Leslie and Michael

We are a loving couple who would like to adopt a beautiful baby girl! As this is a very joyous event for us we recognize that this must be a very difficult decision for you to make. We empathize greatly with what you are going through although we cannot ever completely understand how you must feel. All we can do is offer some reassurance that if you choose us to parent your daughter that she will be our greatest joy and loved unconditionally. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. As you read our profile, we hope that our words speak to your heart. We want you to know that we admire your courage and strength and hope that the information we provide will help you make this decision. We look forward to meeting with you and learning more about you as well. We hope that your final decision brings you peace knowing that we will provide your baby with a safe, happy, and secure future.

About Us (by Leslie)

Where do I begin? We met in 1998 through a mutual friend. I (Leslie) worked with Michael’s best friend. When I was looking for a roommate, our friend told me that his buddy Michael was also looking for a roommate. I was open to it, but after a few days of thinking about it our friend said he didn’t think we would get along. Boy was he wrong! > We met about a month later and just clicked! Our relationship was built on friendship and then we fell in love. We are a classic example of opposites attract, though we share the same values and interests in politics, music, sports and our love of animals. > We moved to Ohio from Wisconsin so that Michael could go to graduate school. After Michael graduated with his master’s degree he asked me to marry him. It was special of course, but made even more amazing because Michael had designed and made my engagement ring. It is so beautiful and unique! > We married in 2003. Our family and friends traveled from all over the country to be a part of our wedding. It meant so much! We have always been surrounded by a wonderful group of people that will be there if we need them. This will definitely come in handy as new parents with lots of questions.> We plan to raise our child in the church because we believe that a child needs a solid foundation. Our faith has helped guide us through the hills and valleys of our lives. We see adoption as a wonderful blessing that will allow us to expand our family. We also see the value in exposing our child to different cultures and experiences. Being open-minded people, we love to learn new things and share our knowledge with others.> Education is important to both of us, as we both have completed our Master’s degrees. Michael has his graduate degree in Fine Arts and I have my degree in Counseling. We plan to provide our child with the tools she will need in order to be successful. We both look forward to helping her with homework, attending school functions, and providing encouragement when needed. Whatever path our child chooses we will be there to support her.> We both work full time. Michael is a manager of an art collection and I am a counselor who works with children and families. Once we become parents we both plan to take time off to bond with the beautiful little girl that joins our family. We plan to use an in-home daycare provider as our schedules are flexible and this will fit into our lifestyle.>

Leslie (by Michael)

When I first met Leslie, I knew there was something very special about her. It didn’t take long for me to see that she was one of the most caring and compassionate women I knew. She spent much of her time volunteering in the community helping women, children and their families. Her passion for helping others opened my eyes to a new world and I am so thankful for that. She has a heart of gold and it is easy to see that when you meet her. Leslie has strong ties to family and friends and has always found a way to be there for a family member or friend in need. She believes family comes first and that no sacrifice is too big to help out a family member. Leslie is an only child and her mother lives in North Carolina. They still talk every day and are very close! Leslie is very easy to talk to, which is probably the reason why she is so good at helping others. I find it very easy to talk to her since she is open minded and a good listener. This is valuable to me in our relationship and I believe it is also something that will make her a great mother. Leslie is outgoing and enjoys spending time shopping, visiting with friends, playing sports and taking our dogs to the park. She enjoys meeting new people and loves traveling. I admire how much she enjoys life and how she finds time to laugh and have fun regardless of how stressful the day may have been. Along with being loving and compassionate, Leslie is also very strong and confident. She has taken on difficult tasks and made very difficult decisions with strength and confidence. She believes that when you set your mind on doing something that you can do it. I love this about her and I believe this will make her a great role model for our daughter. I look forward to her teaching our daughter that she can be loving, compassionate and strong all at the same time. I am blessed to have a wife like Leslie and I know that she will make a wonderful mother. I have seen how much she enjoys spending time with and taking care of our friend’s children and I know that she can’t wait to be a mother. ABOUT MICHAEL(BY LESLIE) Michael is my best friend, love of my life and my greatest supporter. I can’t wait for him to become a father. He’s patient, caring, and always there for me, as I know he will be with our little girl. Our relationship was built on friendship. He is one of the most sensitive, loving, and creative people I’ve ever met. Of course, I’m biased. He really brings peace to my life as he has a calming effect on others. Another reason that he will make a wonderful father. Michael is an artist and manages an art collection. Michael is very talented in photography, sculpture, and painting. He’s very excited to share his love of art with a child and to teach her how to express herself through creativity. Michael grew up in Wisconsin with his parents and 2 brothers. Michael is the middle child. Michael learned the importance of family, the value of hard work and creativity from his parents. Michael is very close with his younger brother who is married and has one child, Ben. It was so special to see Michael and Ben bonding immediately. They have lots of fun together. We make efforts to take trips back to Wisconsin for holidays, Ben’s birthday and just because. Michael has many interests and hobbies. He loves to play golf, football and volleyball. He loves to read and wants to start filmmaking. He has remodeled our whole house and built much of our furniture. He will be great at fixing broken toys and broken hearts.

Our Lifestyle

Michael and I enjoy spending time with friends, but also appreciate a quiet evening at home with each other. We work hard during the week so our weekends are important to us. We look forward to taking our daughter to barbeques, going to the park, and exploring new things together. We enjoy going to concerts, traveling, organic gardening, and watching movies. We love sports (playing and watching). No matter what we are doing we have fun! We live in a suburb, with local schools and parks within walking distance of our house. Our neighborhood has lots of kids and our neighbors are so excited about us becoming parents. Our friends are like family to us. We take turns having get-togethers at each other’s houses and try to help each other whenever needed. Almost all of our friends have kids so our daughter will have lots of new playmates! We appreciate all the support our friends have given us and are excited to share our little bundle of joy with them! Even though our family members do not live close by they will make the effort to be a huge part of the new grandbaby’s life. Leslie’s mother may be moving to Ohio so she can enjoy the everyday joys of being a Grandma! Leslie’s dad lives in Florida and can’t wait to be a Grandpa. Michael’s parents and siblings are very excited as well because she will be the first girl grandchild in Michael’s family. WHY ADOPTION? Adoption has always been a part of the discussion when we started talking about making a family. We suspected that we may have fertility issues and knew that adoption would be a wonderful option for us. Once our fertility problems were confirmed we knew that we couldn’t wait to get the adoption process started. Our friends and family members are very supportive and excited for us to start a family. We would like to adopt a baby girl because we see ourselves taking in all the joys of parenting a girl, such as buying girly clothes, playing dress up, guiding her through the typical teenage girl drama, and teaching her to be a strong woman in the end. We are open to adopting a baby girl of any race and ethnic background. If your child is of a different race than we are we want to reassure you that we have open minds and hearts and are willing to educate ourselves about your child’s cultural background. An open adoption also fits into our lifestyle because we want to be able to provide your child with a good understanding of her family history. We are willing to discuss what level of openness will be beneficial for everyone involved once we are able to get to know each other. We would love to hear from you! Contact us by e-mail: fezlie@yahoo.com