Hi – our names are Barry and Heather. We live just outside of Washington, DC. Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and give us the opportunity to share a little bit about our life with you. Adopting our son Malcolm was the best thing that ever happened to us, and we want to share our love and joy with another child. We can only imagine what you are going through at this time. We admire your courage in considering open adoption for your baby and look forward to learning more about you and your hopes and dreams for your child.

About Us
We’ve been together fourteen years and married for ten. We grew up in very different places. Barry is originally from South Africa, while Heather grew up in a small town in western New York state. We met in Angola, a country on the west coast of Africa, where Heather was helping to resettle war refugees and Barry was running a medical assistance company. Today we live in Maryland, where Heather works in public relations and Barry works for a non-profit.
Becoming parents to our son was a dream come true. We only had 24 hours notice about Malcolm’s birth and we still remember the giddy feeling of being on the plane, flying out to meet our son. Nothing compares to being parents and we have had such fun (even through the hard times) raising Malcolm. Both Heather and Barry have siblings that we are close to, and we would love to complete our family by welcoming one more child into our home. We promise to love them, be there for them and allow them to become the person they are supposed to be, just as we are doing for Malcolm.

Our Home
Our relationship is filled with a lot of fun and laughter. It is important to us that our home be a happy, filled with friends, kids, family and pets! Many of our friends have young children of their own and we have fun playing games and hosting child-friendly get-togethers. We live in a large, comfortable home in a safe, multi-racial neighborhood that has lots of kids. There are two parks within walking distance, and our house has a large, fenced-in yard with a swing set and playhouse.

We love to take walks to the parks together as a family, host cook-outs on our patio, and make the most of being so close to DC by taking Malcolm to the zoo, festivals and other kid-friendly activities.

We share our home with two dogs – Sasha and Gunner – and a cat. All the animals are important parts of Malcolm’s life – he likes cuddling with the dogs and feeding the cat.
We enjoy holidays and make a big deal of decorating the house for Halloween and Christmas. Heather spends an entire day baking cookies to give to our friends and neighbors at Christmas-time while Barry spends hours plotting how to add more lights to the yard so that Malcolm can say, “Wow cool!” We always celebrate Christmas with lots of family and look forward to a Christmas when we can add another stocking to the mantle.

About Heather (by Barry)
When we were asked to re-do this particular portion of our application for our second adoption. I thought that it would be really simple to write, because, how much can one really change in the relatively short period of time, since our first adoption process – I mean really change?

Heather still has all the great qualities I wrote about the first time. She is still a person that hand writes thank you notes, and is still an extremely dedicated and motivated person at work and at home. Her honesty and high moral standards are still qualities that she has, and even builds upon. Ensuring that the many family traditions are still adhered to, all of which to Heather are still extremely important, is still a major priority, a priority today, which is even more important ever

Well, I am really pleased to say that we do not really change, and Heather certainly has not. What does however change, are circumstances, and it is these situations and life events, which bring out traits in a person, that one may never have before seen, mainly because the circumstances for them to be visible, did not exist Why, what life changes have occurred since our last application has brought out attributes in Heather that I have never seen before? I’ll even tell you the date and time, it was, 12:26 p.m on Tuesday 26th April 2016, and what the event was. It was when she was handed a little 7lb 4oz little boy with a thick mop of black hair, and it was our new son, Malcolm Oscar.

Heathers instantaneous bond to Malcolm brought out in her, the maternal instincts and love for a child that was impossible to see before Malcolm was made ours. Her patience, her ability to give unconditionally of herself, her perseverance and tolerance in teaching and nurturing Malcolm, is unlike anything I have ever seen and experienced.
Heathers ability to communicate and show her love for Malcolm, and watching Malcolm’s positive response to those emotions, is something that moves me daily.

I know that when we are again afforded the opportunity of not only adding another child to our family, but also giving Malcolm a sibling, that these behavioral qualities in Heather will simply be extended to the new child.
A child, who, like Malcolm, will be one of the luckiest kids in the world, because, Heather will be their mother

About Barry (by Heather)
Becoming Malcom’s father has been the biggest joy in Barry’s life and he can’t wait to add another child to our family. His absolute delight in spending time with Malcom, talking about trains, or a favorite book, is apparent every day. Barry was a stay-at-home Dad for the first 18 months of Malcom’s life and their bond is special. Malcom loves calling Barry, “My Dada” and Barry’s smile each and every time he hears that brings a smile to my face. Barry is looking forward to the adventures he will have with both Malcolm and another child.
Barry truly is a social being– he loves people, talking to them and finding out their story. Being a good host is very important to him – this is something we share. He loves to cook and I think he is happiest when he has a large group of friends or family around and he is cooking a braai for them all. (A braai is a South African barbeque with a lot of meat!) He can’t wait to pass along some of his South African traditions to his child.

