State We Live in: Ohio
Our Religion: Christian
Stay At Home Parent: Yes
Our Age Preferences: Newborn-3 Months, 3 Months – 12 Months, 1 and 2 Years, 3 and 4 Years
Our Gender Preferences: Either Gender
Our Race Preferences: African American/Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, Caucasian/African American, Caucasian/Asian, Caucasian/Hispanic, East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern
Sibling Group: Yes
Oldest up to 4 years
Open to Twins: Yes
Learn More About Us
We're Open To Visits!
Call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784.
Hi! We’re Alex and Alina and we live in central Ohio with our golden retriever, Donut.
Our goal is to provide a childhood that is as stable as it is enriching. Whether it’s visiting friends in Central America, family business trips to Europe and Asia, or just enjoying a tailgate with family in Ohio, we value being shaped by people and experiences at home and abroad. We hope to continue this by raising a future child with a traditional midwestern upbringing enriched by international cultures, people, and travel.
We hope this page helps you get a sense of who we are so you can actually feel like you know us.
Thank you for considering us.
About Us
We met on an academic trip to France and instantly hit it off. First as debate partners, then as friends, and eventually…so much more than that! These days we each have our own careers in addition to working on a nuclear reactor startup together. We both moved to Ohio to be closer to family before building a family of our own. Both of us were raised around cousins and wanted our kids to have similar childhoods. Together we enjoy going to new countries, helping out with church events, and working on the same nuclear reactor startup.
Adoption was never just our backup plan. Before we even met, each of us had independently thought about adoption as part of our future family. It came up early in dating and has been part of our picture ever since. Adoption is already a part of Alina’s family, having a sister and a cousin who were adopted.
About Alina
Alina can typically be found outdoors! She works for a conservation group and is often in the woods leading groups on hikes, on horseback, underwater, or on cow farms. She cares about the natural world and has built a career around trying to protect and improve it.
Things Alina loves:
-Growing flowers and vegetables
-Playing flute and singing for the church music ministry
-Writing articles on energy policy for newspapers
-Teaching kids in everyday moments about plants, animals, physics, or any other question they might have
-Reading deeply, especially public policy, child development, health and wellness, and anything that changes how she thinks
Alina loves kids and kids love Alina! She’s always playing with our nephews or kids at church, and has previously worked with kids as a nanny, tennis instructor, software coding teacher, and camp counselor. She is looking forward to teaching our future child about music, science, and the natural world.
About Alex
Alex works in finance and management with a range of companies including energy and real estate, and is finishing his second book on the side. He has worked on multiple continents and brings a global perspective to everything, but his favorite place is always wherever his family is.
Things Alex loves:
-Reading! He finished over 100 nonfiction books last year
-Economics, technology, and any topic that can help us improve the world
-Sports — he played basketball all the way through college and follows the Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Blackhawks, and Duke basketball
-Playing with, walking, and goofing around with our dog, Donut
“Uncle Alley” is our nephews’ favorite adult to have in the playroom or reading books at bedtime. He’s also beloved by the kids at church, mostly for his ability to give really tall piggyback rides. He’s looking forward to practicing for sports with our future child and teaching them to think critically about politics, economics, and how the world works.
Our Family
Family is the center of our life. We moved to central Ohio specifically to be close to Alex’s sister’s family, who live less than 5 minutes away. We see our two and four-year-old nephews and our brand-new niece often for weeknight dinners, Saturday Ohio State games, and when Nana and Poppa come to town every few weeks to visit.
Family traditions we’re excited to share:
-“Pizza Friday” every week with Alex’s sister’s family
-Using Alex’s work as an excuse to take trips abroad
-Visiting Alina’s family in Buffalo for snowy Christmases
-Pickup games in the yard, driveway, and field across the street
-Learning as a family about any topic our future child is interested in
Our Home and Neighborhood in Ohio
We live in a 5-bedroom house that we bought with the intention of growing our family. We have multiple guest rooms just waiting for kids! We have a garden that Alina keeps expanding and a huge home library that just keeps growing. Our backyard provides ample space for sports, fetch with Donut, and more.
Our neighborhood is the kind with a million kids outside:
– Parks and playgrounds within walking distance
– A community pool with a summer swim team
– A safe, friendly street where children ride bikes, fish, and play pickup games
– Top-rated schools
– Annual 4th of July parades, neighborhood fireworks, and kids playing kickball
We also love our neighbors. Our next-door neighbor is an elementary school teacher and Alina is often with her walking the dogs, wrapping Christmas presents together, or chatting in the backyard.
Our Promise to You
We want you to know we’ve thought about you, not just about a baby, and we don’t take lightly that you’re reading this.
-We promise to give your child a home where adoption is spoken about with pride and openness from the very beginning.
-We promise to be parents who will take every interest seriously and chase every curiosity alongside them.
-We promise your child will be surrounded by family and a community that is full of happy children who will grow up alongside them.
-We promise to help your child pursue as much education as they choose to chase, in the classroom and outside of it.
-We promise that your child will always know about you and their adoption story. We are committed to honoring your place in their life through an open adoption, if you choose.
We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
More About Alex
Education: Masters Degree - Finance
Profession: Finance
Stay-At-Home: No, but works from home (flexible)
Racial Background: Caucasian
His Favorites:
Music: Country
Food: Steak
Sport: Basketball
Dessert: Ice Cream Cake
Places We've Visited: Argentina, South Africa, and Singapore
Hobbies: Lifting weights and half marathon training
Church Hymn: Amazing Grace
More About Alina
Education: Masters Degree - Public Policy
Profession: Nonprofit Director
Stay-At-Home: Yes - my job is flexible and will be scaled to allow me to provide childcare full-time
Racial Background: Caucasian
Her Favorites:
Music: Indie/Folk
Food: Pasta
Sport: Football
Dessert: Boston Cream Pie
Places We've Visited: Morocco, Switzerland, Maldives
Hobbies: Hiking and kayaking
Church Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Gallery
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More About Our Family
Why Adoption?
Adoption is personal in our family. Alina's sister was adopted, and since they're only six months apart it was like having a built-in best friend from the start. She has taught us so much about her experience, and Alina has always admired the way she has stayed close with her birth mom, even visiting her annually out of the country. We also have friends nearby in the process of adopting their second child, and feel it’s important that our child grows up with others who share that experience so they never feel alone in it.
Our Faith Community
We're part of a young and growing church plant that has become an anchor in our life here. The congregation skews young (there are more children than adults, almost all under ten!) and Sunday mornings are chaotic in the best possible way. Our pastor has been alongside us since we were dating, and we’ve learned a ton from how he and his wife raise four young kids of their own.
Our Parenting Approach
Our approach to parenting is aimed at providing our future child with the knowledge, independence, and freedom to thrive. We are against smart phones at a young age and think that kids should be allowed to be kids without being overloaded with screens. We believe in calm, connected discipline: setting clear boundaries while staying patient and kind, because we want our child to feel secure, not scared.
We believe that kids should be encouraged to do things like ride their bikes around the neighborhood, learn by starting a small business, take on age-appropriate risks, and figure things out without us hovering. We want to help our child become confident and capable because we trusted them to grow.
Plans for Childcare
We will not be using daycare and plan to have Alina stay home once we have a child. Since Alex works from home, he'll be around a lot too. We look forward to this next chapter of our lives!
In Closing
Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents! We are excited to grow our family and to share our lives with a child. We value an open adoption. Please contact Lifetime to ask about setting up a call with us, we'd be honored to learn more about you and your child.