Michelle and Lee

We are excited to introduce ourselves to you, and thank you for taking the time to look at us! We are Michelle and Lee–public servants, music-lovers, and friends to animals.

We connected over music and that has continued through now eleven years of marriage and nearly seventeen years together, so we go to many concerts across the Portland area each year. So far this year, we saw Nine Inch Nails, Wu-Tang Clan, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Pixies, Spoon, the Roots, Oasis, and Mitski. We also have season tickets for the Portland Thorns soccer team and the WNBA’s new Portland Fire.

We currently have two cats and two dogs, who are an important part of our lives. We both love animals, and that has been both a family tradition for both of us and an important part of our life together. Our dogs, Jane and Arnie, are very different from one another, but they love each other so much. Jane is what we call a “people-dog,” who simply wants to be adored by any and all people, while Arnie is very curious and energetic, and loves playing with other dogs. And the sibling cats, Pearl and Wally, have the same differing personalities as the dogs–Pearl is very athletic, but a hider, so many have never seen her, while Wally is very social and will take all available attention, once he is comfortable. It is important to us to have animals who are friendly and loving toward us and all our visitors, including kids.

We recently made it back to Portland, after having moved away to Alaska more than a decade ago, followed by some time in Southern Oregon and then the Willamette Valley. Michelle has followed a decade serving as a prosecutor with a new job serving Oregonians. Lee is in year thirteen of teaching social studies and English language arts—mostly seventh and eighth grade.

We now have a new house that we love, and is going to be great for kids. Lee has worked with at-risk youth since 2002, and loves kids almost as much as Michelle does, Michelle had two young nieces and a toddler nephew when we met, and it has been clear since the first time Lee met them that she has a deep and thoughtful love for children. Lee also has two nephews–two years and almost six–who we both love and with whom we have a lot of fun when we visit them in Colorado or when they come to Oregon.

Adoption has been an increasing part of our family and professional life. One of Lee’s sisters is an adoptee, he has met students who were adopted, and has learned that several of his adult friends have experiences with adoption. Michelle’s time serving children as a child abuse prosecutor put her in contact with adoption situations and she saw the complications that come with any adoption. Our commitment to openness flows from this experience.

Both of our careers have shown us the importance of openness and transparency when it comes to our hope for a relationship with our child’s birth parents. Without openness, honesty can suffer, which is an essential quality in all relationships. We are hoping for a relationship built on honesty, trust, and a commitment to what is best for the child. An ongoing relationship with a birth parent is the core of our partnership, in our eyes.

We have a very loving family in our household, and birth parents can be sure that our child will have all the love and support we have as they navigate childhood and beyond. Thank you again for giving us some of your time.

-Michelle & Lee