Dan & Dana

Hello from Maryland! We have been married for 7 years and are excited to become first-time parents through adoption. We are grateful to be considered as your child’s adoptive parents. We would love to get to know you and learn about what you want for your baby and your vision for adoption.

About Us

• • We love to sing, make and eat good food, and spend time with people we love (especially the little ones). 
  • We believe that presence is the glue to every relationship and we are committed to being there for the people in our lives. 
  • We love to travel; give us a mountain, lake or river any day! 
  • When the weather is nice, we are probably hiking, paddling, or sitting on our front porch. 
  • Music is a big part of our lives; we love to make music together and go to concerts. 
  • We spend a lot of time with family, laughing, telling stories, and eating good food. 

We have carefully and intentionally considered adoption over the last eight years, after learning that a health condition makes pregnancy risky for both Dana and a baby. We believe in the ethos of adoption and are excited to grow our family in this way. 

We have a beautiful and happy life together and it would only be made more beautiful by the addition of a child (or two!).

About Dana

Dan says: Dana is a goofy, sincere, and kind person who loves fiercely. She adores children and has an incredible gift for connecting with all of the kids in her life. In daily life, Dana is an avid reader and a fantastic cook. She always wants to be near the water, and she particularly loves to swim and paddle lakes and rivers in her kayak. She also dabbles in many different art forms including painting, singing, dancing, and stained glass. 

Dana is a neuroscientist by training and now works as a scientific consultant, helping to implement a large-scale Parkinson’s research program. She loves her job and that she gets to do something so impactful. Dana works from home full-time, but travels for conferences on occasion. 

She can’t wait to share her love of learning, music, and cooking with her future children, and to give them the gift of her deep presence and joyful wonder!

About Dan

Dana says: Dan is a steady and curious person with a generally quiet demeanor that is often interrupted by his big bellowing laugh!  He is very intentional in how he goes about his days, in both serious work and fun adventures. Dan is a musician who composes and plays guitar, and he loves his job as a Music Professor at the local community college. He directs the music program at his school and one of his favorite parts of his job is advising the music students as they plan out their careers and futures in music. Many of his students are first-generation college-students and he deeply believes in the mission of serving this population.  

He loves to sing with me and play many different styles of music. Outside of music, he loves playing with his dog, chatting with friends, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and generally being outside. He also loves doing crossword puzzles, looking at maps, learning unnecessary facts, and telling jokes to anyone and everyone who will listen. 

He is excited to share his love of music with the baby, and can’t wait to putz around a lake with me and the baby in a canoe.

Our Family

• We live 30 minutes from Dan’s family and see them once or twice a month.
• Dana’s family is in North Carolina, but we keep in touch via phone and text and take turns visiting each other multiple times a year. 
• Both of our families have always had open door policies; if friends or acquaintances need a place to stay or somewhere to spend the holiday, they are always welcomed with open arms in our homes. This is a strong value that both of our families share and that we inherited. 

Our families are thrilled that we are adopting and we feel incredibly supported in choosing to grow our family in this way. Adoption and non-traditional family structures are part of each of our extended families, and one of Dana’s younger brothers joined her family through adoption when he was in high school.

Our Home in Maryland

We spend a lot of our time on the enclosed front porch or in the big backyard of our 100-year old house. We live in a friendly and diverse neighborhood where the neighbors know our dog’s name and the kids can all walk to school. The town’s 4th of July fireworks are in the park right across the street. It is just a short drive into the city or to the state park, so we always have fun places to explore!

Our Promise

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and what your child’s life could look like with our family. We are so grateful and honored to be considered as your child’s adoptive parents. We see adoption as a commitment to both you and your baby, and promise to always honor that commitment. We promise to create a fun and loving home for your baby. We promise that your child will always know the story of how they joined our family and that they are unconditionally loved.

We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

In Closing

Thank you for taking some time to get to know us! We are so excited at the prospect of welcoming a child (or children) into our family through adoption. We look forward to introducing them to our family traditions, the joy that is in paddling a river or lake, and three-part harmony. As your child grows, we would love to stay connected with you at your comfort level. We would be honored to talk with you more about your hopes for your baby’s future.