Hi! We’re Ashley and Aaron from Los Angeles, California. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering us as adoptive parents for your child. We know this is the most difficult decision you will ever make, and we are in awe of your courage and selflessness in considering adoption.

Our marriage is rooted in deep love, trust, complete openness, communication, and respect. We're lucky to lead lives filled with family, friends, and community. Our most deeply held value as a couple is bringing joy, warmth, and safety to our loved ones, our city, and our beautiful world.

Our loved ones mean everything to us. So we view starting a family of our own as a natural extension of all the love we already have in our lives — for each other, our extended families, our friends, and our community.

Initially, we were devastated when infertility kept us from getting pregnant. But now we truly feel that we were meant to build our family through adoption. We couldn’t be more excited to bring an adopted child into our lives. We will cherish our child and nurture them with all the unconditional love and support in the world.

One of our strongest bonds is a love of learning, so it makes sense that we met in school! We were both finishing PhDs at different universities when mutual friends told us we should meet. It took a few years, but when we finally met we became fast friends. We bonded over movies, biked all over Philly, went dancing, and cooked fabulous meals together. For a whole year, we were just friends. But all it took was one kiss and we both knew instantly – we were meant to be together! We never looked back. Two years later we got married at City Hall in NYC. Now, we’ve been married for over 6 years!

In that time, life has taken us from the East Coast to our favorite city ever, Los Angeles! We have built a life beyond our wildest dreams here, filled with beach trips, family dinners, art, learning, and love!

I have been described as “magical.” My favorite thing is to create a sense of wonder and joy in everyday life. Whether it’s a sunset beach picnic in Malibu, a homemade present, or a special multi-course meal I spent all day preparing, I do whatever I can to delight my family and friends. It’s what I live for! Well-planned adventures are my specialty. I love to organize camping trips to the most gorgeous secret corners of the Mojave Desert or Humboldt’s redwood forests, where we hike all day and then eat like kings!

As a tenured professor, I have my dream job. I get paid to read, write books, and teach young people! I’m so lucky to be surrounded by an extremely diverse crowd of colleagues (and their kids). Since my research involves India, and I’m fluent in Hindi, I have a wonderful international crew of fellow professors, activists, and friends.

I am aware of how unbelievably lucky I am to absolutely adore every aspect of my life. I can’t wait to give our baby the life of their dreams.

Ashley is the most caring person I know. When you are around Ashley, she is completely present with you. She shows people not just everyday kindness but what I can only call an ecstatic affection.

Exuberance, enthusiasm, love – these words describe any situation with Ashley. She has the ability to take something ordinary, like a day at the beach, and transform it into an event. With Ashley, an evening at home feels like the most special place in the world, and the only place I want to be. That’s why I’m married to her!

Through her attention and generosity, Ashley makes everyone in her presence. This is how I know she’ll be a wonderful mother – her love knows no bounds. She’ll do anything to protect, nurture, and care for the people she loves. She once rappelled down a cliff with no safety gear to save the life of our little dog, Winnie. She will be a fierce momma bear!

I’m a people person. I love to meet new people and nourish the relationships I already have in my life. I’m happiest when I can help family and friends feel happy, comfortable, and safe. Heck, it’s not just family and friends – I genuinely believe in always being kind and friendly to everyone I meet in life, no matter who they are.

My approach to life comes from my background. My dad was a construction worker on big infrastructure projects and my mother was a public school teacher. I grew up moving around the country constantly for my dad’s job. That means I’ve met a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. I genuinely feel that I can get along with anyone, and I like to get to know and befriend people from all walks of life.

The aspect of becoming a parent I’m most excited about is getting to know my future child. I can’t wait to watch them turn into whoever it is they want to be. I will unconditionally love and support them as they become that person.

Aaron is literally the nicest person I’ve ever met. In 10 years I have never seen him be mean to anyone, ever! The first time my grandmother met him, she said “He’s a real gentleman,” and she was right! He’s a genuine sweetheart.

Aaron is also the most creative person I know. He’s a writer and game designer and he has an incredibly rich imaginative life. That’s why he’s so great with children. When kids come over, they always immediately look for Aaron, who’s the most fun to play with! From toddlers to teenagers, kids adore him. My 12 year-old cousin once peed his pants at dinner from laughing so hard when he dared Aaron to eat a giant glob of wasabi and Aaron did it!

Watching Aaron dote over our little dog, Winnie, it’s clear he’ll be an incredible dad. He’s already the most supportive and dreamy husband I could imagine. I can’t wait to parent with him!

