Zach and Shannon

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From Us to You

Dear Expectant Mother,

We want to start by acknowledging and honoring your courage, strength, and love. We cannot begin to understand the challenge that you are facing at this time. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering us to care for and cherish your child. We believe we were always meant to be adoptive parents, having struggled with infertility for many years. We know that sometimes life’s greatest joys come when we adapt to difficult circumstances and allow ourselves to walk the path in front of us. We’re so incredibly thankful and excited for the opportunity to expand our family.

When we first met, we instantly knew there was something special between us. We shared a lot of the same interests and goals and instantly felt comfortable with each other, like coming home. We’ve been married since 2006, and over that time, we’ve been so lucky to work together often, supporting each other’s goals. We’re fortunate to be able to work from home most of the time. Shannon is now a film industry consultant, and Zach is a real estate agent and attorney. We also believe it’s important to be active in our community and spend time volunteering and supporting various nonprofit organizations.

For several years, we’ve lived in a beautiful, safe, family-friendly community that’s just ten minutes from the beach. We’re steps away from two community pools, outdoor barbecues, a playground, basketball and tennis courts, and a community recreation room and library. We love animals and have two very sweet and adorable cats named Uta and Stella. They’re sisters, and they bring so much laughter and joy into our home. We think it’s great for children to grow up being comfortable around animals. We love to sit with “the girls” out on the lanai of our bright, cheerful condo and gaze out at the lake that is often visited by all kinds of wildlife like deer, turtles, and ducks! We can’t wait to share all of this with your child.

We have a passion for the arts, having both grown up doing school plays and community theater, which later lead us to screenwrite together. We’re definitely huge movie buffs. We enjoy seeing bands in concert, and we really love traveling to new and interesting places. We’re always making each other laugh, which is one of the key things that drew us together and keeps our marriage strong.

Both of our parents encouraged and supported our education as well as extracurricular activities so that we could grow into well-rounded adults. Shannon loves to read, and Zach is an avid musician, and we want you to know that your child will be supported in every way to thrive and pursue their passions and to become the extraordinary person they’re meant to be.

We’re blessed to have Shannon’s immediate family and many close friends living right here in town. And believe us, they’re all brimming with anticipation for the day we become parents! Your child will grow up in a loving environment where their curiosity is encouraged, and their inspiration is allowed to truly flourish.

Again, we can only begin to contemplate what you are going through at this time. Please know that your child will be so very warmly welcomed into our home and showered with all the love, compassion, and joy that they deserve. We want you to know if you choose us, we are committed to talking honestly with your child about the true love and bravery you’ve shown. And we’re fully supportive of having an open adoption and finding a plan that works for all of us. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little, and we look forward to meeting you soon!

With love and gratitude,

Shannon & Zach

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Our Lifestyle

Every morning we’re greeted with cuddles and purrs by our sweet cats, Uta and Stella, letting us know they want to play and eat! We both work from home, which means we get to check in with each other throughout the day, and often take a short break to go for a walk or bike ride in our neighborhood. We’re very fortunate to have flexible work schedules that will allow us to be there to raise your child, which is really important to us. We pretty much always have dinner together unless one of us has a business event or is meeting up with a friend. Most nights, we’ll either cook or order in, and then watch a movie or one of our favorite TV shows. On the weekends, we try to get together with family or friends; maybe spend the day at the beach or go listen to some live music in town. On Saturdays we meet up with Shannon’s dad for brunch, which is a great way to stay connected. We also love spending time with our niece playing board games, coloring, or swimming in the community pool. About once a month we’ll get together with our close group of friends for game night and laughs. We’ve thought a lot about how any of this might change once a baby joins our family. Of course, some things will change out of necessity, but we’ll still be sharing time with our family, even if bedtime is a little earlier with a newborn in the home! And while we won’t likely be going out as much, we have plenty of space to invite friends and family over to spend time with us and your little one.

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About Shannon

I really mean it when I say the night I met Shannon was the single greatest moment in my life. I knew I was looking for someone genuine, loving, faithful, and compassionate to share my life with, and in Shannon, I found so much more than I could ever have hoped for. Shannon is my best friend, my partner, my confidant, and champion. I feel so fortunate to have been welcomed into her family as if I’d always been a part of the team. Her father and I have developed the strongest of bonds, and her younger siblings have given me the chance to be a big brother, which I sincerely cherish. Shannon inspires me every day with her ability to persevere under the toughest of circumstances. She intuitively knows how to find the light at the end of the tunnel. She’s hardworking, brilliant, so talented, and down-right hilarious! Our home is a place where you’re pretty much guaranteed to find yourself laughing until your sides ache. Whenever I’m struggling with something, whether it’s at work or in my personal life, Shannon always manages to help me see things more clearly. She’s not just like that with me. Her oldest friends from elementary school still call her for advice. Everyone who meets her falls instantly in love with her – just as I did. She’s just so full of love and has an uncanny ability to make you feel safe when you’re around her. Watching Shannon spending time with our niece or with our friends’ children warms my heart. She’s a natural mama bear, protective yet sweet and playful, always encouraging their curiosity. I cannot wait to watch her share that same love and tenderness with your child.

