Dear Birthmother,

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and considering us as parents for your baby. It is an honor and privilege for us. This decision has to be one of the most important and difficult ones you will ever make. Perhaps after reading our letter you will get to know us better and feel at peace with your decision.

About Us…
We are Richard and Barbara, and have been married for nine years. We met at work and became such great friends. We were like two peas in a pod! There was an immediate chemistry between the two of us and we enjoyed spending our time together. Richard could just hold my hand and I would get butterflies in my stomach. We would go to the movies, sporting events, fishing and the beach. No matter what we were doing, we were just happy to be together. Even after all these years, our relationship is strong and loving and we look forward to our special “date nights” out!

We knew we wanted to start a family and were unable to get pregnant on our own. After several attempts using fertility treatments, we were blessed with a daughter, Allison. Unfortunately, we were unable to have any other children but we knew in our hearts we were meant to have more children. We knew adoption was a wonderful thing since Barbara’s nephew is adopted and Richard’s two cousins are adopted.

We are so thankful to have these children in our families and we thank their birthmothers, who gave them life, to let us love them.

Being parents has enriched our relationship and we enjoy every minute of it. We feel we are doing a great job raising Allison and look forward to sharing our love with another child.

About Barbara …
Barbara is a loyal, compassionate and kind natured person. She is a wonderful wife and her calm, loving nature is a great asset to the family. She whole heartedly enjoys spending time with Allison and just tries to be the best Mom she can possibly be. She feels it is one of the most rewarding experiences in the world.

Barbara loves the beach and has spent all of her summers at her family’s cottage. Whether it is making sandcastles or looking for sea glass on the shore, the beach has always been one of her favorite places to be. She also enjoys gardening, baking, and volunteering with the PTO at Allison’s school. She can be found helping out at various school events such as the carnival, teacher’s appreciation luncheon, or helping to landscape the grounds of the school.

Barbara and Allison enjoy baking, crafts, chalk drawings, swimming in the pool,
and playing card and board games together. There are so many things we love to do together and lots of laughter is usually involved!

Barbara is a full time stay at home mom and enjoys every minute of it!

About Richard…
Richard has so many great characteristics that make him a wonderful husband and father. He is kind, thoughtful, caring, considerate, fun loving and has a wonderful sense of humor. He is the type of guy that would give you the shirt off of his back. I am honored to be his wife.

Richard enjoys fishing, soccer, and swimming. He loves to share these activities with Allison and sometimes they act like two kids when they are together. He has been a very involved parent from the beginning whether it was changing diapers or teaching Allison how to ride her bike. He enjoys being a father very much.

Richard is an engineer and graduated with a Masters degree from MIT. (He can answer Allison’s questions of how does an airplane fly or what makes a rainbow!) He works for a company that does research and development for the government. His dedication and hard work enables him to provide for our family and we are fortunate that Barbara can be a stay at home mom.

About Allison…
Allison is now in 1st grade and is a fun, sweet, and smart little girl who has been asking for a brother or sister. When she asks about siblings we tell her that some families have brothers and sisters and some don’t. She would make a fabulous big sister and says she would teach the baby how to “walk and swim.” This year Allison took gymnastics and skating. She also joined the Brownies and enjoyed selling her Girl Scout cookies to family and friends. She loves swimming, craft projects, going to the park, using the computer, and going to the beach. She has a wonderful imagination and has lots of fun just taking the cushions and blankets from the couches and turning them into a “boat on the ocean” where she is the captain.

Allison is learning to read and is looking forward to the day when she can read to her new brother or sister.

Our Home and Community…
We live in a lovely home in a great town just north of Boston. We have a wonderful yard with a swing set, sandbox, and swimming pool. Our pool is secure with a fence and safety locks so a child cannot get into the pool area without an adult. We have a great driveway for riding bikes or doing chalk drawings. There is always something fun going on at our house.

You couldn’t ask for better community to live in. There are wonderful schools, parks, recreation department, shops, restaurants, and library. There are many great social and sporting activities through our town’s recreation department. This year Richard and Allison attended the “Daddy – Daughter Square Dance.” It was great time!

Parenting and Family Life…
We love being parents and enjoy every minute of raising and caring for our daughter. Every day is a learning experience for all of us. We expose Allison to different activities to see what she enjoys. Another child in our family will also have the same opportunities. Some of the things we like doing together are swimming, going to the park, the beach, and playing in the yard. We also enjoy going to the movies, plays, aquarium, and museums. Friday night is a special night we call “movie, snuggle, and ice cream night.” We pick out a good movie, sit on the couch together under a blanket, snuggle up, and eat ice cream. It is the highlight of the week!! These are just a few of the many activities we enjoy doing together. The main thing is we enjoy being together as a family!!

Education is a very important thing to us. Our parents stressed the importance of a good education and we feel the same way. We are fortunate to have already established a college fund for Allison and one will be established for any future children we might be lucky enough to have in our family. We will fully encourage and support our children in pursuing their interests.

Extended Family…
Barbara’s family owns a summer home at the beach right on the ocean. It’s a beautiful beach with lots of room to play ball, fly kites, or make sandcastles when you’re not swimming. The cottage is always bustling with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Everybody enjoys spending time there! Allison and her cousins always dress up and try to win a ribbon in the annual 4th of July Parade on the seawall. Barbara and her sister also participated in this same parade when they were kids.

Richard’s family hosts an annual ice cream cookout in the summertime. Everybody from about 10 families makes their own homemade, hand-cranked ice cream and everyone votes on who has the best flavor. It’s really a great time!

We also have wonderful extended families including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that live within 5-10 miles of us. Holidays and birthdays are always spent with both families and traditions are made. The kids all look forward to getting together for these great occasions. We welcome another addition to our family to be part of these great traditions.

In Closing…
Hopefully after reading our letter it will give you some idea of what a truly loving, caring, and fun family we are. We want you to feel secure that your baby will be cared for and loved deeply by a family that is very stable, has lots of love, laughter and happiness in it. Your child will be welcomed with open arms by us, a little girl wanting so much to be a big sister, and both of our families and many close friends.

Thank you for considering us for this enormous honor and privilege. We wish you peace with whatever decision you make.

With many thanks from the bottom of our hearts,

If you would like to learn more about us or to arrange an initial phone call, please call Cindy (anytime) at A Act of Caring (800) 556-5635.

Warm Wishes,

Richard and Barbara