We are Marshall and Wesley from Arizona

Hi! 

So this is an unusual letter to write. It might even be a little strange for you having to read these letters. This is a very big decision for everyone involved. For both you and us it is like trying to put together how we want our family to look, how we want our futures to look and at the end of the day we are basically putting together a hodgepodge family at whose center is this human that everyone just wants to have the best life. It’s hard to plan for a future when you aren’t 100% sure what it will look like, but just be guided by what you feel will be best. You are making a tough, big decision and that fact does not escape us. Our only hope is that something about us will jive with something about you. 

Our names are Wesley and Marshall and we have been married for seven years. Marshall is a goofy nerd who loves board games and cheesy pun jokes. He has a steady government job (with occasional wacky hours but plenty of paid vacation time to compensate), the deepest commitment to his family’s safety and wellbeing and some serious cooking skills. Wesley is super quirky and enjoys any creative outlet she can find, from baking cakes, sewing costumes, and painting the playroom walls. She is a stay-at-home mom, which is a perfect fit for her patient and nurturing personality. 

Our son, Ira, is three years old and is already quite a friendly extrovert. He is excited that he will have a little brother or sister to play with someday. Ira is also deaf. He wears two cochlear implants and we are raising him to be bilingual, using both American Sign Language and spoken English. Having a kid who is born with their own language and culture that is completely different from our own has been an exciting and wild ride. We hope that we can have the same opportunity with any baby we adopt. 

We want you to know that if you decide we are the family for you we see you as a part of our extended family. We would like to have as open an adoption as you are comfortable with. You are an important part of our family, not just to your baby, but to us, to Ira, and our overly friendly dog Simon! We want you to know that we will respect any level of involvement you are comfortable with. 

We had a super hard time through IVF getting pregnant but eventually were successful. After having our baby we decided that we wanted to have another, not only were we having an amazing time watching this tiny human come into himself but also for the opportunity for him to have a sibling to grow up with. When we tried IVF with our last remaining embryo, it miscarried. After taking a step back we decided that starting the IVF process all over again was not the right path for us. We both come from small families and the chance to expand our own family, both with another child and with anyone else who is connected to that child, felt like the right path for us. 

We are excited to be considered as future adoptive parents for your child, we get that this is a big, ginormous, difficult decision. Maybe there is something about our creative, nerdy, sign languaging, loving, supportive, dog-obsessed family that somehow fits into what you see for your child’s and your own (in some way) future. Thank you again for taking the time to learn about us; we look forward to having the opportunity to learn about you. 

Thank you again,
Wes, Marshall, Ira and Simon the dog