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About Zach

When I first met Zach, I honestly wasn’t looking to date anyone, but there was this undeniable spark between us. Call it fate or whatever you will. I just knew there was something about him. His humor and creative spirit drew me in, but it was his kindness, patience, and attentiveness that made me fall in love with him. He is my best friend and my greatest supporter. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. Zach is truly one of the most loving and thoughtful people I have ever known. He’s warm and welcoming with everyone he meets. He has a natural charm and charisma, and he’s just so fun to be around. He’s incredibly smart and curious about the world but in a very down to earth way. And he is one of the funniest people I know! He makes me laugh all of the time, and it’s that humor that has helped us through our most difficult times. One of my greatest joys is watching Zach spend time with our niece and our friends’ children. Zach makes every activity fun and entertaining, and he really listens to what they have to say. They all adore him. I think it’s because he encourages them and connects with them without ever talking down to them. It fills my heart with joy knowing what an incredible dad Zach will be for your child.

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How We Met

From the moment we met, we both knew there was definitely something special between us. At the time, we were each living out west after college.  Little did we know we’d been spending time with our separate friend groups in the same neighborhood, on the same block, for over a year! We must have just missed each other countless times until one night, we struck up a conversation outside of our local coffee shop. It was clearly the hand of fate that connected us that night. We immediately clicked! We were both instantly attracted to each other’s wit, charm, and playfulness. And the rest is history!

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Why We Are Choosing to Adopt

Choosing to adopt has been an evolution. We’ve always wanted to have kids, but like a lot of people our road to parenthood hasn’t been easy. We tried for a long time to get pregnant naturally. We eventually tried IVF and considered other medical assistance, but we just weren’t able to conceive. Of course, it was difficult for us to deal with this loss. We’d always talked about the possibility of adoption, even before we were trying to get pregnant. So when we found ourselves at this moment in our lives, the answer was clear. Adoption is exactly the right choice for our family. We have some very close friends who were either adopted themselves, have adopted siblings, or have adopted children of their own. In each case, there’s a beautiful story of finding a family through the unexpected twists and turns of life. We know it takes enormous courage to bring your child into the world and then to trust another family to raise your child. We know in our hearts that we will give your child a safe, loving home where they’ll be cared for and nurtured. More than anything, we both know that we’re destined to be parents because we have so much love to give. Families come in all different shapes and sizes, and we know that it’s not how you start the journey but where you end up that matters.

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Home & Neighborhood

For several years, we’ve lived in a beautiful, safe, family-friendly community that’s just ten minutes from the beach where we’ll often see dolphins playing in the surf. From the moment we first walked into our condo, we knew it was the perfect place to start our family. We love how bright, cheerful, and airy the space is with its big, open kitchen connected to the dining room and living room where we cook, talk, and play games when we have friends or family over. We can’t wait to turn our extra bedroom into a warm, sunny space for your child to make their own. We have a beautiful lake out back where we’ll see turtles and ducks, and sometimes even spot a few deer! When our eight-year-old niece comes over, we’ll take her to the pool or the playground. Our neighborhood has lots of families who are always out riding bikes or playing tennis or basketball. We love going for long walks in our community and imagining the day we’ll be pushing a stroller along the path.

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Our Families & Friends

We’re blessed to have Shannon’s immediate family living nearby, including her mom and stepdad, dad, one of her sisters, and our eight-year-old niece. Shannon has three younger siblings, and Zach has an older brother. Zach’s family lives out of town, including his mom and cousins, that we see a couple of times a year. The rest of our family is a bit spread out, but we make a point to visit them or have a bunch of people get together for the holidays. We’re grateful to have made some really close friends through work and volunteering in our community. We all love getting together to share food and laughs, watch a movie, play games, or just catch up and spend quality time. Many of our friends have kids, so there’s plenty of birthday celebrations or fun family beach days throughout the year!

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Traditions

Traveling to visit family during Thanksgiving is a tradition we really love, and we try to make it happen at least every few years. It’s always so much fun to have a huge group of our extended family under one roof (a couple years ago, there were 27 of us)! There’s always tons of food, of course. Shannon’s aunts and cousins spend days preparing everything from the turkey to all the delicious sides. Oh, and homemade pies. So many pies! The whole house buzzes with joy and laughter, interrupted by the occasional outburst over one of the many college football games playing throughout the day. After dinner, we play cards or games while the classic Thanksgiving comedy “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” plays on the TV in the background. At some point during the weekend you can count on Shannon’s uncle to fire up the old family movies and slideshows. There’s no end to the good-natured teasing and laughing about outdated hairstyles and hilarious outfits from the old days. We’re truly grateful to have such a fun, loving, and supportive family.

