Welcome! Meet:

Andrew + Darah

High School Teacher / Product Manager

Utah

Caucasian

Christian

All About Andrew & Darah
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Andrew & Darah

Originally, Darah and Andrew are from Southern Illinois where they were born and raised. In high school, they began dating and eventually moved away from their hometown. Despite the distance, they maintained a long distance relationship and were married in 2018. They moved to Oklahoma for Darah’s job, until it moved them both to Utah in 2021!

Darah is a product manager for a software company, and Andrew is a 9th grade math teacher. They have two dogs, Pepper and Linus, and enjoy many hobbies together. In their spare time, they love having people over for dinner, exploring the mountains, and baking with new recipes.

Why Adoption?

After learning that Darah had a blood clotting condition that made pregnancy more risky than we had initially anticipated, we made the heartfelt decision to pursue adoption. While we had always dreamed of starting a family, we quickly realized that our journey to parenthood might look different than we expected. This only strengthened our desire to build a family through adoption.

Family & Home

Our home is located in Utah. We live in a house in the middle of a wonderful neighborhood. It’s a 1-bath, 2-bedroom house with a spacious backyard. We often find ourselves sitting on the back patio in the summer months admiring the mountains while our dogs run around! Our neighborhood is incredibly friendly, and we spend a lot of time with our neighbors.

Our community also consists of many friends. We enjoy playing games, watching movies, and having dinner as a group as much as possible.

We both have close relationships with our families. Although they don’t live in Utah, we often visit home to catch up, relax, and spend quality time together. Andrew’s family is scattered all over the United States. Some of them are in the west, some are in the midwest, and some are in the south. Darah’s family still lives in their hometown, which makes travel easy to visit her family! Darah and Andrew try to see both sides of their family at least once per year in person with regular phone calls in between visits.

How others describe me

Darah would describe Andrew as loving, patient, and intelligent. He has a natural curiosity and is always eager to learn something new. Whether it’s picking up a new skill or exploring a fascinating topic, Andrew enjoys sharing his knowledge with others and takes great joy in teaching those around him.

Andrew would describe Darah as kind, gentle, and outgoing. She has a gift for making people feel at ease, whether it’s through a warm conversation or inviting someone over for a homemade meal or dessert. Darah truly believes in the power of community and never meets a stranger — she has a special way of making everyone feel welcome and valued.

How We Met

Andrew and Darah’s story began in 2010, when they officially met in band in middle school. For nearly two years, they sat next to each other in the trumpet section, building a strong friendship. As time went on, their connection deepened, and they eventually began dating. From that moment on, they’ve been inseparable, sharing a bond that has only grown stronger with the years.

Advice to Future Child

Always be curious.
Be willing to fail.
Be kind.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We are hoping to have an open adoption, guided by the birth mom’s comfortability. We are open to scheduled visits, regular texts/calls, and/or mail for the holidays. We’re open to discussing what seems best. We would love to have a child know their birth parent(s), if they are comfortable with that.

Favorites

Andrew

Favorite Movie: Oceans 11
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: spending Christmas with lots of family
Hobbies/Interests: backpacking, sewing, woodworking, baking
Dream Vacation: visiting a new place without an end date
If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation

Darah

Favorite Movie: Love, Rosie
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Andrew and I go to get a real Christmas tree every single year! Last year, we cut one down in the forest, and it was a wonderful memory. I hope that it’s something we get to do every year!
Hobbies/Interests: quilting, running, reading
Dream Vacation: Greece
If I Could Choose a Superpower: not needing sleep