We’re Alyse and Jonathan, and we hope that we get a chance to meet you! We live in Oakland, California, we’re happily married, and we dream of raising a child together.

We met at work and quickly realized that we’d (finally) found what we’d been looking for after so many years of searching. We share so many things in common, we enjoy every moment we have together, and most of all we love and enjoy our family and friends. For us, we know that now is the time to build our own. If you’re still reading, please know that we understand this isn’t an easy choice for you and that we are open to building a life and a family that includes you.

About Alyse (from Jonathan)

I wake up every morning feeling lucky to have Alyse as my wife. I thought I’d met all kinds of people and experienced so many things, but when I met her I knew right away that I had found someone truly amazing. To know Alyse is to love her. She’s so kind and so thoughtful of others. I first knew her as the boss of a large group of people in an advertising agency, all of whom felt lucky to have a leader and mentor like her. She is caring. She is considerate. She wants to see everyone around her be happy.

Alyse is so close with her whole family, and she adores her nieces and nephews. She has been so close to each of them (there are 6) since they were born. Her twin nieces remember staying with Aunt Alyse for a weekend and they ate ice cream and watched fun girlie, teen movies the whole time! And Alyse loves getting out on the surf with her nephews and nieces for a little boogie boarding and wave diving—they all love being in the water! She has a calm to her and a clear love for her family that’s simply genuine. Her thoughtfulness and compassion make her the one that all of the adults trust with their troubles and turn to for advice.

There is only one Alyse. She is the same woman at work as she is at home and with family. She doesn’t know how to be anything other than genuine. And I can’t imagine anything better. I hate to be apart from her, and to me everything in life is better with her at my side. We’ve dreamt together about being parents. We share the same values and the same passion for children. She would make such a wonderful mother, and together I know we would be good parents.

About Jonathan (from Alyse)

Jonathan is probably the most genuine, warm, adventurous, and passionate person I know. He grew up riding bikes, rock climbing, and playing outside with friends, but always with a careful balance of working hard at school or at his job, caring for his friends and family, and taking that extra step to be considerate to those around him. When we started dating, I knew immediately that he was the man I didn’t think existed—a perfect match for me. We run and hike together, we picnic with turkey sandwiches, we cook together, we solve puzzles, and travel to amazing places.

Jonathan spent every summer with his grandpa at Lake Champlain in upstate New York. He had a very special relationship with his grandpa who taught him how to make his bed, how to fix cars, how to to ski, and how to be a thoughtful man. I wish I could have met him because I can still see the love and affection Jonathan feels for him. Because of his grandpa, Jonathan became Mr. Fix-it. He loves tinkering—whether its fixing bicycles or cars or fixing something around the house, he likes having projects. He also loves bringing his loved ones into his passions, so he has very patiently taught me how to mountain bike, install things in the house, and he taught me how to rock climb without intimidating me (he’s a very patient teacher!).

He loves shooting hoops with our nephews and nieces, and being the human jungle gym for the little ones. Jonathan has a special way with all kids. He is very kind and loves spending one-on-one time with kids—reading, helping with homework, or sitting and watching a movie.

Jonathan always checks in on me throughout each day. We share the chores, the errands, and the fun stuff—always. He is my best friend and the man of my dreams.

This is home

Welcome to Oakland! This is our home. Alyse has been in Oakland since 1997, and Jonathan has lived here since 2013. We love the outdoors and we love the city, so Oakland is perfect for us. We’re in a quiet neighborhood close to playgrounds, schools, and the centerpiece of Oakland—Lake Merritt. On the weekends we head for the trails and parks in the Oakland hills, take our dog, Toby, to the beach to chase his ball, and spend time enjoying our neighbors. We consider ourselves lucky to have found such an incredible place to call home. To us, Oakland is the perfect place to raise a child. It’s diverse in every way, full of unique opportunities to learn and experience, and offers so many of the things that lead to an open-minded view of the world.

This is us

Together. We love to be together. We love to enjoy life together. Our time in the mornings, the evenings, the weekends, and when we get time off are so precious. It’s as if we’re playing catchup for all the years we weren’t together. The thought of sharing the love we have for each other with a child is so important to us. It was tough when we found out we couldn’t have a child on our own, but we knew in our hearts that adopting a baby would be so fulfilling and is the right path for us.

Our passions. We enjoy all kinds of activities, indoor and outdoor. The most important thing is that we share many, many hobbies and passions together. Travel is probably our favorite thing to do, but we tend to enjoy every weekend as if it was its own vacation. We run, bike, swim, hike, play with Toby, and spend time with friends who live close by (and all of their kids too!). And we love to come home at the end of every day and, together, prepare good food and share the events of our day. We can see a little one joining us for each and every one of these things. We want to be parents who can show our child everything the world has to offer

This is our family

Our Growing Family. It really is all about family for us. When we came together, we combined two large families spread across the US (many of whom live right here in the San Francisco Bay Area). Alyse is the youngest of three, each sibling with children of their own. Jonathan has a big sister who has two kids. In total, there are eight nieces and nephews who have been such important parts of our lives since the day they were born. Spending time with all of them is a very important part of our life.

Both of us are lucky enough to have our parents alive and well, and still married. Alyse’s Mom and Dad live in St. Louis, but are considering a move closer to us, while Jonathan’s parents live near Philadelphia, and would love an excuse to head west to be a part of our growing family.

All of our family members, near and far, are so excited for us to be parents. They all see how we love our nieces and nephews and can’t wait for us to raise a child of our own.

So much more to say

When we sat down to write about us and share photos of our life, we knew the hardest part was saying everything you need to know about us. We can’t pretend to know what you’re going through and how you’re feeling, but we can offer our home, our compassion, and our love to you and your unborn child. We want nothing more than to be good parents and to offer a home where we all feel secure, loved, and happy. We hope to have a chance to meet you and tell you more.