Dear Potential Birth Parent(s),
We feel a deep gratitude for your willingness to choose life for your child! To not only choose life, but to investigate the path of adoption that is available to all birth parents. We hope that as you progress on your journey in life that you will have a sure knowledge of what is the best decision for you and your child. We also hope and pray that if adoption is a possible path for you that you will take a moment to look at our blog and see whether or not we could possibly be a good fit for you and your child. A place where you would feel your child could grow, develop, learn, and be deeply loved and cherished.
Our feelings about our marriage, family, and adoption:
We have been married for 6 years now! Wow, it's crazy to think how quickly time has passed! Who would have thought a funky, friendly, outspoken, southern California girl would end up being married to a patient, loyal, smart, jokester of a man from Utah! It has been a wonderful ride so far, full of adventure, struggles, and joy. We love being married to our best friend! We truly have been richly blessed in our lives as a couple, which has enabled us to experience many wonderful opportunities such as adopting Luke, walking through the Holy Lands in Israel, traveling through Europe, lounging in Cancun Mexico, camping and hiking throughout Utah, four wheeling in Wyoming, enjoying the beaches of Oregon, visiting museums in Chicago/Utah, shopping in Washington State, and eating at many restaurants with great Zagat ratings (and those seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives--we love that show). We also love going to the movies together! When we can't "get out of town," we often hit the theaters to see a show together. Going to the movies is a treat for us. We also love having game nights with family and friends at our home. Settlers of Catan is a favorite game of ours! Reading books together, entertaining, listening to music, and just sitting around talking are some other favorite activities we enjoy together.
It has been through these hobbies of ours that we have been able to really solidify our relationship and come to deeply respect, admire, and love each other! We are very respectful of each other’s feelings and go out of our way to serve one another. We come from very close families and feel family is of the most importance. We love weekly family dinners and yearly family reunions. It is because of our families’ examples that both of us have always greatly desired to have children. When we learned that our ability to have biological children was nearly impossible, even with extensive medical help, we both knew immediately that we would like to adopt. Before we had the wonderful opportunity to adopt Luke, we both had siblings adopt children (along with many extended family members) and know first-hand the blessings, miracles, and love that come to all those involved. We have respect and love for each one of the birthparents and know those feelings will eternally exist. Winnie was asked to accompany her brother, sister-in-law, and young nephew to Colorado to meet the future birth mother of her niece. She treasures that experience!
Due to the positive experiences we both have had with our family's adoptions, we looked forward to the adoption process for ourselves. It ended up being much more special than we had anticipated. We were matched with an amazing birth mom and dad 5 months into the pregnancy. We emailed back and forth and really were able to establish a wonderful relationship with our birth mom and dad. When Luke was born, we were overwhelmed with love, joy, and gratitude. Luke has become our little sunshine! We love him so very deeply and enjoy an open adoption with both birth parents. Having Luke enter our home has only added more joy and love to our marriage.
We both feel our home isn't quite complete. We feel we are ready, able, and willing to go through the adoption process again. We know it would be a huge blessing for Luke to have a sibling to grow up with and love as well. We both look forward to meeting our future birthparent(s) and having a wonderful relationship with them too! We would be so willing to make any arrangements needed to exchange emails, photos, letters, and/or enjoy visits and open communication.
We are praying for you in your endeavor to know what is the best path for you and your child. May the Lord help and guide you as you walk through this most difficult time in your life.
With much love,
Winnie and Shay