Barry is also one of the best friends I have ever met. Not just with me, he is remarkable in keeping up with all of his friends and their lives, no matter how far away they may be.
He has a great sense of humor and sees few things in life that can’t be approached with humor. It has been a joy seeing that Malcom shares a love of laughing with Barry. Barry loves travel, adventure and the exploring the outdoors, whether through fishing or deep sea diving. I have loved sharing in some of these adventures with him, although parenthood has been our best adventure. We can’t wait to continue the adventure with another child.

Our Family
While family has always been an important part of our lives, it became even more important once we adopted Malcom. Heather was fortunate to have grown up with her first cousins and strives to give that same experience to both our son and the next child we hope to adopt. Heather’s sister and her family live near to us, and we frequently host cousin sleepovers. Heather’s Mother and Father spend a lot of time with us and share a special bond with their grandson. They are all just as eager as we are to welcome another child into our family.
Barry’s family is more spread out in South Africa, England and he has an adult daughter living in Australia. We get to go on some wonderful trips in order to see them all and introduce Malcolm to Barry’s family, and it’s been our great joy to welcome them to America when they come to visit.
Hobbies

Barry loves planes and flying and is a big history buff. He also loves watching and playing sports and has developed a love of baseball and hockey since moving to the United States. He can’t wait until Malcolm and our other child are old enough to go with him to a game.

Heather grew up on the East Coast, and winter is her favorite season. She considers teaching Malcolm to ride his sled and catch snowflakes on his tongue as essential life skills! Heather loves reading to Malcolm and story time is an important part of every day. Heather also loves music – pretty much any kind – so there is almost always some kind of music to suit her present mood playing in the house.
Both of us have spent significant time living in other countries and love of travel is something we share. Planning our next trip somewhere, discovering hidden gems in out-of-the way places or eating a fabulous meal someplace new are some of the great joys of our life together, which we can’t wait to share with our child.

Our Values
Laughter is a big part of our lives. We share a curiosity about our world, and love planning our next adventure together. We believe strongly in the importance of compassion and service. We both spend time volunteering in our community and plan to instill the value of service to others into our children.
We both believe in the value of education, as we have spent time in countries where children were often denied the privilege of going to school. Yet we also know that education doesn’t just happen in a classroom – that children should be exposed to all the diversity and wonder that the world has to offer. We hope to teach them the patience and compassion to learn from others, and the curiosity to never stop learning.

Thank You
We appreciate you taking the time to read this, and wish you the best in your journey. We hope you will want to learn more about us because we very much would like to learn more about you.

Sincerely,
Barry & Heather

To someone special,
We are grateful, as our dream is getting closer and is hopefully about to become a reality, thanks to the consideration you are giving us. We are simple people, in love with life, who are just waiting to be able to complete it with a child. We can only remotely imagine how difficult and delicate making this choice is for you, but we do understand it is a choice driven by what you believe is best for yourself and the love of a little one… and we would like to reassure you that with us, your child will live and spend their life protected and surrounded with love.

Us at a Glance
We are a combination of cultures and traditions that come from two parts of the world that are very distant from each other geographically, but destiny wanted our lives to cross. Marzia is Italian, born in southern Italy, on the sea and Stephen is American from Boston. We both have very open personalities, in the sense that we love mixing and dealing with different cultures and that’s exactly what we would like to convey to our children!

We love to travel, in fact you will find different photos of us in different places in the world with Ethan and Lena who are Stephen’s children from his previous marriage (as well as with our chocolate Labrador Amore). Ethan and Lena are French and live in Paris with their mother, but they come to Milan regularly, the city in which we have been living for a year; previously we lived in New York and before that in Paris, we told you we love to travel!

Marzia loves cooking and Stephen loves savoring her Italian cuisine. Music is a very important note for both us; in addition to being the theme of our marriage it is also often a factor that decides the destination of our travels. For example, we once went from New York to San Diego and spent less than 48 hours there just to see a Coldplay concert. We also really like Stevie Wonder or in general all soul and jazz music.

More about Marzia
I appreciate the simple things in life like going for a walk on a sunny day… or just hanging out at home and listening to music. At the same time, I am always open for a new adventure…! I am an optimistic and perseverant person and I feel satisfied with my current situation. The only thing that is lacking to complete my sentiment of happiness and our family is a child.

