Welcome! Meet:

Justin + Caitlyn

Software Engineer / Mental Health Therapist

Washington

Caucasian

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

All About Justin & Caitlyn

We are Caitlyn, Justin, and our daughter, Journey! Other members of our family include our two dogs Momo and Chella as well as Moxie and Molly, our cats. Thank you for the opportunity to share about our family! Meeting relatively early in life has allowed us to spend over 13 wonderful years together, building a relationship based on our mutual love for each other, our families and friends, animals, caring about our community, and cooking a delicious meal to share. In 2022 we were fortunate to adopt Journey and further expand our family to include her birth family.

Why Adoption?

While we wish to raise a family, we do not have a desire to experience our own pregnancy and have biological children. Based on our family structures that consist of biological, adoptive and chosen members, we strongly believe that family is created by the love and support we share with one another.

Family & Home

We live in North Seattle. Built in the 1920s, our home has a lot of old charm and quirks. It has been a big project that we'll continue to personalize with antique furniture and colorful walls. One of our favorite features is the yard. We love spending time pushing Journey on the swings, picking plums, and watching our dogs do zoomies. Our neighborhood is green, full of friendly neighbors, and great for walking. We enjoy being close to the lake, parks, and fun restaurants.

The majority of our family lives in Washington, though spread out. We are fortunate to have a lot of support from our parents while raising Journey. Justin’s mom lives nearby and watches Journey a couple of days a week while we both work. Justin’s brother-in-law lives is currently living with us while he attends school at the University of Washington; Justin’s sister visits all of us one-two times per month. Caitlyn’s parents visit frequently. Journey also enjoys chatting with them on video calls. Caitlyn’s brother and family recently moved to Idaho; we hope to continue seeing them a few times per year. We are grateful to have a large social network outside of our family as well, including friends from middle school, college and colleagues turned friends. We enjoy celebrating birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions with our loved ones.

How others describe me

Justin is a present partner and father. He’s not afraid to be silly, enjoys playing imaginative games with Journey, and jumps into new things with both feet. Justin is curious and inquisitive; he enjoys exploring new music and art. Justin is incredibly supportive and inspires me to be more confident.

Caitlyn is the most compassionate and kind person I know. She always strives to learn and to be the best version of herself. Caitlyn is an incredible mother to Journey and as a partner brings out the best in me.

How We Met

We met in 2011 through a mutual friend. At the time, Caitlyn was a student at UW and Justin was beginning his career in I.T. Our first date was a marathon of sorts, starting at the Ballard Locks, eating pho and watching The Wedding Singer. We've been fortunate to continue sharing adventures over the last ten years.

Advice to Future Child

Our advice to our child and future child is to approach life with wonder, assume the best intentions, and believe in themselves. We hope to teach our children to value relationships, be open to new adventures and savor everyday occurrences. We want our children to know that every experience is a learning opportunity and we will support them without condition. and we will be there to support them without condition. We'll encourage our children to take risks and lean on us when needed. Our own experiences have taught us that it's important to play and laugh as much as possible, regardless of age.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

Openness, for us, feels like the ideal way to keep an adoption centered on the child. We believe that openness is in a child's best interest because they are able to have the benefit of knowing their biology, maintain important first family connections throughout their life, have access to their first family for important questions, discussions and that perspective of their adoption story. It is important to us that our children feel the connection between us and their first family and we feel that openness provides a roadmap for future healthy relationships. We view openness as a philosophy to approach all relationships, so it makes sense to us to want that in our adoption as well.

We thoroughly enjoy our time and connections with Journey’s birth family members. They share with us information, family history and memories that we would never know without our connection. We love seeing photos of her birth parents as babies and noticing their similarities, seeing Journey’s sisters dote on her, and celebrating milestones together.

Favorites

Justin

Favorite Movie: Heathers, Coco
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner
Hobbies/Interests: My hobbies include riding bicycles, photography (both film and digital), reading, watching baseball with friends. and playing pinball. I’ve learned a lot while renovating our new home and enjoy working with my hands and problem-solving along the way.
Dream Vacation: Tierra del Fuego
If I Could Choose a Superpower: flying

Caitlyn

Favorite Movie: Hook, Good Will Hunting
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: I love dressing up in family Halloween costumes!
Hobbies/Interests: Many of my interests center around social justice issues and mental health; I am a social worker professionally and personally. I enjoy learning about mental health and parenting by listening to books and podcasts. I do Tae Kwon Do, yoga and enjoy taking our dog out on walks. I enjoy traveling, especially to Spanish-speaking countries.
Dream Vacation: African safari
If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation