We both come from big, loving families and always wanted to have a family of our own. We chose to build a family through adoption after taking a six-week course to understand what adoption really means from professionals, social workers, birth parents, and adoptive parents. We determined that adoption aligned well with our hopes and values.

Having our first son through adoption has been a wonderful blessing. We have an open adoption with Silas's birth mother. We enjoy regular video calls and visits with her as we know it makes her happy to see Silas, and we want Silas to keep and grow the special bond he has with her. In the same vein, for our next adoption we plan to be open and transparent about our family's adoption story - and maintain a healthy relationship with the birth family, if they also wish to do this - so that all of our children feel a sense of comfort and pride in their family and story.

As we look to expand our family through adoption again both of our mothers have enthusiastically promised to help us from baby's first days (as they have with all their grandkids), and countless aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews from near and far will want to visit their new family member and be a part of their lives.

As a family we love traveling, exercising, and creating community through food and music.

We love traveling (we've each been to over 50 countries), especially when it means we can visit our friends and family around the world, and we are eager to explore the world with our growing family!

We stay healthy by exercising, including by going on family walks and runs. In the height of the Covid-19 pandemic we led outdoor workout sessions with our neighbors - which was a fun way to stay fit and connected.

We also love hosting large gatherings of friends and family for big meals and wholesome game nights and sing-alongs. Vinesh cooks up a storm, and Anthony (with Silas's enthusiastic help) plays the piano and encourages everyone gathered to sing. We love building and nurturing our community, and we are proud that our home has become the "go to" spot for our family and friends.

As an interracial couple, we have a lot of sensitivity about and appreciation for cultural differences. Vinesh is Indian-Singaporean and works for the United Nations and Anthony's work focuses on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have both traveled the world and lived in other countries (for example, Vinesh grew up in Singapore and Anthony was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana), and between us we have learned seven languages, including Spanish and French. We have a deep respect for the diversity of humanity, and an awareness of the historical and ongoing injustices and challenges faced by diverse communities in the United States and around the world.

We will love and advocate for our children, regardless of their race and background, and we will teach them that who they are is something to be celebrated and embraced. We have actively cultivated a large and diverse community of friends with people of all backgrounds in our inner circle, and we are committed to ensuring our children have a diversity of positive role models, including people with similar racial/ethnic backgrounds as them. Additionally, since we live in a diverse and welcoming community, our children will grow up with a wide diversity of friends, and will learn to value people for who they are on the inside.

We live in a cozy, diverse, and family-friendly neighborhood in the nation's capital. There is a great school and playground two blocks away, and within a 15 minute walk there is an amazing zoo and gorgeous parks and nature trails. Our city is brimming with culture and excitement, with world-class museums, historical landmarks, and weekly festivals celebrating different cultures and communities from around the world.

We own a large, four-bedroom home to accommodate our growing family, and we decorated it with keepsakes from our travels, photographs of our big family, and colorful drawings made by our son, nieces, and nephews. There's plenty of space for us to work from home and host family visitors.

We have lovely neighbors who trade baked goods with us, and a big group of friends (many of whom have young children) who live nearby and who come over regularly for meals and epic game nights. We love to host outdoor movie nights in our backyard, and we recently performed a children's musical in our front yard.

We believe it "takes a village" to raise a family, and we have been very intentional about making sure that our "village" is filled with caring and good-natured people from a diversity of backgrounds.

We are lucky to have large and supportive families, with lots of nieces and nephews who are very excited to welcome a new cousin. Our nieces and nephews consider us the "fun uncles" because we always bring activities and games to play. One of the things they most look forward to is playing a competitive crafting game that we made up. Family gatherings always feature a sing-along, with Anthony playing the piano or guitar, and Vinesh distributing handheld instruments for everyone to play.

Both of our mothers create community through food. A true Italian, Anthony's mom enjoys teaching her grandchildren how to make pasta by hand. Vinesh's mom is a professional chef who ran restaurants, did cooking shows on TV, and has written cookbooks. They both love gathering their family and friends around the dining table, sharing stories, and creating memories - especially for holidays like Christmas and Diwali (a major Indian festival).

That love for creating community has been passed down to us and we enjoy hosting our friends and family or brunches and dinners at our home. It's a team effort with Vinesh leading on the cooking, Anthony leading on the set-up and clean-up, and our son Silas being the life of the party.

Our family and friends are excited and supportive of our plan to expand our family through adoption again. A child who joins our family will be showered with unconditional love and support.

Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to share a bit about us. We know this is an important decision for you and we want to thank you for considering adoption. We hope to get to know you better soon. But for now, here is a little bit about us:

In terms of our approach to adoption and parenting, there is so much that we hope to share with you, but we'd like to start by making several promises:

Thank you again for considering adoption, and for considering us.

With love and respect,

Anthony & Vinesh