A Note to You
Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and for considering us as adoptive parents. We are Hayden and Kevin. We have been together for more than 11 years and have been married since December 2022.
We understand this is a deeply personal and emotional journey for you, so we respect and support whichever path you choose. If we are chosen as parents, we will raise your little one with fun, love, stability and openness.
Our promise is that adoption will always be part of your child’s identity and story, and we welcome the level of connection and communication that feels right for you at whatever time. We will be sure that your child will know who you are, and that they understand how important they truly are.
Our Story
The year is 2014 and the place is Iowa. We are both in college and meet on a dating app. While our first date was pretty bad, we saw a horror movie and barely spoke, our second date changed everything. We connected instantly and started building a life together.
After living in Chicago for seven years, we moved into a spacious home in Des Plaines, Illinois. We’ve spent our 11+ years together growing in our careers, traveling, hosting parties, cooking with friends, raising our pups and now turning our house into a home we plan to raise a family in.
We have two French bulldogs, Gatsby and Loki. Gatsby is our sleepy old man and Loki is our goofy ball of energy. Together, they bring a lot of love, and fur, to our lives.
When we’re not working or playing with our dogs, we love traveling. We also spend a lot of weekends at our family lake house in Wisconsin for sunshine, games and boat rides.
Meet Hayden
Hayden grew up in the small town of Rockton in northern Illinois. He currently works as an in-house attorney at a global leadership consulting firm and has been with the company for five years. He’s someone who truly loves learning, whether it’s reading about science or history, trying new recipes, or exploring new places and cultures. Those who know him describe Hayden as smart, motivated, sociable, upbeat and positive.
As described by Kevin: Hayden’s truly my best friend and I’m so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. He’s the smartest person I know, but he also makes everyone feel seen and heard. He’s thoughtful in ways big and small, and always shows up when it counts. Watching Hayden with our nieces, nephews and godchildren makes it so clear that fatherhood is going to come naturally to him.
Meet Kevin
Kevin was born and raised in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood. He works remotely as a product design manager for a logistics company. With a creative mind and love for solving problems, he brings thoughtfulness and fun into everything he does. Cooking and hosting is a big part of his identity, as well as having cozy time at the end of the day. He’s described as goofy, thoughtful, loyal and always the one making everyone laugh, basically the class clown with a big heart.
As described by Hayden: Kevin is fiercely loyal to his friends and family and has a great head on his shoulders. He is driven, yet realistic and truly brings out the best in people. He is always the funniest person in the room, and has surrounded himself with great friends who have also become my friends. Our nieces and nephews view him as the fun uncle and always run to him for play time, and I know he is going to be a fantastic dad.
Our Hopes for Adoption
Separately and together, we’ve always known we wanted to become parents. Being a gay couple, adoption has always been our planned route to parenthood since our second date.
Our life together over the 11+ years has been through many ups and downs, but now at this point in our marriage, careers and home life, we are ready and excited to grow our family.
We’ll raise our child with empathy, structure, compassion and plenty of humor. Faith isn’t a primary part of our lives, but we want to raise our child to do good because it helps them in their life and the lives of others.
We value education, self-expression, kindness and confidence. We’re not perfect, but we are ready and fully-committed for life.
Thank you for considering us. We hope this gave you a glimpse into our life and hearts. No matter where your path leads, we’re grateful to be part of your process!
