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Hello, We Are Margot and John!
Welcome To Our Page!

Dear Expectant Parent,

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. Our names are Margot and John and we are hoping to expand our family through adoption. We appreciate you looking through our site to see if we might be the right family to parent and to also love your child, as choosing adoption may seem overwhelming as you try to decide if this is the right choice for you and your child. We hope that you are able to learn more about who we are as a couple and as a family, and the life we would hope to give to your child.

Our Story

We have been happily married for fifteen years. While we don’t always agree on the same music or movies, we deeply love each other and always have fun doing stuff together. We met in college in Minnesota, and we moved across the country several times to support each other’s careers. We lived in California for John’s work for several years, and then we lived in New England for Margot’s work for about 10 years. We moved back to the Midwest more recently, which has been great for us, and we are close to family again. We loved living in all these different places as it allowed us to experience new areas and meet new people.

While in New England, we welcomed our son, Bevan, to the world. We were overjoyed with having our first child. After the last move, we wanted to grow our family and give Bevan a sibling. Unfortunately, life had different plans for us. We explored fertility treatment options and stopped because of the very small chance of success. Despite these setbacks, we still very much want to grow our family.

About Margot

Margot grew up in Northern Wisconsin and in a very small town surrounded by lakes and trees, which inspired her to be either an artist, a musician, or a biologist. Biologist won. Margot teaches biology courses and does research at a local college. Margot spent her childhood playing the piano, reading, drawing, camping, and being the pesky little sister to her two older brothers. She has many happy memories of being out on the water, fishing, swimming, bonfires, and enjoying the outdoors with her family around the area where her mom still lives. Her father, a goofy, larger-than-life, wonderful man, passed away unexpectedly many years ago. Somehow, our son inherited some of his magic even though they never met. Margot still finds time to play the piano, read, make jewelry, and bake sweet treats, as well as stay in touch with family and friends.

About John

John is a biologist at a laboratory but spends his workdays at home. This allows him flexibility for mid-day school concerts, school pick-ups, and after-school care. John grew up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. His childhood was a textbook 80’s suburban latchkey childhood filled with free-roaming kids. John also spent a lot of time with his grandma growing up and learned how to cook from her. Like Margot, he also has two brothers. In his free time, John likes to play guitar, bike, hike, camp, game, and go to rock concerts.

About Bevan

Our son Bevan loves anything related to dragons, especially his pet bearded dragon he named Darkt (the k is silent). Our son’s other passions are Harry Potter and making “potions”. He is often found reading, listening to audiobooks, or playing soccer with the kids in our neighborhood. He is excelling in his ninja gymnastics program and also enjoys swimming and singing. He is a busy little guy! He has a big heart and he cares deeply for his family, friends, and teachers. He is very excited to be a big brother.

About Us

Margot Favorites:

Foods: Cheese, strawberries, coffee, tiramisu
Movies: Fifth Element, Moana, The Holiday
Books: Remarkably Bright Creatures, Contact, What Dreams May Come
Holiday: 4 th of July and Christmas
In My Mix Right Now: NPR, Adele, Norah Jones, Ed Sheeran
Place I Would Love to Visit: Australia and Fiji
Favorite Card/Board Games: Scrabble, Cribbage, Euchre, Exploding Kittens
Life Philosophy: Be kind
Favorite thing about being a parent: Weekend morning cuddles
Smell: Lily of the valley and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies

John’s Favorites:

Foods: Dark chocolate, coffee, a good burger and fries, a big bowl of ramen or phở
Movies: The Lord of the Rings, Ratatouille, Spaceballs, Hot Fuzz, Onward
Books: Jurassic Park, The Stormlight Archive series, Harry Potter series, Children of Time
In My Mix Right Now: Hot Mulligan, Jurassic 5, My Chemical Romance, Run the Jewels, Zach Bryan, The Get Up Kids, Blink 182, Lewis Capaldi
Place I Would Love to Visit: New Zealand, Alaska, and Yosemite National Park
Favorite Video Games: Anything Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda
Favorite Card/Board Games: Euchre, Exploding Kittens, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
Life Philosophy: Try to be better than I was yesterday
Favorite thing about being a parent: Surprise hugs
Smell: Cedar and that smell of rain on dry soil in the summer

Home and Community

Besides our son and his dragon, our family also includes a silly, large, cuddly dog named Bodie that we rescued from a local shelter. We’ve also had a box turtle named Zeus for over 20 years. As a family, we enjoy spending time together inside and outside.

