We began our adoption journey in 2020, just before the pandemic. We always knew that we wanted to be parents. As our relationship grew, and as we spent more time with our nieces and nephews, we finally decided that we were ready to take the leap and begin our adoption journey.

About two years later, on a Thursday morning, we got the call from our agency that our daughter would be joining our family the following Monday. It was a whirlwind weekend! But we will never forget the indescribable moment when we saw our daughter for the first time.

It's particularly important to us to have a strong relationship with our daughter's birth family. We send photos every month, and try to have frequent video calls with birth mom. One of our favorite memories is our trip to the zoo with Aoife's birth mom on Mothers' Day, and we're so glad they'll be in each other's lives as she grows up.

Being parents, and being adoptive parents in particular, certainly isn't always easy. But it has been so incredibly rewarding to watch our daughter grow and learn. We can't wait to expand our family through adoption and welcome someone new into our home!

Cormac was the sort of child who always was reading a book in class, thinking naively that his teacher was unaware! To this day, Cormac is an avid reader, and his happy place is a bookstore. He also played guitar in high school, and took it up again during Covid. He can't wait to share his love of reading and music with our children!

Lucas has always been an athlete. He took up rowing in high school, captained the varsity rowing team in college, and even kept it up for a few years after graduation. He's also a big sports fan, and loves his Boston teams. He promises, reluctantly, to allow our kids to be fans of D.C. teams instead if they want.

Though Lucas had to give up rowing after college (waking up at 4:45 a.m. gets old!) we both make a point to stay physically active. One of the most rewarding parts of our day is when we go to our gym and participate in a group class -- they go the extra mile to forge a sense of community among the members.

We're also trying to work on our Spanish, because we hope for our kids to grow up bilingual. Aoife's day care is fully in Spanish, and the local elementary school teaches in both English and Spanish. We try to practice a little bit every day and read books and watch TV shows in Spanish when we can!

We are both white, but we are open to parenting a child of any race. Our daughter, Aoife, is African-American. We are grateful to have supportive, progressive friends and family who love our daughter and celebrate her heritage. We also deliberately chose to live in a city, and a neighborhood, that is very racially diverse. We have white neighbors, African-American neighbors, and Hispanic neighbors. And Washington is a city that celebrates all cultures, with a proud, vibrant African-American culture and community in particular.

We have made a point to seek out connections with our African-American friends to get help in some places where we don't have as much cultural knowledge -- in particular, taking care of our daughter's skin and hair. One of our friends came to our house, along with his mom, to give us a point-by-point tutorial! We won't pretend to be experts, but we know who to ask for help!

We live in a rowhouse in Washington, D.C. We chose this house with our future children in mind. It has a basement level that is perfect for a play space. It has bedrooms for two kids -- one for our daughter and one for our child to be! It has a nice quiet backyard, where our daughter loves to play with the hammock and the water table when it's hot out!

We love the neighborhood where we live, which we also chose with our family in mind. We especially love the diversity: it's approximately one third African American, one third Hispanic, and one third white. We're also within walking distance of the local elementary school, library, pool, and four playgrounds. And the streets are quiet enough that (once he or she is old enough), our child can have some independence to play outside with friends.

At the same time, we're close enough to downtown Washington that we can visit museums, the monuments, and all the other fun aspects of living in D.C. The National Zoo is only a short bike ride away -- some of our daughter's favorite sights at the zoo are the elephants and the turtles!

We are both the babies in our families, with two older siblings each. We have a total of nine nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 3 to 12. Our closest family is in New York: one of Cormac's brothers and his wife and two kids. It's just a short train ride or car ride away, so we make a point to see them often!

Lucas's siblings are in Michigan and Seattle. Every year, either Thanksgiving or Christmas, we rent a big house for a week so all the Washington, Michigan, and Seattle kiddos can get together! It's always a super fun time. And it has been so wonderful seeing our daughter get along so well with her cousins!

Our parents love being grandparents. Cormac's mother lives in Ireland, but comes to visit New York and D.C. often to see her grandkids. Lucas's parents also make the trip to D.C. a few times a year. It has been so fun to watch our daughter fall in love with "Granny," "Gramma," and "Nampa!"

We are so happy that you have decided to look at our profile! We cannot begin to imagine the decision that you have to make. We thank you for considering us, but please know that whatever you decide is best for you and your child, we support you.

There are two features about Lucas that make him an amazing father. First, he is incredibly unselfish -- always ready to put others' needs ahead of his own. Second, he is incredibly hard-working and organized. He's ready to put in the hard work that it takes to raise a child -- and keep track of the doctor's appointments and extracurriculars! At the same time, Lucas can't wait to teach our child how to throw a football -- or use a rowing machine!

Cormac is also an incredible father. Whenever we are playing with our daughter (and further back than that, with our nieces and nephews), Cormac has an uncanny ability to be engaged with them on their level. He's not just watching them play – he can get excited and involved in whatever imaginary world they've created. By the end of it, I'm not sure who's having more fun – the kiddos, or Cormac!

But beyond our individual strengths, we are truly proud of how well we work as a "team." We met in 2008, and got married in 2013, so our relationship is over 16 years strong. The strength of our relationship comes from the common understanding that we want the best for each other and our family -- even when we're mad or a little bit cranky (or sleep-deprived!). As parents, there are some things that Cormac is better at, and some things that Lucas is better at, so we can truly value each other's contributions.

In terms of adoption, we are strong proponents of openness with the birth family. We have shared photos with our daughter's birth family, and we have had text and phone exchanges as well. For Mothers' Day this year, we met up with Aoife's birth mom for a family trip to the zoo. Our daughter took to her immediately, and still demands to see pictures of her Mama!

We would have the same desire for openness with you. We are happy to share letters and pictures, and when you are ready, to have phone/video calls and visits as well. We definitely want our children to have meaningful relationships with their birth parents.

To sum up, our parenting philosophy is simple. We want our children to be (1) good, kind people and (2) happy in whatever they decide to be. We're not obsessed with getting them into the "best" college or being a football star or a violin maestro. Rather, we want to help our children grow into their own best self – and be happy and kind along the way.

We have come to truly appreciate how much work parenting is -- from middle-of-the-night feedings to convincing, pleading, and coaxing a toddler to let us change her diaper. But nothing compares to the feeling of our daughter saying "I love you, Dada" or singing "Old McDonald" while strumming her toy guitar. We can't wait to share more of these moments with her little brother or sister.

Thank you again for reading our profile. We offer our support to you in making this very important decision.

Lucas & Cormac