Introduction
Dear Expectant Parent(s),
Hi there, we are Lizzy and Ryan! Thank you for taking the time to read our story and learn more about us.
Our Story
We first met in another country — China! We had both moved to Shanghai, China, when we were 18, to attend university. Seated next to each other in Mandarin class, we hit it off right away and became study partners. We got to know each other better while Lizzy helped Ryan memorize all the new Chinese characters as we learned the language, and Ryan helped Lizzy muddle through calculus class. Through early morning walks before class and evening study sessions, our relationship grew. By the fall of our freshman year in 2014, we started dating, and we have been inseparable ever since!
It’s been a blessing to grow through our young adulthood together, and in the intervening years, we have fostered our adorable cat, Remy, bought a home in Maine, and got married. We feel ready for the next chapter and are excited by the prospect of adding someone new to our family! For many years we have known that if we wanted to raise a child, we would do so through adoption. We’ve felt drawn to adoption and know that we will unconditionally love and support the child who joins our family.
About Lizzy, by Ryan
The most intelligent, hardest working, and kindest person I’ve ever met, Lizzy is hilariously quick-witted and is the person you want in your corner at all times. Without exception, our friends come to Lizzy for advice and a listening ear. When times are hard, she is the first to be silly and bring levity to a situation. She has great perspective and presence, and I, along with family and friends, feel so lucky to have her in our lives.
She began babysitting as a teenager and volunteered at orphanages during her time in China. She plays games with our many nieces and nephews and spends time with her Little Sister every other week through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Kids view her as an authority figure, but also as someone they trust and have fun with.
She is hysterical and friends have told us that they can’t keep up with Lizzy’s quickness and wit. Her humor makes every day more fun and exciting. Lizzy will be an incredible parent — patient but firm, thoughtful and kind. She has been successful personally and professionally, and will certainly be a wonderful role model for any kid. I truly believe that any kid who has Lizzy as a mom will be so unbelievably fortunate.
Some Fun Facts About Lizzy
• She loves learning languages, takes weekly classes online, and speaks Mandarin and Spanish.
• Is a volunteer Piping Plover monitor, which means she looks for endangered plover birds on the beaches in the summer. She’s the only member who has never found a plover, but she keeps trying her best!
• Loves to bake, and then eat, chocolate chip banana bread.
About Ryan, by Lizzy
Ryan is an endearing mix of goofiness, thoughtfulness, and care for others. My favorite thing is that he knows when to lean into different aspects of himself. As we move through a normal day, Ryan will make funny voices when he talks to our cat, crack jokes, and make himself laugh. While he takes work seriously, he never gets too stressed.
When friends or family are going through a hard time, Ryan is excellent at being a present, thoughtful, and calming listener. He knows when it’s time to joke around, and when a person needs a supportive and grounded ear. If our friends are having a bad day, he will invite them over for dinner and dessert, will provide encouragement and, at times, advice. I have seen these traits in Ryan’s interactions with our nieces and nephews. He’ll joke with them and be the silly uncle, but when they need an adult who is competent, safe, and responsible, he seamlessly transitions into that role.
When he learns new information, he takes that in without being defensive. He is open to learning new things and changing his mind. Ryan is an earnest and kind person, and can find conflicts in movies to be stressful because he just wants people to talk to each other and work things out. I value his open-mindedness and sweet nature, and I think this will translate into being an incredible dad.
Some Fun Facts About Ryan
• Was a serious tennis player growing up, though his skills have now refocused on pickleball.
• Has a seemingly endless amount of nicknames for our cat, Remy.
• Loves cooking and has a handful of cookbooks that cover a multitude of cuisines.
Our Home
We live in an old home with many of the lovely, vintage quirks from when it was built in the 1930s. We’ve made updates over the years, and now, we’re fortunate to live in a home that balances older design and contemporary amenities! Our favorite room is the living room, which has beautiful arches, a fireplace, and displays dozens of our favorite books.
