About Us

Hello! We’re Amanda and Zac from Illinois, married for 13 years. We have no children of our own, despite many years of trying. We’ve come to adoption because we still have a strong desire to be parents, and we have a connection to adoption through Zac’s maternal grandmother who was adopted. We love the life we’ve built together and have so much we hope to share with a child. We love nature, the arts, traveling the world and experiencing new things. We have a wonderful extended family and two loyal, playful dogs. We hope this gives you a chance to get to know us better and we hope someday we can get to know you too!

Our Multi-Generational Home

We live in our forever home in a Southwestern suburb of Chicago. Our city is an amazing place to raise kids with tons of activities to do inside and out! We love living close to the Fox River and the nature preserve. Our neighborhood is in a great school district and very safe.

Our home life is unique because it’s shared with Amanda’s mom, Joanne, Amanda’s brother, William, and his wife, Monika. A few years back, we all realized our values and future goals matched up perfectly, so we decided to create a multi-generational household together. We wanted a place where our kids could grow up with tangible love and support from our family. Everyone contributes and uses their unique strengths and skills to make life easier and happier for one another. We love living life with some of the people that mean the most to us!

Our Pets

Zephyr is our 11-year-old whippet, whose goofy nickname is Snute (it means ‘nose’ in Norwegian). He is a cuddly dog and is as sweet as they come, always curling up under a cozy blanket and sticking close to us wherever we go. Despite his age, Zephyr still has the heart of a puppy and the soul of a couch potato. He’s super fast and is a pro at fetching. He has a gentle nature with kids and a deep love for play.

Nova is Will and Monika’s three-year-old Australian Cattle Dog. She is a whirlwind of excitement, constantly on the lookout for new playmates and her next big adventure. She has protective instincts and matches Zephyr’s love of fetch.

Our Extended Family

Amanda’s Family: I grew up with three siblings: my older sister, Samantha (Sam), my younger brother, William, and my younger sister, Katelyn (Kate). Sam and her husband, Brian, live in Michigan and have one son, Christian, who is 13. They visit several times a year and Christian always stays with us for a few weeks in the summer. Will and his wife, Monika, live with us, and we love that our lives are intertwined. Will and I love doing home improvement projects, and Monika is amazing at making our house feel like home. Kate and her wife Mandy also live nearby.

Zac’s Family: Everyone in my family is still back in Canada where I was born and raised. My mom, dad, aunts, uncles and cousins live in Ontario. I love spending time with my parents and am especially close to one of my aunts, my mother’s sister, Wendy. We try to visit at least two or three times a year and are hoping to visit even more in the future! We would like for our child to have a strong connection with our Canadian family and to learn about Canada’s culture and history. It’s a beautifully diverse country and I can’t wait to share where I grew up with our child!

Our Parenting Philosophy

Our philosophy on raising children revolves around fostering independence, empathy and resilience. We believe in setting clear expectations, offering guidance and providing a nurturing environment for growth. For us, discipline is about teaching rather than punishment. It involves maintaining consistent boundaries while utilizing positive reinforcement and age-appropriate consequences. Our goal is to instill sound values and encourage accountability, empowering a child to make responsible choices.

What Adoption Means to Us

Like many couples hoping to adopt, we’ve struggled with infertility and have no children of our own. We’ve come to adoption because we still have a strong desire to be parents, an abundance of love to give and so much we hope to share with a child. We also have a connection to adoption through Zac’s grandmother, Violet, who was adopted.  She was separated from her birth family for more than 50 years, only reuniting with them later in life and finding that connection again meant so much to her. That’s partly why we believe in keeping this adoption as open and transparent as possible — should you desire it — with regular updates, frequent communication and visits. We’ve seen firsthand how important those bonds are to maintain and we believe that more love in a child’s life can never be a bad thing.