Adoption Terminology

We met thirteen years ago through a friend who invited both of us to hang out at the same event. When Brian arrived, he called his friend to locate her, and Minela happened to be holding the friend’s phone when it rang which kicked off our journey.

We quickly became friends, started dating, and soon engaged. After a few years of dating and moving around the country, we married in a small courthouse in Texas. We are best friends and use every day to experience life to the fullest. We have always wanted to start a family and when it didn’t happen naturally, we looked towards IVF and now adoption.

Minela is outgoing and loves to be around people and making new friends. She is caring and loving which can be seen when she is interacting with anyone but especially with her nieces and nephews. She loves dogs and animals. She was born overseas and moved from Croatia to the United States when she was 8 years old with her parents and brother and sister. They were all refugees of war. Not being able to speak or understand English, they made America their new home which shows her strength in overcoming obstacles. It took her only 6 months to learn the English language and she is good at spelling but somehow, always gets beat by Brian at Scrabble which we both love to play. We are both competitive.

Brian is also outgoing but also enjoys being home and spending time with Minela and their dog, Harley. He loves watching college football and his favorite team is Florida Gators, which is also why his favorite colors are orange and blue. He loves to stay active with exercise or being outside. He really enjoys his job in engineering and the travel that comes along with it; he has been to Canada, Mexico, New York, California, and Las Vegas to name a few. His favorite weekend activity, besides football, is taking our dog to the park for a walk. It’s become a tradition. Brian is a very courageous, hardworking, loving person. He goes above and beyond in everything he does and does everything in his power to make sure his family is happy and well taken care of.

Together, we have so much love to give and can’t wait to share that love with your child.

Hi! We're Darrin and Rachel. We first met in 2006 and started dating in 2009 right before I (Rachel) moved to college out of state; so we were long-distance for 3 years. We found a mutual love of comics, card games, adventure, and music. After getting married, we also enjoyed playing volleyball together and watching Seahawks games. We both grew up in the greater Seattle area and after our daughter Ellie was born in 2016, we bought a house here, near family and friends.

Some details about us: Darrin is a former truck driver, who now works in a school district. Rachel is an Aerican Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. Our daughter loves making friends and playing with every kid she meets, and her second grade school year is off to a great start. We have a 4 fish and 6 chickens, and our daughter would love a cat someday.

We first crossed paths at Zilker Park in Austin, TX. John was playing lacrosse with friends while Sarah chatted with a friend. New to Austin, Sarah remembers seeing his group and wishing she could be a part of it. John remembers wishing he had stopped her and said hello. Months later, Sarah was invited to a mutual friend’s birthday party on Cinco De Mayo, and we officially met! Six months later we were dating. Sarah knew from the start we were meant for each other—we have now been together for 8.5 years! We got married in New Hampshire in the sumer of 2019. All the Texan guests brought the heat with them, though; it was 100 degrees on our wedding day!

We are laid back, outgoing people with a strong support network of close friends and family nearby. We love spending time together and seeing and experiencing new places, people, and foods! As a couple, we both enjoy spending quiet time at home with our dog as much as we enjoy going out to restaurants and spending time with friends and family. Boating, beaches, and nature fill us both, so we spend a lot of time outdoors and traveling to New England. We also love skiing and snowboarding together.

John is a partner at his firm, focusing on marketing and PR strategy for portfolio companies. We are lucky in that John works from home and he’s able to make his own schedule, so he is looking forward to being a hands-on dad. John is Scotch-Irish, English and German—and a multi-generation Texan! He played lacrosse in college, chaired several social organizations, and started a charity with friends that built 15 public wells in Africa. He currently mentors and sits on the advisory boards of many startup incubators.

Sarah loves animals…a lot! She is obsessed with her dog, Auggie, and three young nephews. They are her world. Sarah is Swedish, Chilean, English, and Scottish. She loves learning about history and family traditions. She has two sisters, one is 11 months older and the other is her twin! Sarah is a former corporate IT manager and experienced project manager. She now consults but is lucky to be a stay-at-home mom for our future child!