Another one of our favorite traditions happens during Christmas time, and it’s all about the gingerbread house! We used to build and decorate one with Shannon’s brother when he was little. Now we build one every year with our niece, and we look forward to continuing this tradition as parents. The key to building an awesome gingerbread house is, of course, getting into the proper Christmas spirit! We crank up the holiday music mix and bust out our Santa hats. And then comes all the tasty candies, which we try (very hard) not to eat because they’re supposed to be decorations! There’s nothing better than the smell of gingerbread, gumdrops, and peppermints filling the air. We’re really lucky to have so many family members living in town to celebrate the holidays with us. On Christmas Eve, Shannon’s mom and stepdad usually host at their place, where they cook up a storm of classic Italian dishes along with an assortment of everyone’s favorites. Shannon loves to bake holiday cookies, her sister makes a mean spinach dip, and her mom makes possibly the best deviled eggs you’ve ever tasted! The more the merrier is definitely our motto, so Shannon’s dad, brother, her other sister, and some childhood friends will come over to join in the festivities. Shannon’s dad was in a singing group back in the day, so we’ll play his band’s holiday mix throughout the night. Sometimes we’ll do a White Elephant gift exchange and see who can give the best gag gift! Christmas Day wouldn’t be complete without Zach making a huge batch of his famous chicken cutlets (a recipe passed down from his mom). We’re holding a place in our hearts and home for your child and can’t wait to bring them into our family.

In the springtime, we always head up to the New York and New Jersey areas to see friends and family. We’ll spend some time with Zach’s mom and her boyfriend. She’s a painter, so it’s always a cool experience to go to a museum with her to get her perspective on some of her favorite art exhibits. Zach’s cousins live near NYC, so we’ll meet up to grab a slice of some of the best pizza in the world (no offense to Chicago), and we’ll also make a point to see some mutual friends while we’re there. Zach’s brother lives overseas, but it’s wonderful to connect up with him too if he’s in town. New York is such an incredible city full of so much amazing art, culture, and food, and we try our best to pack as much into each trip as possible. That includes catching a Broadway play or two before heading home to Florida. It’s our dream to share all of this joy, love, and laughter with your child and to create new memories and traditions as parents. We’re so excited for the day that dream finally comes true!

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Travel & Leisure Time

We’re very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the country, so on weekends we can go to the beach where we can go for a swim or do some stand-up paddle boarding. We like to get together with our friends for a barbecue, game night, or movie marathon. Sometimes for a change of scenery we’ll take a drive within a few hours from home. On long weekends, we might go to Disney World with our family and eight-year-old niece. Shannon’s dad is a huge Yankees fan and we try to get to at least one game a year when they play in Florida. We also love traveling to new and interesting places whenever we can get away. A few summers ago, we were able to take an extended road trip, which was incredible! We saw some of the most memorable and iconic national parks and visited a few cities we’d always wanted to see. Along the way, we took a ton of photos, ate some great food, and met some really wonderful people. We also made a point to visit some of our friends and family that we don’t get to see as often as we’d like. The entire trip, we kept saying how amazing it will be to do this as a family of three someday. We can’t wait to explore new places with your child and revisit some of our favorite spots!

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What We Will Teach

We hope to teach your child to be kind, thoughtful, and considerate. We want to encourage their curiosity and creativity and support them to strive to be the best they can at whatever they set their mind to. There’s nothing more amazing in this world than watching a child’s eyes light up as they discover something new. That wonder and amazement is the fuel that encourages education. We want them to know they’re loved and safe, so they can be resilient and courageous to take on new challenges. And we hope to teach them that no matter what they come up against in life, we will always be there to understand, love, and support them.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that your child will be raised in a safe and joyful home that’s filled with so much love and laughter. They will always be encouraged and supported to pursue their dreams, and to grow up happy, healthy, and strong in every way. We’ve put in a lot of work to become the people we are today and to become the incredibly strong couple we are as well. From the beginning of our relationship, we’ve always thought of ourselves as a team. Whatever issues we have to face, we face them together, and we always have each other’s back. We believe clear communication, respect, compassion, and a great sense of humor are essential ingredients to a happy marriage and to being loving, patient, and supportive parents. We will always be grateful for the enormous trust and honor you’ve given us. Your child will always know what a loving, brave, and courageous person you are.  We will give your child everything we have to make sure they have the best life possible.