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Jerry & Stefanie are hopeful adoptive parents from Tennessee waiting to adopt a baby.

If you are pregnant and considering placing your child for adoption, please read the following Dear Birthmother Letter.

Congratulations!
We're Adopting a Girl.

Dear Birthparent To begin with, we just want to thank you for taking the time to read our letter and find out a little bit about us. Although we can’t begin to know all the feelings you are going through, we understand how difficult it is to feel uncertainty and even some fear in the future. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do. This is something we all have in common. Sometimes things happen that test our beliefs and faith. We have faith that adopting a baby is the answer to our question of how our family will be formed. Hopefully, the answers to your questions will come in a way that comforts you. Maybe we can find those answers together. Our names are Jerry and Stefanie.
As soon we got married, and even before, we talked about, and looked forward to, having children and becoming parents. After lots of trying, doctor’s appointments, fertility tests, surgeries and in-vitro fertilization, we realized a biological child was not going to be possible. We’ll never forget the day the fertility clinic called to tell us that the procedure didn’t work, and we were not pregnant . . . again! What a sad day. Stefanie’s mom was there with us, and we all just held each other and cried for the baby we wished we could have. But, after time passed with lots of tears, hugs and finally excitement, we realized that God had a different plan for us and that plan has led us here to adoption. We feel that nothing would be as wonderful as having a beautiful little one to love and cherish in our family. How that comes to be doesn’t matter to us.

Our story We feel we have so much to offer a child. We are both teachers and view education to be very important. Stefanie graduated with a degree in Education and then earned a Master’s Degree in Psychology & Counseling. Jerry graduated with a degree in History & Government and is nearing graduation to receive his Master’s Degree in Education. We both have a great love of learning and hope to pass that love on to your child.
We live in a small community in a neighborhood full of children, including some of our students. Our neighborhood has lots of trees and hills and is beautiful in all seasons. Afternoons are filled with people walking, kids riding bicycles and families out visiting each other catching up on weekly neighborhood news. We live a quiet and peaceful life here in Tennessee.
We share our home with 2 wonderful little kitties, Goosie and Phoebe. They are such wonderful little creatures, so sweet and affectionate. When we come home, we will often find them cuddled up together napping in the sun.

We love to spend time doing many different things -- golf, travel and spending time with our family and friends going to football games, having everyone over for game night and going on vacations together. We spend most vacations up in Indiana at our family’s lake cottage or down to Florida for Spring Break.

There are so many wonderful experiences we look forward to sharing with our child. We can’t wait to see their expression when they experience Disney World for the first time. We both love visiting Disney World and can’t wait to take our little one to meet Mickey Mouse. So many wonderful experiences we want to share. We both feel it’s so important for children to have all different types of experiences and see all different types of things. We can’t wait to take them camping and feel the spray of water on their face when they see Fall Creek Falls, one of our favorite camping spots here in Tennessee. To take him or her to the beach and feel the sand between their toes and build sandcastles, to see all the amazing sights our country has to offer.

We regularly attend church services and are proud members of our church. We are members of the Youth Council and enjoy working with the kids to make their experiences fun and meaningful. Our church is children friendly, and we look forward to having our little one join the children’s choir and Sunday school. One of our favorite parts of church service is to see the kids standing up and proudly singing in front of everyone, with big smiles on their faces waving at their Moms and Dads in the crowd. We both believe this is a wonderful experience for children to have, to be part of such a caring and loving church. We look forward to sharing our love for each other and our love for God with a child.

