Both of us have a strong connection to nature and animals. Rhett loves the outdoors – hiking, fishing, camping. Even his career is focused on nature and conservation. Two of our dogs work and he enjoys training them to find birds. Sam is devoted to rescue dogs, and has a soft spot for disabled and older dogs. Fostering dogs is a family activity and we often take in dogs with medical and training needs. She volunteers with dog rescues and was on the board of a shelter. We just can't imagine our life without dogs!

We want to share our respect for nature and love of animals with our child. Rhett is excited to show our child how to plant tomatoes, and to appreciate nature through hikes, finding birds, and identifying trees in the woods. Sam wants to show our child how to respect animals and help care for our dogs. Our dogs love kids and are lots of fun. We are excited for our child to play, swim and hike with our young dogs, and snuggle on the couch with our old dogs.

We also prioritize seeing the world and take every opportunity to travel. We take several international trips every year, and we love to see new places, try new food, and learn about other cultures. Rhett plans things for us to do in nature and Sam plans our activities in cities. We are excited to show our child how amazing the world can be!

Rhett About Sam: Sam is the most wonderful person I have ever met. She is dynamic, beautiful, and the smartest person I know. Everyone who meets her sees how warm she is and tells me how lucky I am. I couldn't ask for more. She is a wonderful stepmom to Andrew and is incredibly caring and has a gentle way. She provides him an ear for advice and encourages him to have big goals.

Sam is fun and keeps the mood light at home. But she also has a very broad view of the world and pushes us to think beyond our day-to-day life. She is selfless and always thinks about what we can do to help others. Her heart for animals is obvious when you see her interact with rescues and foster dogs.

Sam About Rhett: To me, Rhett can do anything, and he does everything well! He can be an amazing husband, work hard and be a great scientist, make friends with anyone, coach little league, cook dinner, build things, take his parents to the doctor, change the engine in my car, listen to a friend with a problem, to name a few things.

What I love most about Rhett is his integrity. He will always do the right thing, even when it is hard. His integrity shows every day through his actions, his consistency, and his kindness. Rhett is also very open-minded and curious, so he is always up for trying something new.

We are a mixed everything household! Rhett is from a rural Midwest town in the US and has European ancestry. His family goes back multiple generations in his hometown and he was the first to leave. Sam grew up in big cities in Asia and is from India. Her family is everywhere - US, India, Australia, and some other countries. She is an immigrant whose family didn't really have a home base.

As a couple, we enjoy our different backgrounds. We celebrate American holidays and Indian holidays, especially Thanksgiving, Christmas, Diwali (festival of lights), and Raksha Bandhan (for brothers and sisters). Our meals are usually something Rhett grilled with vegetables from our garden, or something Sam cooked from the places she grew up (our favorites are daal, adobo, and penang noodles). Our family and friends also come from many different backgrounds so mixed households are normal in our life.

We live in a five-bedroom home on almost eight acres in Indiana. We have big windows throughout, high ceilings, and lots of light. We have five bedrooms, along with a fun bonus room with a ping pong table and TV area. Our dogs enjoy sleeping on the couches in the living room and we are usually in the kitchen or dining room around family meals. Rhett grills while we spend time by our pool in nice weather.

Our property has lots of space for kids to play, including a large backyard and some woods to explore and use their imaginations. Rhett loves having apple trees and raspberry and blackberry bushes. We see wildlife everywhere, like deer, fox, rabbits, and all sorts of birds.

Our neighborhood has families with children of all ages, including Rhett's sister and family down the road. Our neighbors know each other, share news, and get together. The elementary school is at the end of our street, and we are in an excellent school system.

Our town has a large university which attracts people from all over the country and world. It brings the benefits of a global community with the feel of a small town. We can go to a foreign language play one day and then hike in the woods the next day. Living in a university community also provides so many activities for children – concerts, diverse holiday celebrations, and learning opportunities in technology, languages and culture. Our child will never be bored!

