Dear Birth Parent,

Hello, we are Laura and Jim. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to introduce ourselves. We are very excited to become parents and are grateful that you may consider us in your adoption plan. You have made such an emotional, loving, and unselfish choice in choosing adoption and we truly admire and respect you for your decision. 

It has always been a dream of ours to be parents. Struggling unsuccessfully through fertility treatments the last several years has only made our dream of becoming parents stronger. We hope to make our dream come true through adoption. We have friends who have adopted and have seen firsthand the incredible miracle of adoption.

Our Story

We met seven years ago through Jim's sister, Linda.  Laura and Linda knew each other through work and Linda thought we would make a great match. Linda arranged for us to meet at a Christmas party and we have been together ever since. We got engaged the following Christmas after we met, in front of Laura's favorite Christmas tree in Chicago…the huge Christmas tree with thousands of colored lights in front of the John Hancock Building. Jim said his Christmas wish was for Laura to be his wife and he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. We have been married for five years and have built a wonderful relationship based on love, respect, trust and communication. We continuously support one another and cherish our time together. We are partners for life.

Laura on Jim:

Jim is the special kind of person that positively impacts all who are in his life. He is a loving, loyal son and brother, a reliable, trustworthy friend, and a responsible, dedicated employee. He is a fun uncle who always has time to play catch or read a book. He is very generous, nonjudgmental, compassionate and kind. His smile is warm and genuine. He is my best friend and teammate who is always there for me. All of these great qualities and many more make Jim a wonderful husband and will also make him an incredible Dad.

Jim on Laura:

Guys envision the type of girl they would like to marry when they are growing up. I can honestly say that I have exceeded my expectations. Laura is an extremely caring, sweet and sincere person. She is very intelligent and a hard worker yet has no problem dividing the time between work and play. Laura is a big kid at heart and her interaction with kids allows her to shine. Her warm smile and carefree laugh will light up a room. She has been an absolutely perfect wife and I know that she will be a fantastic Mom.

We both grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and even graduated from the same college, although we never met during our college years. We were both brought up in very similar close knit families. Our parents were excellent role models who were, and still are, always there for us with lots of love and support. We plan to raise our children a lot like we were raised. We grew up learning the importance of family, education, and hard work. We had lots of fun playing with our siblings and friends and participating in extracurricular activities. We were always encouraged to try new things and honesty, kindness, and respect were highly regarded values in our families. Religion also played a strong role in our families. We are proud to serve as Godparents to four of our nieces and nephews.

We both are fortunate to have fulfilling careers that do not overlap into our personal lives. We work hard during the day but are able to leave on time and never travel for our jobs. Jim is an Assistant Vice President of an Insurance Brokerage Company. His office is only 10 minutes from home. Laura is the Controller for a small Mutual Fund Company. Her company is very family oriented and offers flexible work hours and work at home days. Our commitment to being parents will always be our priority and we will adjust our work schedules accordingly to best fit our family's needs.

Our Home

We bought a house a few years ago with the hope of starting a family and have spent the last few years turning it into our home sweet home. Our home is located in a very family oriented neighborhood and is in an excellent school district. Our neighborhood organizes lots of fun family events like playgroups, a summer picnic, a Christmas party with Santa Claus, and an Easter egg hunt. Our backyard is very kid friendly with a big swing set area and a sandbox. Our nieces and nephews and neighbors' kids love coming over to play! 

Laura has thoroughly enjoyed decorating our home and turning it into a warm, comfortable place for both of us as well as our friends and family. We have one of the extra bedrooms picked out for a nursery and can't wait until the day it actually becomes one!

Jim's favorite area of the house is the finished basement. He had always hoped to have a finished basement that he could turn into a sports area for displaying his sports memorabilia, watching sports, and relaxing. It's now complete and includes games and a sports themed Christmas tree during the holidays. It's a favorite hangout spot for all. That's one of the first places our nieces and nephews head when they come over.