We are Matt and Cat and we live on a small farm in Strasburg, Colorado. We met during high school, and it didn’t take long for us to fall in love. We have been happily married for 10 years but have been together for 20. Through Matt’s military and civilian career, we moved all over and eventually landed in Colorado. It wasn’t your typical journey, and we definitely didn’t follow the traditional path. Through trials and tribulations, we both realized we needed to go back to school, later in our lives, to obtain our college degrees and we both enjoy successful careers in Systems Engineering and Insurance Management. We wanted to accomplish certain milestones in life before bringing a child into the world. When we realized that naturally conceiving was not an option there was the initial sadness; however, it quickly turned to joy and excitement as we began the adoption process. Matt was adopted at a very young age, and we understood how beneficial adoption can be for the birth mother, child, and adoptive parents. Now a little bit about the home the child will grow up in. The amount of love in this home is indescribable by words. The child will be happy and will know that they are loved and wanted. It is the simple things in life that are important to us, a good home, good health, stable marriage, and beyond all happiness. If the birth parent chooses, we would like our child to know about their birth parents, the incredible amount of love they had for the child, and the sacrifice they made to ensure the child was provided for in life. We will teach our child about love, respect, hard work, and most of all how to have fun. They will spend their time experiencing life rather than watching it on television. Education is important to us, and our child will receive a good elementary and secondary education. College is a personal decision, and we will support our child in whatever decision they make. Most important to us is that the child be provided with the opportunities they need to pursue the path they choose in life. We look forward to watching our child grow and mature; support them as they stumble in life; and, of course, will celebrate with them as they experience the many successes in their life.

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. 

      A ping pong table in a small Bible college in Pennsylvania is where it all began. Our friendship in the beginning laid the foundation for our relationship later and we got to know each other over games of ping pong. When we started studying together and spending more time with each other, we realized we had a strong connection. Rob thought Jessica was beautiful and fun to be around. Jessica admired how much Rob cared for his friends and family. It didn't take us long to see that we were meant to be together and have been inseparable ever since.

     Each day is a blessing as we spend time together doing the activities we love. Walking around local theme parks, visiting the beach, and meeting up with Rob's family are some of our favorite things. Jessica enjoys cooking healthy meals, and Rob helps out around the house. An evening walk around the neighborhood is a nice way to catch up and enjoy nature. We plan weekly outings and look forward to our annual summer vacations. It will be a joy to have our little one in our lives!

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.

We’re Andrea and Nelson! We’ve been together for twelve years and married for eight (this March), and about five years ago we were blessed to adopt our amazing son, Oliver. Andrea is fascinated by a lot of things, ranging from shark biology to crazy celebrity beef. Nelson enjoys working with his hands and BBQing on our smoker. As a family, we love going on adventures together, spending quality time, and exploring whatever is making us curious at that moment (like animals at the zoo, the jellyfish at low tide, or what we can build with Legos or cardboard boxes). Our family believes in open communication, unconditional love, and asking questions. No topic will ever be off limits in our home. Oliver is very excited about welcoming a sibling home and has been praying for it to happen “tomorrow.” We, too, are excited for another little one to join our family. Thank you for considering us!

One of the greatest things we can share as parents is access to our friends and family. We are unconditionally loved and supported by so many people whether they be biological or adopted relatives, or dear friends. We have strong relationships with some special people – some who have been in our lives for 30+ years. Several of our friends live minutes from us, and a few have recently started their own families so are itching for play dates. Both sets of our parents are still married and are wonderful grandparents. Andrea has an older brother and sister-in-law, and Nelson has 2 sisters, 3 brothers and 2 sets of in-laws. We are aunt and uncle to 13 nieces and nephews and combined, we have 10 aunts, 10 uncles and over 60 cousins. Simply put, we have a lot of family and friends! And everyone is beyond excited to welcome home a new member!

Along with our extended human family, we have two fuzzy members of our family - our adopted animals Indy and Obi. We rescued Indy as a 3 month old puppy. And 2 year old Obi chose Oliver. Really! He came right up and head nuzzled him. It's been love every since! These two pets are characters who love us, but most especially they love kids. 

Hello! Our family lives in a suburb outside Washington, DC and we have two biological daughters - we are very excited to add to our family through adoption! We have been happily married for nine years and are best friends who enjoy traveling together to places both near and far. We are a family who doesn't like to sit still and is always on the move! We are energized by adventure, powered by ice cream, and firmly committed to following Christ and raising our children to love Him and love others. Come explore our profile to learn more of who we are!