Matt & Wayne

Highlights of your relationship: Hi, we’re Matthew and Wayne! We appreciate you taking the time to look through our profile. We first met in 2004 during our early years of college at UH Manoa. Our friends were dating so we saw each other quite often. We fell out of touch when Wayne graduated in 2008 and began his teaching career. It wasn't until we reconnected in December 2010 when Matt was going through the education program and reached out to Wayne for teaching advice. In the beginning of 2011, we started dating. Prior to us dating, Wayne had already made plans to move to Seattle to have the experience of living on the mainland. Wayne left and moved to Seattle at the end of that summer so we spent most of 2011 and 2012 apart. We knew our relationship was special, so we decided to commit to a long distance relationship. Although we were physically apart for a year, we prioritized one another and stayed in close communication, which helped us become a strong unit very quickly. Wayne moved back in the fall of 2012 where we were finally able to grow together without the distance. Four years later, Wayne proposed. Being fathers is a shared life-goal between us and it wasn't until 2017, when we started our conversations about having children specifically through adoption. For Wayne, Matt served as testament to a successful adoption and so we always naturally just gravitated towards it.

Do you have other children?: No

Description of relationships with family and friends: We are both very close with our families. Matt's sister and her family live on Oahu so we are able to see them quite often. His parents have both passed away. Although Matthew and his sister are 8 years apart, they are each other's best friends and support systems. We are lucky to be able to spend a lot of time with our nephew because we live close to each other. We love to explore and build things with him. Wayne's parents live on Oahu, but his sisters and their families live in California. Luckily they come home to Hawaii often so we are able to see them annually. Whenever we have an opportunity to spend time with our nieces, we take it! We love playing and creating projects with them. We surround ourselves with friends who we’ve known for years - most of our friends are from our college years and childhood. We’re at an age where many of our friends have children of their own and we have loved being a part of their growing families. We enjoy spending time with our friends and family as often as we can and enjoy bonding with our little nieces and nephews.

Matt's hobbies and interests: Matt enjoys balancing new experiences with tradition. Ever since he can remember, he has always loved food and going on vacation. So, as an adult, he enjoys the experiences of trying new foods and traveling to new places. He really enjoys Thai and Hawaiian food the most. He also enjoys cooking - pastas to be exact. Having a good home cooked dinner on the table is a tradition he’s valued growing up. Matt continues this tradition and enjoys cooking dishes to share with Wayne, family, and friends. Matt really enjoys exploring new cities. He and Wayne traveled to Italy in 2019 and Matt really enjoyed living in history. Their next international trip will most likely be to Japan with Wayne’s family. Domestically, Matt is looking forward to traveling to California again to visit his nieces. Being a kid at heart, he has a love for Disney, and Matt can’t wait until he and Wayne can take his nieces to Disneyland. Matt also enjoys taking part in various activities such as weight-lifting, going to the beach, baking, running, and watching movies and TV shows.

Wayne's hobbies and interests: Wayne enjoys being around friends and family, even if it's just staying in and talking. He loves getting together to play board games, have cooking nights, and watching tv shows or movies. As long as there are good conversations and laughter, it's a good time. Like Matt, Wayne enjoys food, both eating and cooking; trying new restaurants and recipes are things he always looks forward to. Waynes loves that his own style of cooking is influenced by new recipes and dishes he's exposed to. Although lately they haven't traveled as much as before, Matt and Wayne love to take vacations off island. Whether it's some place familiar like California, or somewhere new, like a foreign country, he is always willing to go. Having a new home with a yard, Wayne has been trying to get more familiar with plants and their care. Although he doesn’t have a green thumb yet, he is working diligently to improve his gardening skills. He loves seeing his nieces and nephew play in the yard and can't wait to see your child running around too.

Message to birth mother/parents: Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us! We are Matt and Wayne, and we've been together for 12 years now, married for 5 of those years, and we have been looking forward to being parents. First and foremost, we want you to know that we admire your courage. Having to put your child first in a difficult situation takes such bravery. Matt is adopted so when we talk about his own biological mother having to make this decision for herself, we can't begin to imagine how difficult and overwhelming this can be - it's a decision most mothers don't face. Matt's adoptive parents helped him grow up confidently knowing that his biological mother made an exceptional sacrifice to ensure that he would have a life of opportunity. Matt's adoption was closed so we have no means of communicating this to his biological mother, so we would like to express our utmost respect and admiration to you as we would for her. We are going to make sure that your child grows up to hold you to the same esteem as Matt does for his biological mother. It is our promise to you that we will love your child unconditionally. We will always pick them up when they fall, love them at their worst, and celebrate them at their best. We will provide for them and support them throughout their life as they face hurdles and accomplish goals. They will always know their story and they will always respect the sacrifice you made for them - just like how Matt does for his biological mother.