Dear Birth Mother,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about us and our reasons for wanting to adopt a child. We are very grateful that you are considering adoption and we wish you the best as you make this courageous decision. We would like to share some information about ourselves and hope it will allow you to understand who we are, why we would like to adopt a child, and what kind of parents we will be.

About Us
We met over 10 years ago when we both worked for the same biotechnology company. Rich was working at the company temporarily while he waited for the results of his nursing boards. Tammy was living and working in New York and was sent out to California on a temporary assignment. We started working at the biotech company within a few weeks of one another, so we were both lucky to be in the right place at the right time. It must have been fate!

We quickly became friends and it didn’t take long for us to know we had a special bond, and that we were meant to be together. After several years of serious dating, we became engaged during a vacation in Hawaii. A year after getting engaged, we were married in an outdoor ceremony on San Diego Bay. Since marrying we have grown together and our marriage is based on honesty, communication, and mutual respect. We support and love each other very much and we have a great time together. Becoming parents has strengthened our partnership and we have both seen first hand how successful we can be when we work together and support one another.

Rich
The very first time I met Rich, I noticed right away how warm and kind he was to others. He is caring, intelligent and adventurous. He loves to be outdoors and camping, fishing and golfing are among his favorite things to do. As a husband he is very thoughtful, Rich never forgets a birthday or anniversary and likes to plan special surprises to celebrate the day. He definitely has a fun side and a great since of humor, but is very responsible and dependable. Rich has a very stable and successful career as a corporate bank officer and is a whiz with numbers and finance-he’ll be a huge help with school math problems down the road. He makes a point to keep balance between work and our home life as family is clearly his first priority. He loves being a father and enjoys all the fun, responsibility and patience that goes along with having children. Rich is very talented at home improvement and can fix just about anything. Whenever Dad needs to use a screwdriver or hammer around the house, our son, Tyler is right there with his “tools” helping to fix the problem, too. Rich is an outstanding and very caring Dad-always ready to take the time to explain how or why, but just as ready for a trip to the park or running around in the backyard with our dog, Ribbons. But the time of day that he and Tyler seem most content is just before bed when Tyler sits in Rich’s lap for some hugs and bedtime stories.

Tammy
It’s hard to describe what I felt about my wife when we first met. As soon as I saw her I just knew she was special. I was right! She is very sweet and caring, and the smartest person I know. She is very supportive of me in my work and play. When my friends come to visit, they are always disappointed if Tammy isn’t home.

Tammy amazed me even more after Tyler was born. Not only is she very patient and loving, she always thinks of the important things we have needed since Tyler came along. Tammy was raised in the suburbs of New York and although most of her family still lives in there, they stay close with us through frequent visits, phone contact, and picture exchanges. Tyler loves to spend time playing and visiting with his cousins and we regularly plan visits with family during the summer and holidays. The most recent get together with Tammy’s family was last Thanksgiving (2006) when we had ten people staying with us for the week! It was a lot of work but well worth it.

Tammy used to be a director of a biotechnology company in San Diego. When Tyler was born, she took a couple years off to stay home with him. She now works part-time in the biotech industry, while Tyler goes to preschool. We are fortunate that Tammy will be able to stay at home full time if we are lucky enough to adopt another child.

Tammy and Tyler also belong to a weekly playgroup with other 3 year olds and their Moms. They frequently visit different museums, parks and puppet shows around town. In addition to visits to the neighborhood park and pool, Tammy and Tyler enjoy spending time drawing with markers, coloring and playing with play-doh.

Why We Want to Adopt
Having children to share our love and our lives with has always been important to both of us. Shortly after marrying, we discovered we were unable to have children ourselves despite trying a number of fertility treatments. Dealing with infertility was extremely painful, however, we have a lot of love to give and knew adoption would help make our dream of having a family possible. We also knew there was a little boy or girl out there who needed us.

We were extremely blessed in 2003 when we were chosen by our son Tyler’s birthparents for an open adoption. We are very happy being parents and love Tyler so much. We keep in touch with Tyler’s birthmother as much as she chooses, and share pictures and phone calls. We are so grateful for her decision that allowed us to become a family.

Tyler is a very active, happy child and he turned 3 years old in September 2006. He is so sweet and loving with other children, especially the younger ones, that he will certainly be a great big brother. Tyler is very social and loves to play with kids of all ages (grown ups too) and he will have lots of things to teach a little brother or sister. Sharing our love with Tyler has been so very rewarding. We want very much to welcome another child into our family and hearts and provide the same safe, nurturing and loving environment.

Our Lives
We live in a small community in southern California and our home is warm, casual and very kid-friendly. Our house is located on a small canyon, so we have lots of space. We have a fenced-in backyard, with lots of grass for running and playing. Because we have always planned to have children our home is a place where you can relax and children can play.

Since the majority of our leisure time is spent together as a family we are frequent visitors to the park and playground just down the street from our house. At the park, we can meet and play with friends from the neighborhood or make new ones. The park has several soccer and baseball fields that are filled with children and families each day. On the weekends we love to take family walks at the beach or lake where we can have a picnic or visit a nearby playground afterward. Weekends will usually find us working on a home improvement project or in the garden, but we are also just as likely to visit the local bookstore to search for new books and listen to storytime.

We live within driving distance of almost every attraction and theme park in southern California. We make regular trips to Disneyland, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. We also try to take several short vacations throughout the year. This is easy since we live close to the beach, mountains and desert. We love the outdoors and try to get away each summer on a camping trip. We have made several trips to Yosemite Valley and other campgrounds in California where we are able to participate in two other activities we enjoy doing as a family: fishing and hiking.

Holidays and birthdays are always fun around our house, we like to decorate and celebrate each special occasion. At Halloween and Christmas there is lots of activity and preparation, as we remember the excitement from when we were kids and we share our good memories and special times with family. We plan to carry on the family traditions that we learned growing up and share them with our own children. Holidays are always made more special when surrounded by those you love, so we always try to spend the holidays with all our many cousins, aunts and uncles.

While we are very active, we do manage to find time to relax and spend some quiet time talking or just hanging out together. We love to spend time with family and close friends. Since many of our friends have children we spend a lot of our leisure time at our home or the home of friends barbecuing or having a casual gathering. Our family and friends are excited about our decision to adopt another child and they are very supportive.

Our Children
We have talked a lot about parenting. It’s been a frequent topic basically since we met! We believe it’s important that children be surrounded with love and understanding. Above all, a child needs to feel safe, secure and loved. It allows them to mature and develop. Family is the most important thing to us, and we are glad we can share that experience with a child who needs us. We believe a child will learn and grow in the loving and stable environment that we can provide. We will provide as many ways as possible for our children to get to know themselves, figure out who they are, and what they like and what they want to do with their lives.

Education and learning are very important to us. We both have master’s degrees and have already started a college fund for Tyler and one would be established for any future children that we would be lucky enough to have join our family. We will support our children in whatever activities they are interested in, whether they choose art, sports, music, singing, dancing or something entirely different.

Contact Us
We hope you enjoyed reading about us and our family. It would be an honor to be chosen to as adoptive parents for your child. You may contact us by calling Cindy Simonson at ‘A Act of Caring’ at 1-800-556-5635. All the best to you as you make this difficult and courageous decision.

Sincerely,

Rich and Tammy