Adoption Terminology

We both attended Oklahoma State University and started dating after we graduated and moved back to our hometowns, in September 2011. On our second date we had a pizza baking competition, since Matt is the pizza connoisseur! Other favorite dates included going to museums, taking the dogs to dog parks, Thunder games, annual trip to the State Fair, and going to the local drive in movie. 

We were engaged in December 2013 on a ski trip. After discussing with Shae's mom how to do it, Matt decided he just couldn't wait any longer and proposed while our group was playing cards - right after Shae ate a blue sucker and had changed into her comfy clothes for the night. Shae's blue sucker caused her mouth to look like a Smurf, but love is blind! 

We were married on May 3, 2014 in the church that Shae grew up in and where we are now members. We asked our guests to wear orange, black or white and had Pistol Pete as a surprise guest at our reception!

Karsten was born in the crazy year that was 2020! Her birth mom choosing us to be her parents is truly a gift and an honor. Some of our favorite things to do as a family include going to OSU football games, visiting the zoo, and playing outside! 

Thank you for taking time to look through our family's profile. We know the magnitude of the decisions you're making right now, and although we do not know your name, we are praying that you are safe and healthy, and that you feel loved, supported and at peace.

With love,
Matt and Shae

Thank you for looking at our profile. We have longed to be parents for quite some time now and hope to give a good home and a vibrant upbringing to our adopted children.

We are active, outdoorsy, faith-filled people. Our house is always open to friends and free of most technological distractions. We are uncomplicated, adventurous and joyful as we take on the challenges of this life together. We share a love for God and our Catholic faith, which is the foundation of our marriage. Another unique thing about us is that Ivana is an immigrant from Switzerland. A lot of our travels include visits with relatives in Europe, and sometimes we speak German to each other.

We hope this profile will give you an insight into who we are and what our life is like.

Both transplants to South Alabama, we met via Facebook in 2010, after mutual friends suggested getting to know one another, and hit it off immediately! We initially spent hours chatting via messenger until Mark conveniently misplaced his phone during one our conversations and asked Katy to call it–an easy way to get her phone number. Since that time, we have never gone longer than 48 hours without talking, and that was only because Katy was out of the country!

Though born in Tennessee, Mark spent his early years in Alabama before moving to Colorado in elementary school. As an only child, Mark quickly made friends with the neighborhood kids and kids from church–some of these relationships have spanned not only miles, but years! A childhood cancer survivor, Mark, is resilient and determined, qualities that serve him well in his position as a project manager and architect. Mark loves being outside, woodworking, anything sports related (especially the Atlanta Braves and his alma mater, Texas Tech), and making memories!

Born and raised in North Mississippi, Katy is the oldest of three; each of her siblings is the answer to her little girl prayers, and they are two of her best friends and biggest supporters. Married for almost 40 years, Katy’s parents instilled in her a love for God, the value of hard work, and the importance of family, all of which Katy, along with Mark, is working to teach to their own child. A teacher/librarian at a small private school, Katy enjoys reading, baking, crafting, watching girly movies, and traveling!

Our son, Jaxon, was born in the summer of 2018. He is an absolute joy, even in his most stubborn moments, and inspires us each day to be better and do better! Knox was born in the fall of 2023 and placed in our arms by his wonderful birth mother shortly after. The perfect addition to our growing family at just the right time, Knox is hands down Jaxon’s favorite person and the feeling is mutual! Our life can be a little crazy and a little messy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way because it is also absolutely amazing, and we cannot wait to share our life, our love, and our family with a new precious little one!

Our names are Crissy and Thomas. Crissy is a pediatric nurse and Thomas is a former police officer and current first responder for 9-1-1. The thing we want most in this world is to have a family. We have been married for nine years, and we did fertility treatments for the first six of them. We were originally introduced in 2007 and over the next few years were introduced by a few more. We finally decided to give it a shot. We got married in November 2013, Over the next several years of medical intervention, treatments and one lost pregnancy it was discovered that Crissy had unexplained infertility. We still have the dream to start a family. We know that families are made in many different ways and we are hopeful that our family is still out there. We truly feel as though God has led us to adoption, and we hope and pray that this will finally be our opportunity to create our family.

We have been married for six years. Allison is Oklahoma born and raised. Nate was born in Missouri, but lived in Pennsylvannia, Arizona, Oregon, and California before finally settling down in Oklahoma. We have one wonderful little boy named Adrian, who is three years old. The pregnancy was very hard on Allison, and we were advised to not have any more children.

We are a fairly active family. We enjoy going fishing, hunting, or to the local park on a nice day. For the past couple of years, we have gotten zoo passes. Adrian really seems to enjoy getting to run around and see all the animals. We also really enjoy spending time with our friends. We have been greatly blessed by having several families that attend our church who also have young children. We have made it a habit to have lunch with them on Sundays, so we can enjoy each other's company while our kids run around and be kids.