We live near Chicago, on a quiet street and surrounded by tall trees. We have access to excellent schools, beautiful parks, lots of diverse restaurants, bike paths, and safe neighborhoods. Given our suburban location, we have access to lots of family-friendly activities and experiences. We continue to keep a lookout for new experiences, as Bevan is always seeking exciting adventures. We feel blessed to have so many options and families with children around us and to be able to raise Bevan in this nurturing and stimulating environment.

Family Lifestyle

A day in the life of our family includes juggling the usual things: work, school, household tasks, cooking, and errands. To mix it up, we often go to local parks, restaurants, and beaches and spend time with friends. We especially love visiting the shore of Lake Michigan to find interesting rocks, sea glass, and fossils. In the summer, we go hiking, mini-golfing, biking, and camping, and if the winter weather cooperates, we’ll go sledding, ice skating, and skiing in the winter. We enjoy playing cards, video games, and board games together, as well as going to local museums, gardens, and zoos. We also like to cook and bake. We enjoy traveling to visit family or to explore exciting new places.

One of our annual traditions is to visit family in Wisconsin every summer and fish, swim, ride go carts, and eat too much ice cream. We also see family every Thanksgiving and Christmas for good food and family fun. We would love to add another child to our adventures and to share in the love and good times.

Support System

We understand the importance of family, which is why we are still growing ours. We’re experienced parents and have a wonderful, loving, and supportive network of family and friends. We visit Margot’s mom often and Margot is close with her brothers. Margot’s oldest brother lives in Ohio with his family of five and her other brother lives in Wisconsin. We’re about halfway in between so we can be together often and continue some old (and a few new!) traditions since moving back to the Midwest. Bevan especially loves seeing his three Ohioan cousins, who are very excited for the possibility of welcoming a new cousin to the family. We are also lucky to have a large support group of local friends and neighbors, some of which have babies to teenagers. We treasure all of these connections and we can count on each other to celebrate life’s highs and provide support during the lows.

Parenting Philosophy and Values

We view our role as parents role is to shepherd a child through their unique path rather than designing a path we feel they should follow. We do our best to guide and coach Bevan, and hopefully will continue to do the same with another child in the future. We aim to nurture their unique personalities and interests, and support their journey with love and respect into adulthood and beyond. Being that we both have graduate degrees, education is important to us and we try to instill that thirst for knowledge in our children so that they become life-long learners. To us, education is a tool to find and sustain a fulfilling life, not a box to check off at one point in life. We are not currently active in any religious practices, yet we do encourage the common values shared among several religions – namely practicing kindness and empathy, supporting your loved ones and community, and being a good person. We will carry on our current family traditions, holidays, and seasonal celebrations, and welcome new ones that may spontaneously happen and stick in our routines. We hope for the best in our children and that the guidance and love we show them will lead them to a satisfying and happy life.

Thank You!

We promise to provide a stable, loving, and nurturing home and to embrace the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of our future child. We’ll be there for them no matter what. We’ll encourage them to follow their dreams and be the best version of themselves. We are truly grateful for your time and we recognize your difficult situation. We want the decision you make to be the best outcome for everyone, especially your beloved child. We know that this must be an incredibly hard decision and we want you to know that we respect you and admire your courage.

We wholeheartedly welcome an open adoption and see you as part of our community, if you are willing. We believe that a child knowing their “tummy mommy” (and family) can help them understand who they are and where they came from. We’ll always be honest and open with them about their adoption and we will provide love and support as they navigate their adoption journey.

With gratitude,

Margot and John

FAQs

What is open adoption and how does it work?

Open adoption allows you to select the adoptive family yourself, get to know them, and remain in contact following the placement. Every adoption and every birth mother is unique, so the amount of openness and type of contact can look different. You can make choices about the level of openness depending on what feels comfortable for you.

What support is available for me?

The adoption process can feel complex and confusing. We are working with a licensed adoption agency in our home state. They are also available to provide counseling and support services to you to help navigate the adoption process. Alternatively, if you prefer, they can also connect you with an agency or attorney in your home state. For information on the support they can provide, click here.