Meet Pat & Julie

dear birth parent:

We thank you for taking the time to read our profile. We can't even begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be for you. We know that you must have such courage and inner strength to be considering adoption - to be putting your baby's needs before your own.

It is definitely a challenge trying to figure out what we should tell you about ourselves. We are not sure what qualities and characteristics of a potential adoptive family you are looking for, so all we can do is share our story - who we are, what we believe in, and how we came to the decision to adopt. We hope our profile can provide you with some of the answers you are searching for.

About Julie I am of an ethnic background of Italian, Swedish and Czech. I am very close with both of my parents, as is Pat. I also have a younger brother who is married and who has a new baby daughter - Pat and I are honored to be her godparents. My parents, brother and his family both live about 20 minutes away from us. I have a large extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins who get together often for family celebrations. I work as a speech therapist at the hospital in our community. I currently work with adults, helping them to regain their speech after a stroke or accident. But, I have had many previous experiences working with infants and children and the development of language. I have been described by my husband as dedicated, giving, nurturing and good-hearted. I enjoy making craft projects, reading and cooking.

About Pat I am of Irish descent, the oldest of five children. Both of my parents are deceased, but I am fortunate that they left me with the wisdom of cherishing and living the values of fairness, kindness and love. I am very close with my two brothers and two sisters, and see them on a regular basis. They all live in the Chicagoland area. One of my brothers is married, and one of my sisters is married. I have an adorable five-year-old niece, and am the proud godfather of my three-year-old nephew (both are my brother's children). I work as a graphic artist. I enjoy music, exercising, sports, reading, keeping up with current events, and working on projects around the house. My wife would describe me as kind, gentle, creative and spontaneous.

About Us We met in March 2004 at a "Speed Dating" event. We both truly believe that it was fate that brought us together. When we asked each other what we were looking for in a relationship, we both replied, "Someone with a good heart!" We definitely found that! After 8 months of dating, we got engaged on Christmas Eve 2004 - we both knew that we had found our true love! We had both waited a long time to find that special person to share our life with, and it was certainly worth the wait! We married in November, 2005, and had our wedding reception at the same place where we had first met! We have now been married for 3 wonderful years and our love and respect for each other is stronger than ever.

How We Chose Adoption When we met, Pat said that he wanted to have 5 children. We talked a lot about having a family. It was always something that we dreamed of. But, after years of trying to conceive and many challenges and struggles with fertility treatments, together we decided to take another path to starting our family: adoption. We have two nieces and a nephew who we see often. With wonder and excitement we watch them grow, develop and learn. We are both godparents to our niece and Pat is also the godfather of our nephew. Our families and friends are extremely supportive about our decision to adopt - we are so appreciative of that support. Just as we had to wait to meet each other (fall in love and get married) we are prepared to wait for this wonderful gift of a child of our own.

What We Like To Do We enjoy many activities together. We enjoy bike riding and taking walks in the forest preserves near our home, going to movies, swimming at our community pool and eating Mexican and Italian food. We love to spend time with our family and friends and host get-togethers at our home. We enjoy attending sporting events and concerts. Travel is a great enjoyment of ours - we like to see new places and experience new surroundings. We would love to share our love of travel with a child - it is important to expose them to new experiences.

About Our Home and Community We live in a southwest suburb of Chicago. We have lived in our home for 3 years and we love it. It is a spacious home with plenty of room for a child to play. We especially love our backyard- it is large and has a covered patio. Our families and friends always pick us to have summer BBQs because we have a great yard. And we don't mind at all! Our neighborhood is safe and quiet. We live 1 block away from the elementary school and a park. We have high regards for the school district we live in. We take advantage of what our community has to offer. Our community is culturally diverse, and we embrace that.

About Our Values We both have a strong faith in God and are practicing Catholics. We attend church weekly and Julie serves as a reader at mass. Our faith is very important to us and has helped us get through challenging times. We will teach our child the importance of respect, kindness and love. Our child will know that we will always love them throughout their life, embrace his/her special qualities, and encourage them to realize that they can achieve anything if they so desire.

About Our Hopes Our hope is to have a family of our own - a child to nurture, guide, teach, inspire, and most importantly, love with all of our heart. We are confident that a child would complete our life and be such a joy to us and our families. We certainly believe that a child needs a fabric of people in their life to love them, and our hope is that you would play a special part in our child's life. The wish for our child would be that they know how special their birth parent is and what a special bond they will have with you. Our hope is that you have learned a little about us and maybe made a connection with something you have read in our profile. Lastly, our hope is that you know how much we respect and admire your decision to consider adoption for your baby. Your decision truly shows the deep selfless love that you have for your baby.

May you have peace with your decision.

Julie and Pat