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Meet Derek & Maria S.

Dear birthparents,

We are Derek and Maria. Thank you for letting us share a bit about ourselves. The possibility of opening our home, our hearts, and our lives to a child is something we have wanted for a long time. Our lives are filled with tremendous love, which we cannot wait to share with a child.

We were introduced to one another by a mutual friend one evening long ago. Six months later, we ran into each other, struck up a conversation, and from that day forward talked every day.

We love to have fun, relax, and spoil our “boys” (our dogs Ruxin and Rafi). There is so much we enjoy doing together – attending concerts and music festivals, playing Scrabble, and spending as much time as we can with our families. Traveling is our favorite activity and, during our time together, we’ve had the good fortune to visit Greece, Italy, and France.

We are very health- and fitness-focused. Workouts and healthy meals are a routine part of our lives. We live each day with intention and set goals for ourselves that will challenge us and change us.

“Maria is extremely self-motivated with an unquestionable desire to succeed at whatever she sets her mind to. Plus, she always makes time to be thoughtful and empathetic.” – Derek

Meet Maria
I’m a “small,” but mighty personality! I always go with my gut and am a huge believer in getting stuff done. Loyalty, trust, and transparency are traits I live by. I like to have fun, too, especially being a little goofy from time to time. Among the many things that make my life wonderful, number one is family – on both sides.

I’m a dreamer and a creative mind, always striving for new challenges and goal setting. In fact, I have been an artist my entire life and am currently focusing on designing and building our new home. Every day I am so fortunate to do what I love for a living as a Design Director at Procter & Gamble working in Hair Care.

“Derek is a vibrant, strong, and loyal partner. I appreciate his constancy in my life and feel endlessly grateful for the love he feels for me and his willingness to take care of our family.” – Maria

Meet Derek
I am an outgoing person and love being around people. It fills me with energy and is great for my overall wellbeing. I would also characterize myself as analytical, inquisitive, humorous, and empathetic.

My biggest interest is health and fitness. Working out really helps me to center myself each day, and I look forward to living a long and healthy life. I also love listening to music and keeping up with my Ohio sports teams.

I work as a line operator at the Ford Transmission plant in Sharonville.

We don’t consider our dogs “pets,” but affectionately refer to them as “our boys,” “our babies,” etc.

Home and Family 
Our families are just a few hours away, and we get together frequently – to enjoy holidays, celebrate birthdays and weddings, and attend sporting events. As long as we are together, it’s good! Both of our families know how much we want to be parents and are excited we are adopting.

We are currently building a new home, de- signed by Maria. We’ve put tremendous effort and love into this adventure — an open-style, mid-century modern ranch, coincidentally on a street we both used to live on!

We have an acre of land and one of the trees in the backyard has a large branch just waiting for a tire swing. There is a large park and a nature area right down the road.

We love this area because it is familiar and comfortable, as well as convenient to all the wonderful places in and around Cincinnati.

Thank you.
We have known since the beginning of our relationship that adoption wasn’t an alternative way of making our dreams become reality, but instead that it is our calling, that we are meant to become parents through adoption.

We are looking forward to being parents. We hope our photos and words show you how excited we are to provide a loving, stable, and fulfilling home for your child. We also are looking forward to learning about you, your life, and your hopes and dreams.

Thank you again for taking this time. Most of all, thank you for your courage. We will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

With love and admiration,
Derek and Maria

Our Family at a Glance

We live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area.
We’ve been married since August 2016.
We work as a designer and a line operator.
Our hobbies include spending time with family, working out, listening to music, playing Scrabble.
We believe in opening our hearts to selflessly love your child and openly welcome them into our lives.

For more information about our family, please contact Adoption Link at 1-800-643-3356.