We love to explore the world, and we’re always up to something fun! A typical weekend might find us driving our vintage Saab convertible to Malibu to play on the beach with our little dog, Winnie, or driving off into the sunset to discover the best off-the-beaten-track taco truck in LA (and, yes, Winnie always gets a taste!). Since many of our friends are artists, we are always going to see them perform – whether at rock concerts, poetry readings, art openings, comedy shows, or on film sets!

We both love to cook and host dinners, so our house is often the hub for our family and friends. There’s nothing we enjoy more than a kitchen filled with good food and a house filled with music and laughter. We’re also happy to be guests at our friends’ houses... especially when there’s a pool involved! Laughter, love, food, and friends are what make life worth living for us!

We also love to get out of the city for road trips. We regularly go camping in the Mojave Desert, snowshoeing in Big Bear Lake, and hiking in the Redwoods of Northern California. But our lives aren’t pure excitement 100% of the time. Most evenings find us at home cooking, reading, listening to music, playing board games with neighbors, or showering affection on Winnie the Dog.

We feel so lucky to own a house in one of the most magical neighborhoods in Los Angeles. We like to joke that we live in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood. Our neighborhood has a great old-timey vibe. It’s filled with historic craftsman homes and warm, friendly people. Over the pandemic we became extremely close with a few of our neighbors. Nate from up the street has become like a little brother to us – he walks right through our front door without even knocking! Terry and Peter from across the way are master gardeners who helped us landscape our front yard. They’re also empty nesters who can’t wait to spoil our little one! Dog walks with Winnie in the hills and canyons often become impromptu friend dates, as we invariably run into one of our friendly neighborhood pals.

We love that our house is equidistant to nature and urban life. Walk a few blocks one way and you hit gorgeous canyons; walk the other way and you’re in a bustling city. We get the best of both worlds! Best of all, the city’s premiere farmer’s market is only a few blocks away. We go every Sunday!

Winnie the Dog is our fur baby. We love her so much! She taught us that we wanted to start a family, and for that we will be forever grateful. Winnie also has shown us the power of love and resilience. She was a street dog in Ensenada, Mexico before being rescued at six months old. She had no fur, was covered in mange, and on the verge of starving to death. Now she’s healthy and strong, living her best life as the queen of Hollywood!

One of the things that brings us together is our shared love of family, so we’re lucky to live in very close proximity to several of our favorite relatives. Our local LA cousins – who range in age from their 20s to their 70s – are some of our very best friends. They are why we wanted to move to LA in the first place! One cousin has two children under two (and plans to adopt!), so our child will have plenty of cousin playmates nearby.

We both have a married sibling and enjoy spending time with both sets of in-laws. Ashley’s parents live in Hawaii and Aaron’s parents live in coastal South Carolina, so we understandably love to visit them all. Our baby will be the first grandkid in both families. They’ll be pampered for sure! We’ve recently built a guest house in our backyard so grandparents will often be just a few steps away!

Chosen family is as important to us as bio-kin. We LOVE our friends and would do anything for them. Many of our friends are LGBTQ, so we hold dear the idea that family is built through love, not blood. Since many of our friends are professors, we always have visitors when the semester ends!

We strongly believe in letting kids be kids. Although we are both academic high achievers, we believe that young children shouldn’t be forced to sit at desks all day. They should be allowed to play and explore and create! There will be plenty of time to sit at desks later when they’re grown up!

Make no mistake, our child will be educated! (One of the great perks of Ashley’s job is free college tuition!) But our child will also be free to be a kid and run wild while they can.

We believe that there are all different paths to “success” and that success can mean different things. Above all else, we value loving and caring for people and for our beautiful planet.

We would be equally happy if our child was a poet, a scientist, or an organic farmer. Truly! What is of uncompromising importance to us is nourishing our child’s passions, whatever they may be. We believe that every human deserves the chance to realize their full potential – in emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and artistic terms. We are profoundly lucky that we have been able to live our dreams and turn our passions into jobs. And we are so lucky that we will be able to offer the same to our child. Whatever our child’s passion is, we will nurture it, whether it’s math or animals or painting or music or humanitarianism. We have no preconceived notions about who or what our child should be. We only want them to be happy, healthy, and helpful to our world.

For a long time, we didn’t think we wanted children. We were insanely busy building successful careers, and we really liked our freedom. But at a certain point, we started to realize that something was missing. We had built an incredible life and a warm and loving home together, but we had only each other to share it with. Now, we want to share the love. We’ve already become adept at nurturing and supporting each other. We are ready to do the same for our child. We will go above and beyond!

We know that parenting will be stressful. But we promise to rise above the daily grind and make every single day of our child’s life magical. We promise to give our child every possible opportunity to realize their dreams.

Whoever our child is, they will be precious to us, and loved to the max!