We’re ready to adopt.
Check out our story below or download our PDF.
Dear Expectant Parent,
We would first like to thank you for your courage and strength as you search for an adoptive family. If you choose us as your adoptive family, we will be so excited to give our love to your child. We appreciate your taking the time to learn more about us.
We are both Midwesterners and call Chicago home. We have been together almost four years, and we recently married on April 4, 2020, the same date as Scott’s grandparents’ anniversary. We have been creating a loving home together and feel that it is important to grow our family.
Both of us want to be dads, and we are excited that being parents will hopefully become a real possibility soon. We have been fortunate to have encouraging families, friends and community who will give us all the support we could need. We imagine having a close-knit immediate family with lots of opportunities for engaging with the broader community through our diverse friends and extended family. We have a lot to learn but also a great deal to teach. Thank you for getting to know us more.
We’re excited to learn more about you.
Our thoughts about each other
Sami is a Scientist and a Physician
He moved from Cleveland to Chicago for training and realizing his career in academic medicine as a children’s cardiologist and heart rhythm specialist (in addition to loving the city).
He grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland to immigrant parents. While his immediate family was in Cleveland, his extended family was spread all over the world. Despite this, the family connections are strong.
Currently Sami’s brother’s family just lives a few miles away so we get to see them often. We love hanging out with his niece and nephew, watching them perform in piano recitals, taking them to the museum, and going to birthday parties and other celebrations; and of course we can’t wait to share those same experiences with your child!
Did you know?
Sami loves:
Running
Travel
Swimming
Learning foreign languages
Visual and performing arts
Playing the piano
Sami speaks:
English
Italian
Arabic
Spanish
French
Portuguese
Scott works in higher education communications
He grew up in Central Illinois and moved to Chicago to advance his career in communications and marketing (in addition to loving the city ... just like Sami). He currently works at an art and design college, part of the Art Institute of Chicago, and he is thrilled about the idea of taking your child through the galleries and raising them with an appreciation for art and beauty.
Scott grew up on a farm and is very close to his extended family. In fact, at one point, four generations of family all lived within miles of each other on different sections of the family farmland. We love spending holidays and summer vacations with Scott’s large family. He has a strong work ethic that comes from working on the farm and has endless generosity toward family and friends.
He is a godparent to three kids; one is his nephew who is now in college and the other two are children of dear friends.
Did you know?
Scott loves:
Running and cycling
Traveling
Cooking new recipes
Listening to music
Reading
Scott has cycled nearly 800 miles over mountains and seas to raise money for charities
A few of our favorite things:
Favorite animal
Sami: Penguin
Scott: Koala
Favorite kid’s show
Sami: The Muppets
Scott: Duck Tales
Can’t live without
Sami: Musicals
Scott: Music
Favorite hobby
Sami: Sudoku
Scott: Photography
Favorite musician
Sami: Aretha Franklin
Scott: Elton John
Favorite vacation spot
Sami: France
Scott: New Zealand
Favorite childhood activity
Sami: Theme Parks
Scott: Playing hide and seek
Favorite place to take a child
Both: Walt Disney World
We absolutely love Chicago.
We enjoy going on walks, runs, and bike riding along the lake and envision relishing the outdoors with your child. We look forward to going to the various museums, restaurants, and diverse neighborhoods of our city. Our home has an incredible view of the city, including the magnificent buildings, Chicago river, and Lake Michigan. We can’t wait to watch the boats go up and down the river with your child and enjoy the summer fireworks over the lake; these activities can also be enjoyed from the bedroom we have planned for your child!
In the springs and summers, we spend as much time outside as possible. The city has incredible parks including places to picnic while listening to live music and children’s themed locations. In the fall, we watch the colors change and try to get those last opportunities to be outside.
In the winter, we go to museums, the theater, and Christmas markets. In fact, the Disney Christmas parade goes right by our place!
The kitchen is the most active part of our home as Scott is always concocting new creations to eat. He even does weekly video chat cooking sessions with his mother.
Best things about our neighborhood:
Running along the lake
Picnicking at Millennium Park to the sounds of the orchestra
Grabbing a coffee at our local independent coffeeshop
Dining in our neighborhood restaurants with friends
Looking at modern art at the Art Institute of Chicago
Meet our family
Sami’s extended family loves sitting and chatting over a home-cooked meal. His father is a retired doctor and his mother studied French and was once a teacher.
We love our big Thanksgivings every year (for over 45 years!). Sami’s appreciation for the arts started with his parents introducing him to the arts institutions of Cleveland.
Today, Sami’s parents have retired to Florida and his mom loves sending photos of beautiful sunsets. She appreciates the beauty found in nature and has a new Wi-Fi picture frame where we will be excited to send pictures of your child. His brother has a beautiful lake house where all of us gather for some quality family time.
While Scott grew up on the family farm near his grandparents, his extended family lives throughout the US (Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and New York). Even though physically distant, we remain close. We love our family vacations and holidays and celebrations. His great grandmother passed away from MS, so we do fundraising bike rides together all over the country. Scott’s whole family are huggers and love seeing each other.
We have a family card game that we play – it’s very intense and highly competitive. We stay in touch with our weekly Zoom sessions and family text threads. No matter where we are, we frequently send photos after a run or bike ride or a mountain hike and group text: “wish you were here.”
Since the pandemic, Scott cooks each Friday night on video conference calls with his mom. One new recipe each week – just to challenge them.
We will teach our child:
Family traditions and stories
Giving back
Not giving up on dreams
Good manners
A strong sense of curiosity
Our Heartfelt Thanks
Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. We look forward to learning more about you. Hopefully you have gained an idea of what your child’s life with us as parents would be like. We hope to learn more about the history, culture, and traditions of your family and incorporate them into their life.
We welcome an open adoption, if you’re comfortable with that, and would love to provide updates in your child’s life as time goes by. We are eager for this new challenging and exciting chapter in our life to finally begin. We hope to raise your child with a strong sense of responsibility for oneself and for others, with an appreciation that we’re part of a global community and we rely on each other.