Dear Birth Mother,

    Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and our desire to bring a child into our lives. We realize that you are facing a decision that is not easy, but one which shows how much you love and are willing to sacrifice for your child. He or she would know of your loving sacrifice and we would feel truly blessed if you would allow us the opportunity to bring your child into our lives. After reading our letter, we hope that you will have a sense of who we are and that you will feel confident that your child will be loved and cherished in our family.

It started with a dance…
     We met at the end of our senior year in high school in a small town in Maine. We were at our senior dance, and Joel asked if I would dance with him. I was a little shy in high school, so I said yes, but only if he danced with my best friend first. He did, and true to my word, I said that I would dance with him for one song. We danced together the rest of the night. That was a little over thirteen years ago.

    We have been best friends for 13 years, since high school, and we have been married for almost 11 of those years. We got married while we were in college, and since then we have both earned advanced degrees and have lived in or visited much of the United States. Both of us come from very loving families with lots of fun and crazy sisters and brothers, nieces, nephews and parents who are eager to welcome a new baby into the family. Family pets were also always part of our lives growing up. Currently we have 2 cats, Smokey and Pepper, and a 2-year old English Bulldog named Annabelle that we just adore and who loves to play with our nieces and nephews.

    Although we knew children were going to play a big role in our lives we wanted to wait until we had finished our educations to start our family. Once we completed our educations we began making plans for where we would like to raise our family. In deciding on where to live we wanted to make sure we would have a good church and we wanted a location that would provide many educational and fun opportunities for our family. After a lot of prayer and research we chose to move to San Diego, CA. Since moving here, we have become members of a church and we are enjoying many of the opportunities that San Diego has to offer. We both eagerly look forward to the day when we can take our child to splash around in the ocean, go skiing in the mountains, or learn about far away lands and animals at the numerous museums and zoos in and around San Diego.

    We attribute much of the success of our marriage to being able to talk to each other honestly, being unselfish in order to see each other succeed, and always finding time to laugh and have fun together. We look forward to spending time with and providing opportunities for our child to succeed, and we also look forward to the times to where we can just sit and talk, laugh, and have fun together as a family.

What Elizabeth has to say about Joel
     Joel was, for the most part, raised on a farm in eastern Montana, along with his older brother and younger sister. His family moved to Maine when he was a sophomore in high school. Although there were things he liked about the farm, he always wanted to see more of the country and have a chance to try different things. Over the years Joel has become interested in a variety of hobbies such as golf, photography, and cooking. I can’t wait to see him teach our child how to golf and handle a camera.

    Joel is one of the most fun-loving, adventurous people I have ever met. Whenever we talk about the activities we think our children will enjoy, he thinks of creative, fun activities like scuba-diving, traveling across the country, and taking a summer off to go see a baseball game at every stadium across the country. He loves thinking about ways that we could provide our children with lots of different opportunities to choose their own experiences to live, learn, and have fun.

    Joel has always had a great talent working with children, and is currently working with before and after school programs in the San Diego area. Joel is a bit of a kid himself, always trying to find cool projects that he can get the kids to help with (he’s built two life-sized whales out of plastic and duct tape). Joel truly has a gift with children. It always amazes me that when he walks into a room where there are children, even if they have never met him before, there is an instant connection. Among our friends and family, Joel is known as “the kid magnet” – newborns, infants, and kids of all ages will go to him, listen to him, and develop a trust with him in minutes. While maintaining the role of the adult, Joel has the ability to talk to children such that they feel respected and loved, no matter what the situation is. I am so excited to be able to see him interact with our children with this love, patience, and kindness that God has given him.

What Joel has to say about Elizabeth
     Elizabeth was raised in a small town in Maine, the middle child with four sisters. Growing up as one of five daughters played a big role in how Elizabeth’s personality developed. In a household with five girls there was bound to be a lot of competition and something going on all the time. As the middle child Elizabeth learned how to be strong and independent but also learned how to be compassionate and caring. It was these characteristics that first drew me to Elizabeth, and I’m excited to see her help our child develop into an independent, caring, and compassionate person.
Family is very important to Elizabeth and although all of her sisters still live in or near that same small town in Maine, they remain close through frequent phone calls, holiday visits, and pictures. It’s amazing to watch Elizabeth play with the kids when we visit. The kids love it when we come over because Elizabeth truly enjoys sitting for hours and coloring, doing art projects (she once helped our nieces create dresses out of paper bags and model them for a fashion show), or just playing games.

    Elizabeth is the smartest person I know, she is kind, and she has tons of patience. Her strength and independence has allowed her to succeed in the business world, where she is currently a manager of Biostatistics in a pharmaceutical company. As a manager, she loves to help others identify their strengths, set goals, and help them exceed those goals. She also has a great ability to challenge me to be a better person and to push myself both at work and at play. Elizabeth is going to make a great mom! I am so excited to see her create a home that will allow our child to feel free to try new things and know that regardless of the outcome Elizabeth is going to be there with a hug and a smile.

Our Thoughts on Raising a Child
     Even before we were married, we knew that we wanted to adopt. Elizabeth’s oldest sister is adopted, and we often talked of having a family that would include both adopted and biological children. Recently, when we found out that we will not be able to have biological children, we were not discouraged since whenever we pictured our family, there was never a difference between the love we had for our children, whether adopted or biological. Although some infertility treatments were an option, we didn’t consider them since we always knew we wanted to adopt. For us, adoption was always one of the ways that we would bring a child that we could love and nurture into our home.

    We look forward to helping our children discover the many wonders life has to offer. Like all parents we have spent a lot of time thinking and talking about how we want to raise our children. We dream of the many fun times we will share with our children, such as building sandcastles at the beach and going to baseball games on Saturday afternoon. Yet, we also look forward to the little things like bedtime stories, the first day of school, and answering a million questions about why the sky is blue or why we get hiccups. We feel that it is very important that a child’s home life be safe and filled with love. It is in this environment where children can thrive and feel secure enough to try things regardless of the outcome. We will provide our children with a variety of learning experiences so that they can get to know themselves, find out what they like, and explore what they might want to do with their lives.

    Education is important to us - we both have gone to college and have advanced degrees. Even Annabelle graduated from a puppy training class! Our goal will be to provide our children with lots of encouragement and opportunities to try and learn about different things so that so that they can choose and succeed in the path that is right for them. We will work hard to provide the best education possible for our child and we will encourage him or her to go to college, ensuring that they have the means to do so. Our greatest dream for our child, though, is that he or she will grow up to be healthy and happy with a life full of laughter, love and good friends. We hope to teach our child to work hard and to have the courage to follow their dreams.

In Conclusion
     After almost 11 years of marriage, we want more than anything to welcome a child into our lives.
We promise to raise your child in a safe and fun home that is full of love. We believe that adoption is not something that should be kept a secret, and we intend to talk openly about the adoption throughout your child’s life, including any information about you that you would like us to share. We are also open to sharing your child’s development with you through pictures and letters.

    We hope that this letter has answered some of the questions you had about us. If you are interested in learning more, please call Cindy Simonson at A Act of Caring at 1-800-556-5635.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you,