We met 12 years ago in New York City. At the time, Matthew spent his weekdays as a healthcare executive and volunteered with the NYPD on the weekends while Alexis kicked with the Radio City Rockettes and taught pilates. We quickly fell into our romance and married within the year. Over our decade of marriage, we’ve opened and sold a pilates studio, vacationed each July Fourth in South Beach, held several kitchen dance parties, and always counted down the days until college football season. Alexis has since retired from Broadway, focusing her energy on our community's outreach programs, neighborhood theater, and writing her first novel. Matthew remains a healthcare executive helping large hospitals around the country run efficiently. Whether we’re cleaning the gutters, cooking on Saturdays, or binging a Netflix show, above all, we enjoy spending every moment together.

We both grew up in the Midwest, and we moved back seven years ago to start our family. We chose Michigan because while Matthew’s parents and sister left his Wisconsin town, Alexis’s family stayed around Detroit. Although Alexis is an only child, our extended family quickly grew because of her father’s 11 siblings and their 45 children.

We meet one set of relatives each month to watch college football games, boat on the lake, or just hang out. In the summer, we have a reunion at a park, and each Christmas, we hold a party for everyone at our house. We have grown closer than we ever expected.

We fell in love with our Michigan neighborhood’s large trees, historical homes, and outstanding schools. A few blocks from our three-story, hundred-year-old home are shops, markets, and parks. We often walk our three small Yorkiepoos—Phoebe, Agnes, and Gertrude—to community events like Winterfest, Fourth of July fireworks, and the Thanksgiving parade. In the summer, we ride our neighborhood trolley to grab ice cream or a pizza from the local restaurants. Our tight community is also a short drive from Detroit, where we attend sporting events and visit museums.

We are planners. After three fun-filled years of marriage, we decided we were financially and emotionally ready to grow our family and knew it was time. Now, seven years later, we’ve survived six miscarriages and all the stuff infertility brings with it. Our journey has been challenging at times, but we have grown closer because of it. We cherish the bond we have today and find ourselves more ready to add a member to our family than ever before. We are excited to experience parenthood through adoption like so many of our friends and family members have. Their love and support as we begin this new journey together have been priceless, and we know they will always be close by to lean on in the future.