Words from both of us Stefanie: I grew up in northwest Indiana and lived there most of my life. I moved here to Tennessee when I met my husband through mutual friends. I knew from the beginning Jerry was a caring, special man. When we first started dating, my grandma, who I was very close to, got sick and passed away. Even though he was 7 hours away, he jumped in his truck and made it up to Indiana to be with me for the funeral and the hard days afterwards. He held my hand and gave me strength to speak at the funeral. It was so hard as I stood up there trying not to cry, but I saw him sitting there with such affection and strength in his eyes, I knew I was not alone and never would be. Jerry is caring, fun and compassionate. There is never a time when he can’t make me laugh. He shows his feelings by smiling glances and hugs for no reason. He shows his caring side to everyone, especially his students. I feel so proud of him when I see him interacting with them. They just love and adore him. I think it’s because whenever he’s stern with them, he always follows it up with a smile to let them know he’s being strict because he cares about them. He loves to attend their after school events like football games, volleyball games and especially baseball games. They get so excited seeing him up in the stands cheering for them. He cannot wait for the day when we can be up in the stands cheering for our child.

Jerry: Stefanie and I are both very happy with the life we have and so want to share it with a child. We have been blessed with so many things including great parents, good health and an opportunity for quality educations. I’ve always enjoyed being around children and really enjoy teaching and interacting with my students each day. There is such a great feeling when you see their eyes light up when they understand something that has given them trouble or to see them gain self-confidence as they grow. Stefanie is such a sweet and caring woman. She shows everyone what a positive person she is by her beautiful smile. Even when the day is gray and dreary, she’s right there smiling and sending out positive feelings to everyone. She’s very giving and loving, too. She shows she cares by the little things she does like always making sure I have a lunch to take to school and includes little touches like putting notes in my lunch to show affection. She is always there to listen and do whatever she can to help and make you feel better. I know she will make a wonderful mother. She loves taking care of others and always makes sure everyone feels welcome in our home. She loves entertaining, cooking for others, and making them feel special. She makes every person feel important and is always there to listen and help them in anyway she can. She will always be there to make your child feel special, cared for and loved.

Our plans With both of us being teachers, we have so much time off and wonderful benefits. When we are blessed with a baby, we plan on having Stefanie stay at home for 6-12 months depending on what time of the year the baby comes. Stefanie’s new position as Supervising Teacher will make it easy to work from home. When she returns to work, Jerry’s mother has offered to care for the baby in our home. As the baby gets older, our school system offers different types of services only available to teachers in one of the buildings that Stefanie works. So, our child will be with Stefanie when she returns to teaching. As teachers, we are given lots of days off including many sick days that carry over and add up. We’ve both been very healthy and not had to use many days so we have several saved up. Being teachers we actually work only 185 days out of the year. The baby will be our most important thing and will always come first in our lives.

We have shared our plans with family and friends and feel very proud to say we are planning an adoption. We believe that openness throughout this whole process is so important, not only during but after. We will be completely honest with your child, making sure they understand where they came from and for them to know they are very much loved by their birth parents as well as by us. We feel completely comfortable sending pictures, updates and letters to make sure you know how loved and cared for your child will be. We will make sure they know they were placed in our care out of love, and they will NEVER struggle, wondering why they were placed with us. We will forever tell them that their birthparents wanted only the best for them and they were willing to do whatever they had to, to make sure they did what was best for their child and that how they came to be with us was the ultimate show of love. We want them to always feel secure and loved by all of us.

There are so many wonderful things we have been blessed with in our lives. The child we adopt will be loved, cherished and cared for with all our hearts and souls and will always come first in our lives. We promise your baby will always feel secure, content and loved with all our hearts.

Thank you so much for considering adoption and for learning a little bit about us. We hope and pray that whatever decision you make will be the right one for you and let you rest easy knowing you did what you thought was best for your baby and for you. If you wish to learn more about us, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-391-4660 or by calling our attorneys Steve and Joel Kirsh at 1-800-333-5736. If you call after regular business hours, their answering service will page them and they will call you back as soon as possible. We promise that neither us nor the Kirshes will try to influence or pressure you; again we only want what is best for you. You will not be obligated in any way to proceed with an adoption by calling. We and the Kirshes only seek to provide you with the information you need to make a knowing, well-informed decision. Thank you again for your time and your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Jerry & Stefanie