Alex is adopted. She was adopted at birth by her parents and three siblings. Adoption is something she is incredibly proud of and does not hold back from telling others about her story. She knows that adoption gave her the life and family her birth mother could not offer her. Her parents are her best friends (they talk on the phone almost every day), and she knows that she is where she was always supposed to be. She also knows how brave, strong and unselfish her birth mother was. There is not a Mother's Day or birthday that goes by that she does not think of or thank her birth mom.

Adopting is something Alex has wanted to do since she was in high school, and Fernando has always supported this idea since starting a family. Adoption is special. Alex looks forward to sharing a special bond with this child because she will understand how it feels to be raised by an adopted family. We are ready to support this child in any way. We especially look forward to helping our child develop, grow and live a long and fulfilling life with a loving family. We will welcome this child into our family with open and loving arms.

We have one son named Houston and we feel blessed to have him in our life. He loves to play outside, swim, sing, dance, watch Disney movies, and play with toys. He is shy at first, but once he warms up he is full of personality. We love to have dance parties in our kitchen and go for walks to the park. He loves to FaceTime with his grandparents, and he especially loves it when they come to visit him. He is very much looking forward to being a big brother and we feel he will love helping take care of his little brother or sister. He is very loving and shares his love with us and our dog and is always mindful of our well-being. If we say "OW", he quickly replies "Mommy/Daddy OK?" and rushes over to us. Our son loves to use his imagination and likes playing with his Toy Story and Super Mario toys (he especially LOVES his Luigi doll and takes him everywhere) so we think he will enjoy playing with a younger sibling. Fortunately, our son's daycare has stressed the importance of sharing and that has come through well when our son plays with friends his age. Both of us love being parents to him, but we know our family is not yet complete. We look forward to having another child in our family to share some of our favorite things. We look forward to seeing our kids bond. Our brothers and sisters were important parts of our lives and they still are - the bond between siblings is such a special bond and we can't wait to watch that bond form through the ups and downs of life.

Fernando's parents are from Peru, and as such his first language was Spanish. Our goal is for our children to be bilingual. We love to eat Peruvian food, and we are working at trying to get better at cooking it. Fernando has traveled to Peru many times, as well as Chile, Brazil, and Panama. Fernando has taken Alex to Peru, but the plan is to take our children there as many times as we can to make sure they understand their cultural heritage and where their relatives came from. Alex grew up in Texas and we intend that our children keep that heritage alive as well. Alex is a proud Texan and wants to make sure our kids connect with the Texas Longhorns, Tex-Mex, breakfast tacos, and Texas History. Our cultural heritage is an important part of our life and reinforces the importance of family and diversity. Though our cultural background is important to us, we understand that adopting a child may introduce a new culture into our family and we are dedicated to celebrating and integrating that culture as part of ours. We would love to work with you on that. We do not shy away from having a multi-cultural family, as you can see.

Another important piece of our background is that we are both Christians. Alex was raised in a Church of Christ household, while Fernando was raised Catholic. We will make sure our children are introduced to both, and they are raised in a Christian household.

We live in a suburb of a large City in the South (around 15-20 minutes from downtown). Our neighborhood is new and built of mostly young families with young children and, as such, the neighborhood is very active in organizing events for families and kids (Easter egg hunts, movies in the park, Santa rides, sporting leagues etc.) There is a playground, a wiffle ball field, a pickleball court, a pool, a boathouse where you can fish and kayak, access to hiking trails and a mountain bike trail in our neighborhood. Our house is a four bedroom, three bath, two living room house, and a backyard that we built in 2018 and we love it. The school district we are zoned for is one of the best in the state. We are within walking distance of the middle school, and the elementary and high school are very close. We have the City Rec Center just nearby and it includes tennis courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, climbing walls and a gym that anyone in the City has access to. Our suburb has several entertainment districts with great food, but we like to go into the City to eat and find new places for our son to play and explore. There are many outdoor activities in and around the City and we have many travel options for long weekends (around 3-4 hours by car) which we frequently enjoy as a family.

We both come from big families -- between the two of us we have three brothers, two sisters, five nieces, seven nephews and many cousins. All of our immediate family live in the South near us, so we see them often (usually once a month). We alternate spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with each of our families, so there will always be lots of cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents around to celebrate holidays. When family is around, we go out to eat together, play games inside and outside, go to movies, sporting events and local events in general. Fernando's parents are from Peru so he has extended family there. When our children are older, we plan to take them to Peru to visit family and experience South American culture, diversity and everyday life. Alex's sister has a home in Montana, so we get together as a family there and spend time together. One of the unique things about our families is that our parents have become good friends. We took both of our parents to Peru for two weeks in 2019 and traveled all around the country; it was an amazing experience for all of us. Both of our families are super supportive of our adoption plan. Alex is adopted, so her family has gone through the adoption process with her and they are incredibly excited for us to start our own journey.

To the Brave and Selfless,

We cannot imagine the thoughts and worry going through your head and heart right now. But as an adoptee, Alex can tell you that there is not a day that goes by that she is not thankful to her birth mother. She was able to have such an amazing family and life due to her birth mother's selfless act. We want you to know we would feel the exact same way towards you. You are an amazing woman who is considering an incredibly difficult decision. We want to make it clear that we are very aware of the sacrifice you are considering making.

Let us assure you that we will send you letters and pictures to make sure you know that we are taking care of this child and that they are happy and healthy. We are also open to exchanging emails and phone/video calls, if that is something of interest to you. We will make sure they know that you love them so much, and it is not that you didn't want them but that you wanted them to have the best life possible.

Alex is very excited to share the special bond of adoption with this child. Adoption is something she is so proud of and celebrates, and she wants this child to be proud of it too. Every Mother's Day and birthday Alex thinks of and tries to do something special to remember her birth mother; we would like to continue that tradition with this child as well. They need to know how amazing you are and what you have done for them.

We have been married 5 years and we have a 3-year-old son. We have a wonderful family, but don't feel complete yet as we have more love to share. Our son is excited to be a big brother, and we know he will be a wonderful one due to his loving nature. We are both very close to our brothers and sisters so we are thrilled at the idea of our children having that same relationship. The bond that forms between siblings is very important to us as it played a big role in shaping who we are today.

Both our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews will be involved and will love this child. They will have no shortage of love or support to give. Our parents are very excited for their next grandchild to love and spoil. Aunts and Uncles are thrilled to have a new niece or nephew too, and the cousins are beyond excited to have another kid to play with. It will be chaos, but a wonderful chaos.

Fernando's Hispanic heritage is something we want to pass down to our children. We want our children to be bilingual, visit Peru and other Spanish speaking countries, eat Peruvian food, and know that part of Fernando's family's history.

We want our children to be well rounded, and we want them to be able to be kids and have fun. We want them to play sports and music and sing and dance. We want them to read, study, and be inquisitive. We want them to love hard, explore the world, and not be afraid. We fully believe our kids can do anything, and we will strive to provide them with as many opportunities as possible to the best of our ability.

As you consider us, please know that we are here to answer any and all your questions or simply talk. Please don't hesitate to reach out. We appreciate your time, consideration and strength.

With love, gratitude and enduring respect,

Fernando & Alex