We first met 12 years ago while living in Ecuador to study Spanish and Biology. While we became friends in Ecuador, we actually fell in love 3 years later when by chance we both ended up teaching in schools next door to each other in New York City. Believe it or not, two random kids from the Midwest, who met in Ecuador, were lucky enough to run into each other again in a city of 7 million people.
We moved to Chicago in 2012 when Lara started work as a cancer genetic counselor and Sean as a high school science teacher. A few years later we got married and have been building our life together here in our favorite city, Chicago, ever since.
We were incredibly grateful when our family grew, early in 2020, with the adoption of our energetic and curious daughter Maya. Being parents has been one of the most rewarding and meaningful parts of our lives and we hope to continue our parenting journey through adoption once again.
During our free time as a family, we love to bike the city, adventure to new restaurants looking for international food we've never tried, be outside as much as possible, and spend lots of quality time with Maya and our friends and family.
Sean
I grew up in a small town in Michigan, where my family and I spend most of our time outdoors hiking, biking, canoeing, and playing sports. These activities are still very important to me and I now get to bring along Lara and Maya to share in these outdoor adventures.
For the past 13 years, I have taught biology, chemistry and computer coding and have coached basketball, gardening and running club in NYC and Chicago. While every day as a teacher brings challenges, I love pushing my students to appreciate the learning process and achieve as much as they can in their education.
Lara
I was born in Dallas-Texas, grew up in small town MN, went to college in Madison,-Wisconsin/Ecuador and became an adult in NYC and Chicago. So I have been lucky enough to have had many homes, families, and communities over my lifetime. I believe that my experiences in each of these places filled my life with many diverse situations and different kinds of people allowing me to develop my core passions for travel, community, human and gender equality, and equal education for all children.
I currently work as a genetic counselor at a public hospital in Chicago, helping patients in English and Spanish who have cancer in their family get extra checkups. In my free time I love to read, especially silly books like 'Dragons Love Tacos' with Maya and our nieces and nephews, run/hike/bike, travel with my sisters and Sean, and watch the sun set at our lake cabin with my family.
Maya
Maya came into our lives in February of 2020 and while Covid made it a tough year, she has been our shining star. She is adventurous, spunky, and giggles like it’s her job. She loves exploring and examining her surroundings, being outside, family bike rides (especially to get ice cream), and dogs. On an average day you’ll find Maya making new friends at the park, picking raspberries in our front yard, or examining worms in the garden.
What we hope to share with our Children
We believe it is vital to surrounding our children with diversity, like in our Chicago neighborhood, to give them the support and the resources to understand and develop who they are. We recognize that Maya and any future children of color that become our family will face challenges related to race in America. Therefore, we commit to doing lifelong continuous work to ensure that our children grow up in a community that celebrates their identities while working to prepare them for the realities of the world we all live in. We commit to continuously educating ourselves so that we can be the best possible allies and advocates for our children. We plan to share with our children our values of hard work, compassion, fighting for equality, and closeness of family.
We will always make a commitment that our children will know their story and be proud of who they are and where they came from. We are open to exchanging photos and updates, keeping in touch through phone, email, and visits.
Desde el inicio, cuando nos conocimos mientras estudiábamos en Ecuador, la cultura latina y el idioma español han sido muy importantes en nuestras vidas. Casi todos los días hablamos con nuestros vecinos, estudiantes, o pacientes en español y valoramos las culturas de Ellos. En su guardaría, Maya ya ha aprendido muchas canciones y dichos puertorriqueños y su comida favorita es el arroz y frijoles de su Cuidadora. Aprendimos español por nuestras familias anfitrionas Ecuadorianas y nuestros estudiantes que corrigieron nuestro español mientras que les enseñábamos inglés. Mejoramos nuestros español en México trabajando con una programa para ayudar mujeres desarrollando sus negocios mientras que desfrutando los colores y sonidos bonitas de los Calendas en los calles de Oaxaca. Ojalamos vivir otra vez en un país latino en el futuro para compartir y sumergir a nuestros niños en estas experiencias culturas. Lo creemos que es muy importante que nuestros hijos tendrán la oportunidad de elegir ser bilingües y entiendan la historia y cultura de todas sus familias.
Thank you
We appreciate you taking time to learn about us, our community, and our hopes and dreams for our family. More than anything, we want you to know that we will love your child unconditionally and will devote our lives to providing him or her with all the love, security and joy we can offer. We want your child to always know where he or she came from. We plan to raise our children with an understanding and appreciation for their birth parents and the decisions they made for him or her. Thank you again for considering us.
