Dear Birthparents,
We are Liz (30) and Steven (34) — best friends who have known each other for thirteen years and married for over seven years. We are so excited to become parents and will be honored and blessed to be chosen to love and raise a child (or two or three!). We have boundless love for each other that we want to share with a child, who we know will bring us so much more joy and make our already happy family all the happier. Adoption was always in our plan for starting a family, as we knew before we were even married that infertility would prevent us from having a biological child. While infertility can be a difficult, sometimes unexpected challenge for couples, we believe that adopting children to grow our family was always a part of God’s plan for us, and we know that, strengthened by our love and dedication to each other, we will be excellent parents. Several of our friends have adopted children, and we can’t wait for our lives to be as enriched by becoming adoptive parents as they have been.
Liz graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 2008 and currently manages a brand new Starbucks. She is of the Orthodox Christian faith, and attends Mass regularly. Liz likes to read books, write plays, run, try new foods (but she would eat Mexican food everyday if it was up to her), entertain guests, and, hand-in-hand with Steven, go on long walks with their Lab/Shar-pei mix dog, Franny. Steven graduated in May 2016 with his Ph.D. in biology and works as a research scientist on projects to improve crops. Steven was born and raised in the Catholic faith, and, over the course of his life, he gradually discerned a calling to become an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church; consequently, he is currently in his first year of study to become a deacon. In his spare time, Steven enjoys reading and writing poetry, relaxing at coffee shops, playing sports (baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball), going to the movie theater, and meeting up with friends and family.
Before our current positions, both of us were teachers, and so we know how valuable and important a well-rounded education is for every child. Liz, who is more of the creative one, taught art and theater to middle school children, witnessing firsthand how important imagination is in a child’s development. Steven taught high school biology through Teach for America in a poor, rural town and saw how compassion, patience, and hope paired with a solid background in science can help alleviate educational inadequacies. Thus, we plan to give our child the best education they can receive and will support his/her development in whatever interests he/she has.
While we are very passionate about our careers, our family absolutely comes first. Both of our jobs will give us evenings and weekends (and some weekdays for Liz) to spend time with and cultivate a loving family. We envision a warm, inviting, safe home for our child that is similar to what each of us had growing up: family dinners at the kitchen table, holiday traditions (such as Easter egg dyeing, big Thanksgiving meals, Christmas stockings and gifts, and picking pumpkins for Halloween), playing games and gardening in the backyard, and laughing and telling stories to each other. We also plan to go on many family vacations together, as we both enjoy traveling— we have been to China, Greece, and Mexico, as well as many states in America, and we look forward to exploring the world with our child.
We are both very close with our extended families and are blessed to have supportive parents who can’t wait to be grandparents to our adopted child. In fact, we live in a beautiful, quiet, diverse neighborhood in a two-story brick house (complete with a great backyard with a slide) in St. Louis City that is very close to Steven’s parents. Having them nearby is such a blessing, since, after we both take at least a month off work when a child arrives, Steven’s mom and grandma will help take care of the child during the weekdays. While Liz’s family lives in the Pacific Northwest, we communicate with them daily and see them several times a year, and they can’t wait to spoil our child from afar.
We are so thankful to you for thinking of adoption for your child, for putting his/her needs above your own, and for bestowing the role of parent upon a welcoming couple who will love the child as you do. We are humbled by your sacrifice and hope to be chosen to be the adoptive parents to your baby.
With all of our heart, thank you for your time, consideration, and love,