Hello from Boston! We’re Justin & Brent and we appreciate you taking the time to read our profile. We’re a married couple in our 30s and are both very excited about becoming parents.

We know that this cannot be an easy decision to make based on just a few words and pictures and you have our utmost respect for considering this brave and loving choice. Hopefully as you explore our profile and get to know us you'll see that we're the right fit for you and your child. We want to share with you how thankful we are to have each other and how important family is to us.

We promise to raise your child in a safe and loving home full of books, games, laughter, and hugs; and to try to show the same strength and courage as you, their birthmother.

We hope that you find a family that matches your hopes and dreams for your child - if you think that may be us, then please continue and get to know a bit more about who we are.

Wishing you all the best (and a good read).

OUR LIFE TOGETHER

Despite having grown up less than 10 minutes apart and attending school in the same county in Maryland, we didn’t meet until we were 25. When Justin returned from graduate school in California, we met online and from the first time we hung out we both knew we’d become best friends - though neither of us thought we’d end up dating. We began spending a lot of time together (there may have been one night of driving around aimlessly singing along to musicals) and falling for each other.

We’ve been together for over ten years and married for eight. We share many of the same interests and typically enjoy quiet nights together at home reading, watching movies, or playing video games.

As gay men, we've dreamed of building our family together through adoption. We turned to adoption easily because many relationships in our family are not based on a biological connection, though we recognize the importance of such ties. Justin and his sister were conceived with the help of anonymous sperm donors, and Justin’s sister and her wife just had a baby, also thanks to artificial insemination.

We’ve both always loved working and volunteering with kids and have been looking forward to fatherhood for some time now. Now that we're in our 30s we can’t wait to have a little one of our own and make our family complete.

WHERE WE LIVE

We live right outside of Boston and both work in the city. We love taking advantage of all that Boston has to offer – great restaurants, museums, parks, and theaters. While Boston is a big city, it reminds us both of Baltimore (where we're both originally from) in that it’s small enough that people are still friendly.

We've recently made the leap and become homeowners after spending a few years deciding on where to settle down. The most important part of picking where to live around Boston was finding good schools because we both love learning new things and want our child to as well. We also really like where we live due to its strong sense of community. There are all sorts of activities to do, especially for kids during the summer. Fun fact: There are more families by adoption in our city than anywhere else in Massachusetts!

We love our house. It was built in the 1930's and has a ton of charming details like beautiful woodwork, an antique kitchen stove, and an awesome fireplace. Our most used room in the house is probably our living room, where you can often find us spending time together on our couch. A small den sits off to the side. We're looking forward to filling it with toys; it will make a great place for our little one to play. 

MEET JUSTIN BY BRENT

Justin is my best friend and the person I want to share the highs and lows of my life with. He's always understood me (often better than I understand myself...which I try not to let bother me!) and constantly helps me be a better person. He's supported me through decisions big and small, always offering wisdom and advice to help me choose the best path for me. I know he'll always love me and our child, no matter what.

Justin is probably the smartest person I know. He loves learning and would still be in school if I would let him. When we met he already had his Masters degree in computer science and then went back to school to earn his Ph.D. in child developmental psychology. He will definitely be the one helping with homework!

I also love how he continues to learn working at a science museum. I'm constantly learning new things from him and am impressed by his intelligence and drive.

One of the things I love most about Justin is that I know he'll make a wonderful father. He is amazing with kids. That's not an exaggeration either!  Not only does he work with kids constantly in his job, and know them inside and out from his studies in college, but he genuinely loves spending time and having fun with them. He's like a big kid himself - rolling around on the floor, being silly and goofy, and talking with kids in a way they understand.  Justin is by far the favorite uncle and older cousin. The kids in our family adore him and I know a child of our own will love him too.

MEET BRENT BY JUSTIN

Brent’s the caregiver and the organizer in the family. He makes sure everything in our house has its place (and usually even remembers to tell me where that place is!). I know our child will always be proud to bring his or her friends into our beautiful home.

He’s also an amazing baker and can beautifully decorate a cake. He taught himself, and even made his mother's wedding cake when she remarried. I look forward to watching him spend time in the kitchen with our child, teaching our little one all of his tricks.

Brent makes me laugh, especially when he laughs. He’ll sit quietly through a ton of jokes that have me cracking up, only to lose it at some little play on words.

