friendships - our friends have become more like family over the years.

We typically take two big vacations a year, last year we went to Belgium and Ireland in the summer and Hawaii in the spring. We also love to do small weekend trips to new places! The time we spend on vacation is some of the best! It's great to be able to spend a week or even a couple days seeing something totally new, trying new things and getting to just spend so much time with each other!

We have both always wanted to adopt. We initially thought that we would have two biological children and then adopt two children, but life had other plans for us.

We have been trying to have a baby since 2020 when we got married. Unfortunately, we were diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility, which basically means although we are young, healthy and showed no signs of any issues, we cannot conceive a child. We soon realized adoption is how we were meant to start our family.

Clare has wanted to adopt a child since volunteering in an orphanage in Costa Rica when she was 16. She spent a month volunteering there, supporting with childcare for the most amazing kids and fixing things around the facility. She loved these children and was heartbroken when she left, she knew right then that she wanted to adopt!

Matt can't remember exactly when he knew he wanted to adopt, because it's just something he's always wanted to do. His grandfather was orphaned when he was 10 years old. Him and his siblings were put in the foster system and remained there until he turned 18 and had to face the world by himself. His grandfather always talked about dreaming of being adopted but unfortunately never was. This inspired Matt's desire to adopt.

We live in Illinois in a major big city. We currently live in a large two bedroom apartment in a city overlooking a large lake. We have floor to ceiling windows in all the rooms that give the very best view of the sunrise over the water. The view of the lake and city is our favorite part of our home.

Our community is full of life, culture and excitement. We live across the street from a large park, the local zoo and a children's museum. There are tons of restaurants, cultural centers, and a very diverse population.

We have a farmers market right across the street that runs every Saturday and Wednesday in the summer, offering a wide arrangement of fresh produce, herbs, baked goods and more! They sell the best cinnamon rolls there!

Our building has a pool, rooftop grill and patio as well as a gym. There are amazing schools in the area as well that are walkable to our home!

We do plan to move to the suburbs soon to gain more space and a backyard. We both grew up in the same suburb and know the area very well. We are excited to move there as we will be closer to family. The suburbs we are looking at have great public schools, large parks, pools, and great park districts that have plenty of activities and sports to be involved in. We had such great childhoods and know this area has so much to offer.

Both of our parents still live in the suburb we grew up in, they are about a 15 minute drive to each other and only a 30 minute drive to us. We see both sets of parents all the time! They can't wait to be grandparents and for us to move back to the suburbs by them! They are very supportive of us adopting. Clare's sister lives only a block away from us, we do dinners, game nights and trips with her all the time! Matt's brother lives in Michigan with his wife and they are expecting their first child in September.

We love to have nights out and in with our friends. We alternate hosting and do cooking nights, where we'll cook pizza, tacos or pasta or have a game night in. Our friends are looking to start families now as well and couldn't be more excited for us to adopt!

Our family loves any excuse to get together to cook and eat good food. We both have over 30 first cousins. Clare's cousins all live close by so we are very close with them - every family party is full of energy, love and warmth.

We want to start off by thanking you for considering us! We can only imagine how difficult this decision is for you and we want to do everything possible to give you comfort that you are making the right decision. We will be happy to answer any and all questions you would have of us to make sure we are what you are looking for in adoptive parents.

We would love to start a family more than anything and have been trying since we got married which was nearly three years ago. We have been together for 14 years as we started dating in high school and have been in love ever since.

Our journey with infertility has been one of the hardest things we have done in our lives but it has brought us closer together than we thought possible. There have been many bad days throughout this journey but we have always stood by each other's side and picked the other one up when they were having a particularly hard time. We now realize adoption is meant to be the way that we grow our family and we could not be more excited.

I (Matt) know that Clare would be the best mother that a child could hope for. She is so loving, caring, and nurturing. At family parties the younger cousins always flock to her and she is always able to put a smile on their faces. She is so selfless and spends most of her time making the lives of the people she loves more joyful. Anybody who interacts with her feels her warmth and love.

I (Clare) know Matt will be the best dad in the world! He is the most kind hearted, considerate, and generous man around! He is so loving and caring I know a child will feel so safe, loved and protected by him. He will revolve his whole world around taking care of them and they will be his number one priority. I can't wait to see Matt become a dad!

We will ensure your child is loved, cared for, celebrated and living their best life every single day! We both had very good childhoods filled with family, friends, fun, learning, sports, dance, and so much more. Our parents have all been incredible influences on us - teaching us right from wrong, helping us through difficult times, making us laugh, celebrating, and just always being there for us. We plan to pass this all down to our future children and know their grandparents will play a huge part in their life. What is most important to us is that our future children feel loved, supported, have great friendships, are close with family, and are genuinely happy throughout their lives.

We promise to send you letters and pictures so you can see how they are growing, what they are interested, and what type of person they are becoming. We imagine our relationship will change throughout time but we are open to the exchange of emails and phone calls. We we will be very open with our child throughout their life about their adoption and want to honor whatever wishes they have in terms of a relationship with their birth parents.

We have so much love to give, every day the space in our hearts grows a little bit larger just waiting for a child to love and care for. We can't wait for all the big and little moments that a beautiful baby will bring.

It is hard to put into words how grateful we are that you would consider us as adoptive parents. We know it will be the greatest moment of our lives when we are able to welcome a baby into our family. We will do everything in our power to provide the best life for our child and honor you by dedicating our lives to raising this child the best that we can. Please know that we will do anything and everything possible to give your child the very best life! We will make sure they know how loved they were by their birth parents and how loved they are by us every single day!

Matt & Clare