Sailing is a passion in my family… I also enjoy running and yoga but must admit I have not been able to do as much as I would like to during the most recent past. Finally, I have had the chance to travel a lot in my life and I wish to continue doing so… to discover with my child another little café on the corner of street somewhere… and to meet new families and friends

More about Stephen
I have a strong will, am perseverant and am passionate about things… and I do my best to be a kind, generous and fun-loving person. I am driven by a desire to take care of the ones I love… to give them the possibility to pursue their passions whatever they may be… and to be present for them on a daily basis to share the simple pleasures in life.

I am also Interested in all sorts of technology. Space, airplanes, Machine Learning and Artificial intelligence…. as well as shopping in vintage and artisanal boutiques… and let’s not forget simple walks in the park with Marzia and Amore our chocolate Labrador.

As a couple, how we view and do things…
Our goal in life… to share the simple things in life that create memories that last forever. That said traveling is of course in our DNA and we believe that exposing our children to different countries, cultures and traditions will also help them understand the world they live in and hopefully help them discover their own passions in life.

We have had the chance to travel, play and work together for several years now and are now ready for the next ‘step’ or ‘phase’ in our shared lives… having a child. There will be a new focus, a new priority in our lives, one that is absolute. Raising a child and watching them become a ‘little person’ is of course a challenge – but we cannot think of a more rewarding endeavor to embark upon than taking care of them, protecting them and supporting them throughout the good and the bad times of their lives …

Our fundamental desire is that our children know that they are loved and fully supported by their family. That they feel protected and can live a happy childhood… and that growing up they be able to pursue their passions – whatever they may be – without worrying about financial or any other considerations.

Gratefully yours
We would like to share again with you our feelings of gratefulness to you… and to thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about us We understand that you must have many questions and be curious about many diverse aspects of our lives, and would of course welcome the opportunity to answer them in the very near future…

Marzia & Stephen

Dear Friend,

We want to first thank you for your selflessness and choosing life for your baby. We cannot imagine how difficult this must be for you and pray that God will help you find peace in the days to come.

We are Eddie and Pam. We live in a small, southern town and have been married for 13 years. We have two boys. Sam is 14 and entering 9th grade. Eli, 11, is entering 6th grade.

Our love story is our favorite. Pam was married back in 2000 to her high school sweetheart. In 2004, they adopted Sam through Act of Love. After returning home from Utah, Pam’s husband was killed in a car accident when Sam was 10 days old. Suddenly, after the excitement of finally having a child, Pam was heartbroken. Eddie went to church with Pam and her first husband was actually a friend of his. God had a marvelous plan in the works! We began to hang out as friends, began to date, and God’s plan fell into place as Eddie fell in love with Pam and Sam. We were married in 2007 with Sam by our side. We found out in 2007 that we were expecting Eli. What a blessing these boys are to us! We enjoy every minute of being their parents, yet our hearts still yearn for another child and feel that our family isn’t complete.

Pam suffers from Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome and getting pregnant with Eli was very dangerous and difficult. The pregnancy and birth was dangerous as well. After knowing since adopting Sam that we wanted to experience this again and how special adoption is, we are ready to start this journey!

We love family! Anything our children are involved in, so are we! We love spending time outside swimming as well as going to movies and trying new restaurants. We love to travel to new places. We live close to Pam’s family so our boys get to enjoy lots of cousin time. Sam and Eli are over the moon about a
new brother or sister.

Eddie and I have a strong marriage. We can truly say that we are each other’s best friend. Eddie is a landscaper and owns his own business. Pam taught school before Sam was born, but came home to be a stay at home mom and will continue with a new baby.

We hope to teach our children that humbleness and having a servant’s heart is very important. We want them to love others.

Having a child is honestly like having your heart live outside your body and we love our boys and will love your child with all of our beings. We do not use corporal punishment, but instead
we use time outs and loss of privileges.

We imagine that you are experiencing many emotions as you make a
decision about your child. We admire you. The thought of your child joining our family brings excitement and light into our lives. Please flip through these pages to learn more about us and life we want to share with your child.

Thank you for considering us and giving hope to us. Though we are strangers now, we pray to share this amazing journey with you.

With Love,
Eddie and Pam

Hi There!

Thank you for taking the time to consider us. We are so excited to be adopting a little one, and we can’t wait to become parents. Before we even got married, we discussed how important family was to both of us. Now that we have been married for a few years, we’re ready to start our family. Luckily for us, God’s plan for us included adoption. So, while we have an amazing life, we’re ready to add to our family and become parents. We are ecstatic to take family trips to the beach, camp, go on hikes together, and have competitive game nights.

Open Arms – Open Hearts

We believe an open adoption is very beneficial for the child, birth family, and adoptive family. We’re comfortable having an open adoption which includes texting/calling/video chat, social media, email, and visits.