I've known he'd be a great father since he first met my extended family. My cousin’s daughter decided she wanted to play “Horsey” and asked to loop a jump rope around his chest and lead him around the house. Despite never having met most of the people in the room, five minutes later he comes trotting out of the kitchen, with my cousin’s daughter behind him laughing her head off. I can’t wait for him to be able to horse around with our child too.

JUSTIN'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY

My mother is one of four children so my younger sister and I grew up with a lot of cousins. There are 10 of us in total and 7 in the next generation. Many of them live in West Virginia and with us living in Boston we often cannot see each other multiple times in a year like we did when we were kids. When we do get together it’s like no time has passed; you’d think we saw each other every day.

My sister and her wife just had a baby of their own. It will be great that our children will be close in age. We hope we can give them the same experience we had growing up with cousins.

We’re particularly close to my cousin Jaime and her two children, despite the fact that they live in North Carolina. The kids can barely contain themselves whenever we have a chance to get together, even if it’s been a year or two – for that matter, neither can we!

Family beach trips are a (nearly) annual tradition and often include parts of my extended family. The thing I'm looking forward to most about being a father is giving my child the same experiences I had running around and playing games with cousins by the ocean.

BRENT'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY

My family still lives in Maryland. In fact, my older sister still lives in our hometown!  I love when we're able to travel back home to visit. We make it a priority to see them multiple times a year. We take advantage of email and video chats to stay connected, our oldest niece Reagan will even email us herself.

Our favorite family tradition is a new part of Christmas. When we come home, Justin and I go to my sister's house on Christmas Eve day and take her kids to lunch and a fun activity – our oldest niece refers to this as our “Christmas Date.”  We get to spend time with them and my sister Melanie gets some time to get things ready for Christmas Day. Soon we'll be able to turn the tables on my sister and leave our little one to "help" her get ready.

A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

We both have fun jobs that we love. Brent works at a fancy restaurant downtown and gets to learn all about different foods. Justin works at a science museum and does all sorts of things, like helping people learn how our organs work - with real organs!

While we love to have fun at home and at work, our newest adventure was getting our SCUBA certification.

It’s an absolutely amazing experience to get to breathe underwater!

Justin will be teaching our little one to swim and when she or he is older we hope to share our love of the ocean with him or her as well.

Here are some of our top favorites:

Movie

  Justin – Clueless

  Brent  – Sister Act

Holiday

  Justin – Halloween

  Brent  – Christmas

Junk Food

  Justin – Pretzels

  Brent  – Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Music Artist

  Justin – Spice Girls

  Brent  – Lisa Loeb

Video Game

  Justin – Legend of Zelda

  Brent  – Skyrim

Travel Destination

  Justin – Disneyland

  Brent  – Hawaii

Tradition

  Justin – Opening one Christmas present on Christmas Eve with my sister

  Brent – My best friend’s family hosts a yearly day-long party where everyone works together to make and jar apple butter, we call it Apple Butter Day!

Memory together

  Justin – My first birthday after we started dating. Brent puts so much thought into any gift he buys that they’re always perfect. I knew how caring he was right away.

  Brent – Taking Justin to karaoke. I love to sing and would go every week with my friends. He didn’t know it, but inviting him along was a major step!

 

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

1.    We value learning and will encourage our child to follow their curiosity

2.    We will play on the floor, sing in the car, read together before bed, and snuggle up on the couch watching movies

3.    We will teach our child to be kind and open minded, and to respect and value others’ differences

4.    We believe in the importance of helping a child learn to understand their feelings and the consequences of their choices

5.    We will keep our child connected to our extended family – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and beyond. Big family vacations are the best vacations!

6.    We will keep our child connected to his or her birthfamily - through stories, or more direct contact if you would be willing

7.    We value laughter and a light-hearted, playful approach to life

8.    We will always be loving, accepting, and supportive (though we may sometimes have parental advice!)

THANK YOU

Thank you again for taking the time to read our profile. We know that reading through all these profiles is probably a bit overwhelming, but we hope we’ve given you a good glimpse into who we are, what our family is like, and the kind of home we would provide for your child.

Even if we’re not the best match for you, we wish you the best in your search and we’re sure that you’ll find a great home. If you think our home might be the right one for your child and you have any questions we would love to talk with you.

Justin & Brent