Our neighborhood is great for children, and we know this because all three of our closest neighbors are raising children! Our backyards connect, and we love watching all the kids running around and riding scooters on our driveway. The street we live on is safe for the many kids who run around the neighborhood, and the school bus picks up and drops off on our street corner. At the end of our street is a park which has a baseball field with frequent little league games, tennis courts, and a playground. Dozens of kids spend school nights and summer days on our street and the surrounding blocks, giving the area a wonderful sense of community.
Our house is a 15-minute walk into our small city’s downtown, so we’ll often walk to restaurants, shops, or cafes on weekends. We’re a short drive from Portland, which means there is never a lack of fun activities and events. We take advantage of our coastal city through evening walks along the ocean, or we’ll drive to the mountains an hour away and go hiking. We are excited to take our child to eat ice cream on the beach, explore local hikes, and to cheer on the local Portland Sea Dogs at their baseball games!
Our Family and Friends
Our family is scattered throughout the United States, which means we often get to go on fun cross-country trips spanning from Boston to Wyoming to Los Angeles to Houston. We love having a chance to visit family while exploring the country at the same time!
Ryan’s parents love being grandparents. They are used to it, as they have eight grandkids. Lizzy’s dad is also extremely excited to be a grandfather and is considering moving up to Maine to be closer to the baby. Lizzy’s brother lives in Rhode Island and is talking about how he wants to become the favorite uncle. Everyone is really looking forward to meeting our child and welcoming them into the family!
We also believe that good friendships can be as important as familial love in so many ways. When we moved to Maine, we were lucky to quickly find a group of lifelong friends. Our friend group hangs out regularly, often meeting up for picnics on the beach or playing volleyball together in a nearby park after work days. Many of our friends have, or are planning to have, children, and we are excited to have their kids be playmates with the baby!
We have had nothing but support for our decision to adopt. Our family and friends have all been thrilled to hear about our journey and cannot wait for our family to grow. Just as we see the value that our friends and family brings to our lives, we know that they will play a large and loving role in our child’s life and development.
Traditions, Hobbies and Interests
We do our best to create a life that is filled with joy, connection, and fun. Lizzy hosts a regular craft night, where our friends come over to eat snacks, make crafts, and enjoy time together. Ryan loves going golfing with his friends (Lizzy only goes if it’s mini-golf). Together, we are proud members of our friend group’s dodgeball team and a Jewish community group. We love to attend Portland minor league baseball and soccer games.
While neither of us are religious, we love any excuse to celebrate! Lizzy was raised Christian and Ryan was raised Jewish, so we celebrate both faiths’ holidays as a chance to enjoy time together as a family and eat good food. We also love to travel and have been lucky enough to see many places together. We have enjoyed learning about other cultures and hope to introduce our child to a variety of cultures, languages, and backgrounds.
While we love having fun, it’s also very important to us to create a safe and stable life and future for our family. We sit together every Sunday afternoon to update our budget to make sure we are on track with our spending and savings goals. Each month, we carve out time to deep clean our house and focus on household maintenance projects. We care deeply about balancing fun with responsibility, since we really want to make sure our future child has everything they need to thrive as they grow up.
Thank You
Thank you so much for reading our story, and for considering us as adoptive parents for your child. We are so excited to build our family through adoption, and we appreciate you for taking the time to learn about us.
As adoptive parents, we promise to do our best to ensure your baby will grow up happy, healthy, and safe. We’ll provide them with love, nurture, acceptance, and care to help them grow into the little human and eventual adult that they are meant to be. We’ll provide them with a great education, a loving and fun-filled home, and endless love and care. We’ll support them on their journey to figure out what is important to them and then help them achieve their goals, whatever they may be.
We hope to have an open adoption relationship and want to respect whatever level of openness feels comfortable to you. We promise that part of the child’s story will always include the thoughtful and loving decision that made them a part of our family.
We wish you all the best as you determine what path feels right for you and the baby. Thank you for taking the time to consider us!
Sincerely,