Life is exciting with Andrew, Rhett's teenage son from a previous relationship. He lives with us half-time. We cook together and sit down for family dinner at night. He is outgoing, loves reading, plays baseball, and is kind. Andrew is adventurous and enjoys traveling with us. He is excited for the adventure of being a big brother!

We got lucky with wonderful extended families, and we know not all blended multicultural families have so much support. We feel it often: the girls in Rhett's family wearing Indian dresses, Andrew bonding with the kids in Sam's extended family, Rhett's parents visiting with Sam's aunt and uncle and vacations with Sam's brother. There are also many babies and kids to grow up with!

Rhett's parents live less than an hour away and his sister's family lives in our neighborhood. We get together for school activities for Andrew and our niece and nephews. We rotate hosting a big family meal every month, and we spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together. A family potato recipe is a favorite!

Sam's family lives in the US, India and a few other countries. She was very close to her parents, who passed way early. Sam and her brother talk almost every night. He and some of their cousins live in another state, so our visits are lively and the kids enjoy being together. She has more than 20 cousins and they have a big group chat that is always buzzing!

We are honored that you are reading about us. We know that your strength and your love will guide you to the right decisions for you and your child. No matter what you do, we are holding you in our hearts. If you decide to take this journey together, our promise to you is that our thoughts, our words, and our actions will be guided by love throughout this journey.

We are married and have been together for three years. We met at a coffee shop in our town. Rhett thought Sam was mysterious and beautiful, and Sam liked his quiet confidence. Rhett took Sam birdwatching after waiting three months for her to agree to a date. We took a road trip soon after our first date and came back inseparable.

Our connection is built on love, respect, and laughter. Rhett is dependable, motivated, and thoughtful. Sam is spontaneous and kind. We have a wonderfully supportive relationship with each other, we communicate well, and we laugh a lot. We come from very different worlds and we love how well they fit together. Sam is a great bonus mom to Andrew and they talk about books, history, and his curiosity about the world. Our life prioritizes each other, family, friends, community, nature and animals, education and travel. We have careers we enjoy, and a stable and comfortable life.

To us, being parents means loving a child unconditionally. This means nurturing, protecting, providing, and encouraging who they are. We will always be there to support them ?" read to them, encourage them, talk about easy and hard things, remind them to be confident and try new things, and mark every milestone. We are so excited for family time, bike riding, bird watching, dog walking, learning to cook. We can't wait to see Andrew be a big brother, and for our extended families to embrace this child.

We want to share our love of nature and animals. Rhett wants to share the wonders of growing your own food, birdwatching, and appreciating nature. Sam's devotion to rescue dogs means that this child will grow up learning compassion and kindness.

We believe that being parents means preparing a child to experience the world. We will encourage them to learn - both through education and seeing the world. We will make sure this child goes to great schools and can go as far as they want in education. We will encourage their potential no matter what their interests are - dance, math, writing, coding, art, languages, baseball, or whatever else. Our parents encouraged us, especially our mothers, and education allowed us to do things we never would even have known existed.

Seeing the world is a priority for us, and we want to show this child how beautiful the world can be. We travel frequently as a family, at least a few times a year, and it is fun, educational, and shows us how much we can learn. We want this child to be curious and interested in learning how people live in other places, about history and culture, and how we are all connected. Travel together is also one of the ways that our extended family stays connected, and we are excited for this child to be part of this. We will embrace their cultural heritage if different from ours, and make connections to support their sense of identity.

Adoption would be a dream come true for us. We are not able to have a child biologically. We embraced adoption immediately, and we have seen the beauty of four adoption journeys among extended families and close friends.

We are committed to sharing regular updates through letters, emails and photos with you. We want you to know that we are very open to more communication, and that we will respect your comfort when it comes to video calls, possible future meetings, and other types of communication. We want this child to know how much they are loved. A child can be loved in so many ways, by so many people. Your story is their story, and want to honor it with our connection with you.

Rhett & Sam