Hello, welcome and thank you for reading our story - and maybe becoming part of it!

We are Alexa and Maurice – originally from Germany and today permanently settled and hoping to raise a family in Oakland, California where Alexa will be a stay-at-home mommy.

The decision that you are faced with is one of the most difficult we can imagine. Whatever the circumstances that have brought you to this point, we are grateful for your strength and admire your courage to consider open adoption. We would love to hear your story as well, learn more about your situation and find out whether we may be the right adoptive parents for your baby.

About Us

We met 17 years ago in Munich, Germany and have been married for close to 8 years now. Maurice is an engineer and works full-time at an international company, Alexa is a self-employed translator, currently works from home and is very much looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom once our child arrives.

Our journey to this point was long and full of adventure - like our "big move" to a new country - but also full of heartbreak due to lost pregnancies and the passing of people that were very dear to us. We have been ready to start our own little family for years, but are unfortunately not able to have biological children. We both love children and care deeply for our niece, nephew, godson and the kids of our friends. But we miss being parents ourselves. We believe we have a lot of love to give.

As a couple, we are very different - but that's what makes us a great team - Maurice plants and harvests the veggies and Alexa turns them into delicious food - we complete each other (and drive each other nuts at times)!

Alexa is the outgoing one who loves languages, art and cultural events. Maurice is more into technology, history, and politics. But he is also a big kid at heart and likes to turn chores into games.

Our Life

We love to spend time in nature together, gardening, hiking, swimming and hanging out with friends and generally leading a healthy lifestyle. And we love to have guests - be it dinner parties, Sunday BBQs or game nights - everybody always gathers at our place. It might be Maurice's background in hospitality and Alexa's love for cooking and experimenting with new recipes.

Many of our friends have kids, so our child would have a lot of friends of various ages and with different cultural backgrounds, which we believe will help him or her to become a compassionate and considerate person.

We also love to travel - Alexa tends to like cities more and exploring other cultures, Maurice loves to go on nature trips to state parks and beaches.

We are looking forward to taking our child to  the ocean and hiking in the woods, but also to museums and art galleries.

Alexa about Maurice

Maurice is a loving and reliable husband and the love of my life. I fell in love with his kindness, humor and intelligence (and dimples!) right from the start. He has a calming influence on everyone he meets, our friends call him the "baby whisperer," because he can get any kid to sleep!

I admire his loyalty and his analytical mind, his love for his family, for nature and science.

He is a very hard worker, grew up in his family's restaurant in Southern Germany and had to contribute to the business from an early age.

His work ethic is amazing, but he also knows how to unwind and enjoy life

He is very content to just be in nature and enjoy the simple things in life

He also loves to meet up with friends to play games or watch a movie

When I think about Maurice as a dad, it always makes me smile. In my mind, I see him and our child exploring everyday nature like it was their own mini-adventure, him sharing his love of gardening by letting our son or daughter choose their own veggies to grow and assigning them little chores so they feel helpful, building forts, sandboxes, a swing set, anything that will make our child's playtime special - and spending plenty of quality time making up stories with or reading to our child.

Maurice about Alexa

When Alexa and I started dating, her warmth, kindness and caring nature struck me the most. It is thanks to her open and welcoming personality that we have so many friends and wherever we go, she makes new friends immediately. She is fiercely protective of the people that are dear to her, she is very funny and one of the smartest women I know.

Unfortunately, we can’t have children of our own, but seeing her around children, there is no question she is meant to be a mom. She enjoys playing and singing with them. She reads stories with them and fuels their enthusiasm for exploring the world.

Alexa's ability to connect with the kids from our own extended family or children and babies of friends and neighbors is amazing to me, and she never fails to make them smile and laugh with joy.

Alexa loves all kinds of foods and cultures. She likes to experience new tastes and cuisines whenever possible and then incorporates some of it in her own cooking and baking. I would rarely pick dinner at a restaurant over a dinner at home, prepared by her.

Our Home and Neighborhood

We call Oakland, California our home - one of the liveliest and most diverse places we have ever lived in. In our block alone, we know people from across the globe. The neighborhood is very safe and our house is located on a quiet dead end street.

Our house is big enough for a family. We have a beautiful, sunny bedroom for our future child. There will be enough room for toys and forts and playing with friends. During the warm months, we spent most of our down time outside in our back yard and in nearby parks.

We purchased our house 4 years ago and feel very much at home and made lots of good memories here already. Maurice grows vegetables, keeps his bees in the back yard and has a little workshop in our garage, where he does mainly woodwork and repairs. Alexa does art projects on the patio and around the house She loves to decorate and find interesting pieces on flea markets - her newest hobby is making mosaic pictures, so she is always on the hunt for interesting old plates and other china to break apart and re-arrange. Our weekends are often spent fixing things around the house and enjoying the California sun with our kitties Penny and Paulchen on the patio.

There is a wonderful kindergarten right across the street and two very good elementary schools within walking distance, we can't wait to walk our kid to school! Many of our neighbors have small children, so there will be no shortage of pals in the neighborhood.

Our Family and Friends

We only moved to California 7 years ago and we have found a wonderful community of people from all walks of life here. Most of our family members live in Germany and we visit them about every other year. We regularly have visitors from Europe, so there is never a shortage of stories and laughter and good people in our house. Since we both speak German and English fluently, we want to raise our child bilingually as well.

Maurice's family consists of his mom (and an army auf aunts, uncles and cousins), Alexa's family of her parents, her brother, niece and great-nephew. We miss them all a lot and they miss us, but we stay in touch via phone and Skype and everybody is glad that we found a place we are happy at and where we can thrive as a couple and soon-to-be-family.

Since many of our friends have children, we are always available for babysitting and there will in turn be lots of support from our friends once our child arrives. We are very open about telling our friends and family about our plans and everybody is very excited that we are taking this route of open adoption.

Our Family and Friends

We only moved to California 7 years ago and we have found a wonderful community of people from all walks of life here. Most of our family members live in Germany and we visit them about every other year. We regularly have visitors from Europe, so there is never a shortage of stories and laughter and good people in our house in Oakland. Since we both speak German and English fluently, we want to raise our child bilingually as well.

Maurice's family consists of his mom (and an army auf aunts, uncles and cousins), Alexa's family of her parents, her brother, niece and great-nephew. We miss them all a lot and they miss us, but we stay in touch via phone and Skype and everybody is glad that we found a place we are happy at and where we can thrive as a couple and soon-to-be-family.

Since many of our friends have children, we are always available for babysitting and there will in turn be lots of support from our friends once our child arrives. We are very open about telling our friends and family about our plans and everybody is very excited that we are taking this route of open adoption.

Our Promise to You

We are more than ready to share the love we have for each other with a child.

We promise to:

- Raise a tiny human being to be an intelligent, compassionate person with their own wonderful personality.

- Show him/her the world, including our German roots and culture that we came from and are proud of.  And, should you feel comfortable to have an open adoption with us, it is our hope to stay connected to you and your culture and roots.

- Provide him/her the best education, which we especially value being the first in our families to go to college.

-Provide a path so he/she can do anything they want in their life!

If these promises are a perfect fit for your child, we hope to hear from you.  

In any case, we wish you all the best on your own journey!