Dear Birth Family

Thank you for considering us to be the parents of your child. While we cannot fully understand what you are going through, we can offer our support, consideration and sensitivity throughout this process. We truly admire your decision to make an adoption plan with the best interests of your child at forefront. We hope to provide an extremely positive and encouraging environment for your child, one that would ideally include you, the birthparent(s). We believe that an open adoption would be best for everyone, so that your child would have that sense of continuity as he grows up and always be surrounded by love. We have known for some time now that we are not able to conceive our own child. Learning about adoption and how it will change our lives has given us the motivation to create our family in this way. We know it will take a lot of courage and strength on both parts – yours and ours – to make this adoption plan a reality and we hope that this profi le will give you a glimpse of what we have to offer as adoptive parents We encourage you to really think about what kind of life and dreams you have for your child – hopefully we are the parents who are able to give your child everything you hope for in their future. Thank you again for this opportunity to be viewed as parents to your child. Sincerely, Christie and Eric

Our Story

We started our relationship as friends. We met when we were neighbours in the same apartment> building. We would eat dinner together and maybe have a beer and share a few laughs. Once we> started introducing each other to our own friends and family it became quite clear to us what> everyone else already seemed to know – that we were in love. After about a year and a half of> dating, we were engaged in December 2005 and married in September 2007.> We had a beautiful late-summer wedding at a winery in St. Catharines, Ontario. It was very> important for us to have our family and friends with us to share in our special day. What was> inevitable in the eyes of our friends and family had now become a reality for us – we were married> and ready to enjoy the rest of our lives together. And someday, we would welcome an addition to> our family.> We are now ready to take that next step. We are incredibly excited to share the love that we> have for each other with a child. To have a child grow with us is a dream that will hopefully> become a reality.> > MEET CHRISTIE> > I have always loved kids and wanted to be a mommy. I was four years old when my aunt and uncle> got married. I was having a great time taking pictures of them with my pretend camera. One of> the guests suggested that I should be a photographer when I grow up. My response to her was> simple - "No, I just want to be a mommy."> Growing up I knew I wanted to work with children. For some reason when it was time to apply> to college I chose a different route; I received my Hotel and Resort Administration diploma from> Georgian College in 1997. I worked in the restaurant industry for 18 years in various capacities.> I knew that it was not what I wanted for my life. So at the age of 30 I fi nally followed my dreams.> In April of 2007 I graduated with honours from Humber College's Early Childhood Education> program. In May of 2007 I started working in a daycare full time. I am so happy and proud of> myself for making the leap and changing my career. I learn so much from the children I work with> and am looking forward to learning from our child. I hope to own and run my own daycare one> day. Since I work in a daycare, I know that when I return to work our child will be in excellent> care. Having our child at my daycare will allow me to be close to our child at all times.> > MEET ERIC> > I work as a Senior Web Designer for a major Canadian fi nancial institution. My job allows for> fl exibility in work hours as well as easy transportation to and from work – it's only a short subway> ride away! My office is located in an exciting part of town and is in close proximity to my fitness> club – a great stress relief as well as a means to keep in shape.> I've always been very curious about things and eager to visit exciting places in the world.> Before I was married, I was able to backpack across Western Europe, go skydiving, run a> triathlon, and volunteer with Habitat For Humanity in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi. Now> that I am married, I enjoy the simpler things in life like going for bike rides, camping, gardening> and cooking. I'm into computers and electronics, cars, sports and music – I play a little guitar and> my favourite rock band is Rush!> When I'm not at work, I spend most of my time with my lovely wife Christie. We share a lot> of common interests and she's really fun to be around. She loves the things that I love such as> BBQing, baseball, and the outdoors – plus she's really cute!> I am driven to succeed in order to support my wife and family in every way possible. At this point> in my life I am focused on being an excellent husband and, someday, a dad

Family

Family is very important to both of us. To have the love and support of a family is something to truly cherish, and something that will be provided to our child to no limit. Although we don't belong to any church, we traditionally spend many Christian holidays with both of our families – we make every effort to see everyone we can! Our families celebrate Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, as well as birthdays so there are always many opportunities to get together. Our families are eagerly anticipating the day when we bring home our adopted child. They are very supportive of us and are ready to welcome a new addition to our family. Our child will have fi ve fi rst cousins as well as many amazing aunts and uncles. Christie's mother, stepfather and father live in the Kitchener area and are very excited to have a new grandbaby. Eric's parents live in Welland are eager to become grandparents as well! We also have many close friends who, to us, are like family. These are the 'family' members that we probably spend the most time with and who our child will interact with the most. They could not be more supportive of our efforts and are extremely eager to celebrate the arrival of our child!

As you can see...

...we are very excited to welcome your child into our family. We have so much love and devotion to offer. We feel that we would be excellent parents who offer the love, support, and stability that a young child needs to grow up. We are very supportive of an open adoption and would wholeheartedly encourage a healthy relationship between your child and you, the birthparent(s). We feel that it is important for a child to have an understanding of where she came from and how she came to be with us, so an open and honest approach is one which we will take. Thank you so much for your consideration during this process. We truly hope that we have made a positive impact upon you and would welcome the chance to adopt your child into our family.