Together

We both grew up with parents who exemplified a loving, balanced, committed, and exhilarating marriage. When we are both at home, we naturally find ourselves in each other’s company. Our favorite things to do in our downtime are to travel, camp and explore in nature, challenge each other in board games and puzzles, and get cozy with our cat on the couch to watch a movie and snack on Peanut M&Ms.

About Mark – By Abigail

On our very first date to a college baseball game, I could already tell Mark was different than all of the other guys I had ever met. Despite being confident and intelligent, Mark is down-to-earth and caring.

He has this fierce desire to take care of others, often putting the needs of others before his own. Even on our first date, he gave me his jacket as I had forgotten to bring one. Ever since then, he has been taking care of me by helping with chores around the house and making sure my needs are met.

Mark also has this child-like quality which leads him to plan fun adventures and trips for us to go on. He loves to travel and explore new parts of the world, try new things and kinds of food, and meet different types of people.

However, two of the most attractive qualities I recognized in Mark when we were dating is his passion to serve God and start a family. Because of his Christian beliefs, he will make the best father by putting our family first, making sure to take care of our needs, and also cultivate good relationships with our children.

About Abigail – By Mark

Perhaps the most defining trait that Abigail has is that she is a genuinely caring person who never gives less than 100% effort into anything she commits to. While most reserved in public, she is the life of the party around close friends, always making everyone feel welcome with her warm personality and rambunctious laughter.

One of the most attractive qualities of Abigail’s personality is her kind and compassionate spirit towards any person or animal that is suffering. Loyal to a fault, she is fiercely dedicated to those she counts as friends and family.

When she is not working as a substitute teacher at an elementary school or nursery, she can be found bundled up on the couch with our cat while planning our next trip or watching her favorite BBC shows. While she loves to travel to new places and discover new things, I have observed that she is happiest when she is simply enjoying the company of family and close friends.

I am confident that, true to her nature, Abigail will be the most dedicated and loving mother that any child could ever wish to have.

Our Home

We live at the end of a cozy cul-de-sac in a quaint English village. Our house is spacious with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. There is a playhouse and swing set in our backyard, which looks out upon a picturesque field. Down the street is an amazing and beautiful county park with ponds and tons of walking paths.

Our Promise

We want to say thank you. Thank you for giving your child the gift of life and giving us the opportunity to be a part of it.

In turn, we promise to:
• love them unconditionally
• bandage every wound – both physical and emotional
• help them fulfill their dreams and goals
• provide them with the best education
• show them how to treat others with respect to every race, origin, or religion
• help them know and understand the tremendous sacrifice
you made out of love

In us, they will always have parents, a should to cry on, someone to lean on, and someone who will always support them.

Dear Birth mother:

We would love an opportunity to meet with you and share in your feelings and thoughts on the greatest gift you have to offer to us. We could only imagine how hard it is for you to arrive at this decision. We really admire you for your bravery and kindness and we are deeply humbled by you and wish for a chance to visit with you soon. Aaron had gone through this process with his sister while he was growing up so he understands what you’re going through. The only thing we can make things easier is our promise to keep you updated with our special child’s progress.

We understand your decision and fully support it. We would just like to say a few things to you before you make a final decision. We want you to know a little bit about us, Julie is from Vietnam and has lived in the United States since she was ten years old. Aaron was born and raised in UT and his lived in Utah for the majority of his life. He did live in Arizona for a while to attend college. Julie has a Master’s degree in Accounting and is in a successful career in accounting. Aaron has a successful career as a supervisor and worked for the same company for more than 16 years.

Our Families:
Julie has two sisters and one brother; her oldest does foster parenting for Chinese Students living abroad. Her younger sister is a Graphic Design Supervisor for a large company here in Utah. Her younger brother is very successful Probation Officer here in Salt Lake. My older brother owns a company that sells new and used merchandise here in the Salt Lake valley as well. My older sister is a supervisor at a larger contract facility for several government agencies in the northern Utah valley.
Aaron’s father is retired and is living in Utah. Aaron’s mother is also retired and living in UT, she still has a part time job but that’s just how she works. Julie’s parents are also retired and living in UT.

Parenting:
Our style is very family forward; we love our nieces and nephews and visit them often. We love having them over for barbecues, dinners and any other event. Our families love when we all cook out, have get together and just relax with each other. We believe being active in a child’s life is very important. We want to pass on our legacy on how we’re taught as children by our parents. We couldn’t be more proud of our parents for what they taught us and hope to achieve that with this special child if you allow us this opportunity. There is so much we want to share with you, ideas on raising a child. Just know that he/she will be loved by this family, our family is ready to receive this special gift from God. That’s all we’ll say for now until we meet. Wish you the best!

Sincerely,
Aron & Julie