Our Family

We have a very close relationship with our families and are lucky to live within 10 minutes to a little over an hour of all of them. We get together for all sorts of occasions like holidays, birthdays, graduations, Baptisms and First Holy Communions. Lots of times we get together for no particular reason other than just wanting to spend time together. We are always there for each other for support or to lend a helping hand.

Laura's parents have been married for 48 years and Jim's parents were married for 33 years before Jim's Dad passed away. Laura has two brothers and a sister and Jim has a brother and a sister. Our parents and siblings have developed friendships with each other so we have been able to start some new family traditions like Mother's Day brunch with both of our Moms. 

We have been extremely blessed with 11 wonderful nieces and nephews who range in age from 2 to 18. We love to plan special outings with them or have them over for the weekend. We always like them to help us plan the activities when they come to visit. Some of their favorite activities include ice-skating, bowling, shopping, going to a movie, visiting an amusement park or game place, and going out for pizza. We are huge fans of all our nieces and nephews and are always there to support them. We have been to dance recitals, football, baseball, and soccer games, cheerleading competitions, First Communions, graduations and school plays. We have so many special memories with them and are looking forward to many more. Being an aunt and uncle is one of our favorite things. We feel so lucky to get to be such a big part of our nieces and nephews lives. Watching them grow and develop their own unique personalities is incredible. Our nieces and nephews have done a tremendous job in preparing us for parenthood and they can't wait to have another cousin!

Our Activities

We share a lot of similar interests including traveling, working on our home, baseball and sports, and spending time with family and friends. We also take part in fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis and other important causes. One of our close friends is directly involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and he knows he can always count on us to help out. We especially like the annual family bowling event and pizza party. It's a fun way to raise money for such a worthy cause.  

We like to plan at least one big vacation a year and a couple of weekend getaways. It's good to get away from the daily routine to relax and explore new places together. One of our favorite places to visit is California. We went there on our first vacation together and our honeymoon. We especially like San Diego. The weather is always beautiful and they have a great zoo and a Sea World. We both have wonderful memories of our childhood vacations with our families and plan to continue that tradition as our family grows. We are looking forward to planning trips to Disney World, amusement parks, water parks, zoos, and other places our children want to visit.

Both of us are big baseball fans and our favorite team is the Chicago Cubs. We usually plan a trip to a new ballpark as part of our vacation plans. Besides Wrigley Field, a couple of other ballparks we really like are the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH and CITI Field in Flushing, NY. We have been to 12 different ballparks and look forward to sharing this experience with our child. It's always fun to check out a baseball game in another city.

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to have family and friends over for barbecues. We're still perfecting our grilling techniques but we've been able to get some valuable tips from family and friends. There's nothing better than relaxing and enjoying a beautiful summer day with loved ones.

Christmas is our favorite holiday and we love decorating our home both inside and out. Some of the things we especially like to do throughout the holiday season include: hosting family and friend get-togethers, baking, listening to Christmas music, ice skating, and sledding. We still love to watch all the holiday classics like, "Frosty the Snowman", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "It's a Wonderful Life". We also participate in programs through our church and a few charitable organizations that help other families have a Merry Christmas. We can't wait to start new holiday traditions as our family grows!

Our Dreams

We are so blessed to have a strong marriage, a wonderful extended family, successful careers, and a beautiful home but we would love to be a Mom and Dad more than anything. We realize the incredible responsibility of being parents and promise to approach parenthood with complete dedication, patience, and unconditional love.

Your child will always know his or her adoption story and the precious gift of life that you gave to him or her and to us as adoptive parents. We would like to work together to develop an open relationship that is comfortable for all of us.

Thank you again for taking the time to learn a little bit about us. We know that this is not an easy time for you and we greatly admire your strength and courage. We can assure you that if you chose us in your adoption plan, your child will be brought up in a loving, secure, happy home and be part of a wonderful extended family. Your child will always know how special and courageous you are and that adoption is an extraordinary selfless act of love. Again, thank you for your consideration. We would be honored and excited to be chosen as the adoptive parents of your child. We look forward to hearing from you.

With kind regards,

Laura and Jim