We have also been blessed by two wonderful sets of grandparents that enjoy being involved in our and our son's lives. Nate's parents live about 30 minutes away. We attend church with them (Nate's father is a pastor), and hang-out with them at least a couple of times a month. Allison's parents live even closer. They are both retired and graciously volunteered to watch Adrian while Nate and Allison work. We see them fairly regularly including when we go on our annual family trip to Branson, Missiouri.

Hi, we are Austin and Hannah and we met the summer of 2019 in the college group at our church. I (Hannah) still remember walking to the patio of the building where Austin was grilling tacos (the location of our proposal a few years later). We both thought the other was cute but neither of us said anything at the time. We became friends and hung out in group settings throughout the summer. Following graduation from college I returned home to WA to stay and at the end of the summer he asked me out and we enjoyed our first date getting some tacos and going to a Mariner’s game! We introduced the topic of adoption early on since we both had a desire to grow our family through adoption. Austin's mom was adopted from Korea and Hannah saw adoption firsthand when her youth pastor adopted when she was younger. We both knew that we desired a partner who had the same passion for adoption.

We are truly honored and humbled that you are considering our family in your adoption plan. The strength, and sheer courage that it takes to walk through, and stand in this adoption journey is inspiring and remarkable.

We are Paul and Stacie. We were high school sweethearts, that met in church youth group. We married in 2004. Stacie miscarried in 2008 and was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure that eventually lead to a full hysterectomy. We never thought that adoption would be part of our story, but the Lord has blessed us with this beautiful path. We adopted our son, Samuel, in 2017, when he was four months old. We would not change one minute of our loss and hardships, knowing now that Jesus was piecing together His rich and glorious plan for our lives.

Samuel is so excited to be a big brother!! He prompts us to pray almost daily over his future sibling and asks where they are. We are ready to love and cherish a new little one. Our plan is for Stacie to stay home with our newest child. Paul owns his own business, and mainly works from home. We have a lot of flexibility and time to devote to our children. Samuel attends a Christian private school and so will his future sibling. He will be thrilled to teach his sibling all about “his” school!

We are committed and excited about all ethnicities, and backgrounds. We value honoring each other in our family. We celebrate our differences, and family backgrounds that make life so rich and enjoyable. We are looking forward to exploring another open adoption. We have been so blessed with Samuel’s birth family. We are excited to explore what this will look like with you.

Hosea 2:14-16 says, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give back her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of Egypt.” The desert often represents unsafety and uncertainty in the Bible. The “Valley of Achor”, translates to the Valley of Trouble. The Lord promises as we walk and trust Him through our hardships, and uncertainties, that He will make a way and a path of hope, of restoration, and joy for us. You are deeply loved, and fully known by the Creator and Lover of your soul.

Sincerely, Paul and Stacie

We both went to college at Texas A&M University. Claire majored in mathematics and Jeffrey in Industrial Engineering. We both joined the Baptist Student Ministry our freshman year. In 2015 we were both Bible study leaders of different groups and slowly got to know each other over the year. We began dating and most of our dates consisted of studying, getting coffee and snacks, and taking breaks by driving around exploring our town. We got engaged October of our senior year (2017) while finishing school, applying to jobs, and student teaching. It was a wild year but God was oh so faithful in each moment. We graduated from college and three weeks later got married! We moved to McKinney on a whim – about 30 minutes from each set of parents – and fell in love with the city. We absolutely LOVE doing life together and getting to explore the DFW area!

A primary factor of who we are as a couple is quality time spent together! We find lots of joy in time spent together, or with community even in the mundane things. We are avid board game players, coffee shop visitors, and amateur food enthusiasts. Some of our favorite moments with friends and family have happened just on a couch in deep conversation or over a cup of coffee!

We have been so blessed to have friends who live close by and that we get to see often! They are our chosen family and who we get to do life with. Our community has comforted us and rejoiced with us and we hope to continue walking with them as we get older! We have found a lot of joy in prioritizing our community and growing it! They love Jesus and us so well!.

In 2023 we adopted our son, Eliezer, and are absolutely obsessed with parenthood. He is in full toddler mode which has been the sweetest season of our lives (even with the hard tantrum moments). We are so incredibly thankful for the way God has blessed us in our marriage and are very excited for the years to come. Parenting has definitely been our favorite adventure yet!!

We were set up on a blind date by some mutual friends at church and have been married for 5 years in September. We had met for coffee and cupcakes on our first date. We were going to share a cupcake, but Bryan learned that Elisabeth didn't like chocolate. We were able to get past this obstacle. We love to travel and have been to six countries together. Elisabeth grew up going on road trips with her family. She has been to all fifty states. We plan to do road trips and travel in the future as a family. Elisabeth grew up playing board games often with her family, and we play them often together. We love to have friends over for games and dinner. We both have  love of reading and plan to share that with your child. As Stickland Gillian wrote: "Richer than I you can never be-- I had a Mother who read to me." We both have a love for the arts: symphony, art museums, and Broadway plays. Bryan's mom introduced him to plays as a child, and we plan to share that with your child.