Dear Birthmother,

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and letting us introduce ourselves to you. We’re Amy and Michael and we are so excited to build our family through the gift of adoption. We recognize that making the decision to place your baby with adoptive parents is difficult, so we already know what a courageous and loving person you are. We hope that by reading our letter, you will get to know a little bit about us and see that we are a family that can offer your baby a future full of love, opportunity, safety and support. We want you to know that this is the greatest gift we could ever receive and that if you choose us to adopt your baby, we will love him or her more than words could ever say.

Our Life Together

We met 10 years ago on a blind date. Believe it or not, we were set up by a hairdresser who cut two of our relatives’ hair. The connection was immediate – we talked and laughed so much on that first date and just felt so comfortable with each other right away. We started to spend every free minute together and realized pretty quickly that we were meant to be together. We got married two and a half years later surrounded by all of our family and friends (including the hairdresser!).

One of the things that we had in common right from the beginning was how much we both wanted to have children. We have a five year old daughter, Rebecca, and we think that being parents is the most incredible thing we’ve ever done. We are not able to have another child by birth, but we have so much love to share with another child. We know what a precious gift a baby is and want nothing more than to have another child to love and share our lives with. We both look forward to the day that another child joins our family and we cannot wait to expand our family through adoption.

Home Sweet Home

Three years ago, we built and moved into a new four bedroom home. Our neighborhood is filled with young families and there are lots of other kids to play with. Some of our neighbors have built their families through adoption, including the family next door to us. Our house is the last one on a cul-de-sac and we have a great yard with a swing set and a long driveway that is perfect for riding bikes. The elementary school is very close to our neighborhood and our town is known for its excellent school system. Our town is very family oriented and has parades, concerts and other activities for families throughout the year. It also has a lake, a brand new playground and a real farm where we pick our own pumpkins every fall. It’s really a wonderful place to raise a family and we’re so happy living here.

We love spending time together and with our family and friends. We enjoy taking daytrips, like going to the beach, zoo or children’s museum. Sometimes we make special plans, like getting tickets to the circus or a baseball game, and other times we just hang out as a family at home, playing games or curling up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn to watch a movie.

Amy enjoys knitting, reading and scrapbooking and Michael likes to run, play basketball and work around our house. He just finished building a playroom in our basement. We enjoy going on vacations and can’t wait to take our kids to our favorite vacation spot—Disney World!

We are fortunate to have our families living very close by and we get to spend a lot of time with them. Our parents have become such good friends with each other that we don’t think of our families as “yours” and “mine,” but as one large extended family. Besides our parents, our family includes Amy’s sister, Michael’s brother, his wife and their two kids, our grandparents, and many aunts, uncles and cousins. Amy is particularly close with her aunt who adopted two children (Amy’s first cousins) and we’ve learned a lot from her about the joys of being adoptive parents.

We always have huge family gatherings for holidays and birthdays. We like to have our family over for Friday pizza nights or meet them for breakfast on a weekend morning. In the summer, we spend lots of weekends at Michael’s brother’s house, swimming in their pool and having cookouts. Family is important to us and we’re glad that our children will be able to grow up in the midst of a close-knit family.

We have a large circle of friends with children and our house is the center of activity for casual get-togethers and parties, with lots of food and fun. One of our favorite times of the year is our annual summer barbeque when we set up a giant “bouncy house” in our yard for the kids (and the grownups, too!) to jump around in. Our friends know how much we want another child and they’re looking forward to celebrating a new addition to our family. When a second child joins our family, there will be lots of “aunts and uncles” waiting to love him or her.

From Amy about Michael

The first thing I noticed about Michael was his fantastic smile – it just lights up his entire face. He is such a wonderful and caring man. He is so good-natured and will drop whatever he is doing to help a friend or family member. Michael and I have a true partnership in all aspects of our marriage. I think that we make a great team and I am so fortunate to be able to spend my life with Michael.

