Alex and Sean have been together for almost 9 years and married for nearly 5 of those. They had their first date 2 days after Alex moved back to Chicago after a year abroad. They met on a dating app serendipitously on the day that Sean was out of Chicago and Alex was moving in. Such a small window of chance to meet and look what it turned into! Their first date was supposed to be at a place where they could talk, but Sean took Alex to his favorite local bar: a loud Irish pub with giant Jenga being played behind them. Alex had just returned from the wine country of Germany and mistakenly ordered a chardonnay that had most likely been opened for years. Sean watched without intervention (but with the slightest judgment). Sean was not “out” to his family when they started dating, but a few weeks in, Sean knew it was something special. After what he calls his Tour de Gay (going around to all of his family members and telling them in person), Alex was invited to a family dinner. 8+ years later, they have lived in 5 different homes, traveled the world (Ireland, Germany, Malta, Belize, Ecuador), and experienced the joy of being understood (for the most part) and loved by a partner. The next journey they can’t wait to embark on is parenthood. Thank you so much for considering to be a part of our journey!
Alex grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. At 7 years old, Alex started gymnastics and didn’t look back until he retired at the ripe old age of 23. Gymnastics helped Alex through the most difficult period of his youth when his mother passed away at 14 years old and his father left the family. Alex then moved in with his cousins, with gymnastics being the one constant during all the turmoil. The sport ended up taking him to Stanford University, competing on the US Men’s Senior National Team in international competition, and nearly making the Olympic Team in 2012. After college and his athletic career, Alex spent a year in Germany and then made his way back to the Midwest to start his professional career. Throughout all the ups and downs, Alex relied on his extended family (cousins, uncle and aunt) as well as his sister. They are all still active parts of his life, and he can’t wait to expand his whole family. Most importantly, he can’t wait to give his sister and 5 nieces/nephews another family member.
Sean was born into a very large and very loud working-class, Irish family on the southside of Chicago. Sean has two younger brothers and an amazing mom and dad. Sean’s parents are inseparable and are each others’ best friends, a relationship that has always been the role model for his own. Sean was encouraged by his family to pursue whatever path he wanted in life and to focus on the happiness. Sean and his brothers also grew up in what they called a zoo because of all the random animals and pets they had. Their father was a push-over who never said no to a pet. Sean and his youngest brother are currently in the middle of a baby nuclear arms race, rushing to have the first grandchild. If you couldn’ tell, they are competitive. Sean’s family loves traditions, whether for holidays, or the family favorite of having 40+ people spending a week together at a cabin, though we are going to need a bigger cabin with all these babies.
Our families have really allowed us to flourish in both our relationship and in our lives. We are so fortunate to have the supportive families we do. They all can’t wait to meet our future little ones!
Being a gay couple, we don’t necessarily have infertility issues, but we have been finding it hard to start a family on our own! 😉
Alex has known he has wanted to be a father ever since losing his mother to lung cancer when he was 14. He vividly remembers so many amazing experiences that his parents were able to give him as a child: from the traditionally amazing things like a vacation in Hawaii to the more mundane (but in all reality more meaningful) things like playing baseball with his mother in the kitchen with a broom and a ping pong ball before she passed. He can’t wait to rebuild that family around him and Sean. Alex also can’t wait to see Sean as a father (tearing up as he writes this).
Sean has always envisioned having a family. Prior to meeting Alex, Sean was in a heterosexual relationship and they had a daughter named Gracie. Gracie passed away shortly after birth due to complications, and Sean struggled to envision himself ever having a family. That is, until he met Alex. He knew starting a family wouldn’t be easy, but he found the husband he wanted to raise a family with.
We worked with Victory Reproductive Clinic in Windsor, ON, to create our embryos. We have 6 (3 from each of us!) strong embryos that have been PGT-A tested. Our goal is to have one child from each of our sets of embryos. We have considered having twins, but of course we want what is best and most comfortable for all parties, especially our surrogate.
Alex is a design engineer working in the medical device field. He is in the process of co-founding his own technology-enabled consultancy for small startups. In his free time, he loves to be active: going to CrossFit, playing tennis, volleyball, and recently pickleball (but don’t tell his tennis friends!). He also loves learning and speaking foreign languages (German, Spanish) and hopes to teach his children one day.
Sean is a pediatric audiologist. He works with kids from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in both the clinic and school settings. Sean also has a ton of hobbies. In his free time he enjoys gardening on their beautiful farm, raising alpacas, wood working, glass blowing and most of all, cooking and baking. Sean loves cooking for the ones he loves and tends to go overboard with how much food he makes. But he learned this from his father in that no family gathering is complete without good food and good company gathered in the kitchen.
Although they have many differing interests, together, Sean and Alex love to spend time working on their old house (built in 1868!) and their 3 acre alpaca farm just south of Indianapolis, IN, USA. They have big dreams of creating a little sanctuary in the middle of the farms surrounding their house. They also love to travel, hike, and snorkel. The last three international vacations have had some sort of snorkeling involved! When they are not on the go though, they love sitting on the couch with their two cats each night after dinner to watch a show (typically one episode only because Alex gets tired early, which is a contentious topic due to Sean’s binging tendencies).
We plan to support our surrogate throughout her entire pregnancy journey. Obviously we intend to cover all her expenses, but we also hope to be able to treat her with the love and support she deserves for helping us create our dream. We would love to be involved in medical follow-ups and milestones as she is comfortable.
We would love to have as much contact with our surrogate during the pregnancy as she is comfortable with. We hope to visit our surrogate throughout the process, talk often, and create a lasting bond.
Our surrogate will be an integral and permanent part of our child’s birth story and our journey to parenthood. After the pregnancy, we would love to remain in contact with our surrogate and continue to show them how much we appreciate the gift they gave. Having regular, or as regular as the surrogate would prefer, updates, sending Christmas cards, and nurturing a long-standing friendship would be our ideal.