I always knew Michael would be a terrific dad and I was right. Michael grew up playing basketball and tennis, but now he can be found playing Barbie dolls with Rebecca. Whenever Rebecca asks him to play with her, he willingly takes on the role of prince or superhero. In the spring and summer, Michael plays with Rebecca in our yard, pushing her on the swings or teaching her to ride a bike in the driveway. Michael loves to build sandcastles when we go to the beach and in the winter, he helps Rebecca build giant, lopsided snowmen in our yard.

All of our friends’ children love Michael. Our friends jokingly say that he is the director of “Camp Michael” because whenever we are at a party, it never fails that Michael is the dad that is playing with all of the kids. Michael tells me all the time how much he’s looking forward to having another child in our family and how excited he is to adopt. He is such a great dad that I can’t wait to watch him play with and take care of another child.

From Michael about Amy

I knew that I wanted to spend my life with Amy as soon as we started dating. Right from the beginning, we had so much fun together and she is still the person that I enjoy being with the most. Family and friends are so important to Amy and she loves having our home filled with the people that we love. She never forgets a friend’s birthday or misses the chance to let someone know that she’s thinking of them. I can’t imagine my life without having Amy as my wife.

One of the qualities that I love most about Amy is that she is the most wonderful mother. She loves to spend time with Rebecca, whether it’s taking mom and tot classes, getting together for play dates with other moms and kids, or spending the afternoon doing craft projects or baking cookies, and she can’t wait to do these things with our second child as well. Sometimes Amy leaves little presents for Rebecca under her pillow and I don’t know who is more excited when Rebecca finds them. At night, they climb onto Rebecca’s bed, talk about their days and read stories together before Amy tucks Rebecca in.

It is obvious that being a mom is not only Amy’s top priority, but the thing that makes her the happiest. Nothing will make her happier than when a second child joins our family. I know that the day that child arrives will be one of the best days of her life.

About Rebecca

Rebecca is a happy, fun-loving 5 year old. She loves to laugh and be silly and is quite a chatterbox. She has a great imagination and likes to pretend that she is a princess or an ice skater who is skating around our kitchen floor in her socks. One of her favorite activities is drawing, especially pictures of unicorns, and we have her artwork hanging all over our house. We have a lot of friends with babies and Rebecca loves to play peek-a-boo with them and help give them their bottles. She gets so excited when the babies give her a big smile. She often talks about having a baby sister or brother and all of the things that she will teach the baby to do. We know that she is going to be an amazing big sister.

Parenting

We cannot wait to become parents to another child. We will give our child lots of nurturing, support and, of course, unconditional love. Our children will always be our top priority and we are committed to ensuring their happiness. Education is important to us; Michael has a business degree, and now owns his own publishing business, and Amy graduated from law school, and now works part-time as a lawyer. We have the ability to provide our children with financial security, both now and in the future, including setting up college funds for each child. We feel that being parents is our most important job and we will always put our family first.

We want our children to be able to explore all of their interests and talents and to have the chance to try some of the things we enjoyed as children, like summer camp, dance lessons and little league teams. We also want to give them plenty of time to just be kids who can play with neighborhood friends and make childhood memories to last a lifetime. Most of all, we want our children to know that we will always love them and be there for them.

We want your child to know about you and the courageous decision you made in choosing to give your child life. We are awed by the incredible sacrifice you are making to ensure your baby’s well-being and we want your child to understand what a wonderful gift adoption is. We want you to feel confident in your decision and to always know that your child is loved and well cared for. We hope to be able to share the joy of watching your child grow up by sending pictures and letters to you through our agency, if that is what you would like to do.

We want to thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts for giving us this opportunity to share our lives with you. We know that you’ve only been able to get a glimpse into our lives, but we hope that you’ve been able to see that we would give your child a home where he or she would be surrounded by love. If you would like to learn more about us or arrange to speak with us, please call Cindy Simonson (anytime) at A Act of Caring (800) 556-5635. No matter what you decide, we know that your baby will be very loved and we wish you luck in making the decision that is right for you.

Wishing you the best,

Michael & Amy