ParentProfiles.com

Jonathan & Carlene are hopeful adoptive parents from New Jersey waiting to adopt a baby.

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

Why Adoption? What are your specific concerns and thoughts? We'll listen to what is truly important to you as you get to know us.

Adoption is personal to Us
My sister, Laura, was adopted when I was 14 years old. She was only 10 days old when my parents and I had lunch with her birth parents, just before we saw her. My parents sent her birth parents photos and letters throughout the years. Now that Laura is 21, she feels that her birth parents's actions were very loving.

Other members of my family are adopted also, one of my cousins was adopted from Vietnam and my other cousin from Korea. We love anyone who is family regardless of how they happened to join us, either biologically, through marriage or adoption. We chose domestic adoption because connecting with birth parents and eventually being selected by a birth mother or couple feels comfortable to us. Our future child will know so much more about his or her beginnings because of the relationship we will have with his or her birth mother or couple.

Our History & Present Humor and laughter brought us together more than 9 years ago. Jonathan's mother, our mutual friend and I were taking a water aerobics class together. I was being goofy and singing funny songs in the pool while splashing around. They instantly thought that we should meet as he tends to be a bit of a clown too. Since we met humor has been a common theme in our lives. It has seen us through the sadness of not being parents and the joys of everyday life.

Our marriage is a partnership and friendship. We do not have traditional roles in the home as we share household chores. We enjoy seeing friends and family and taking day trips to the zoo, the botanical gardens, or an artisan village. We also enjoy board games and video games but not always the same ones. We definitely agree on puzzle games and Rock Band but when we play puzzle games she usually wins.

I take my time to figure out a strategy and she usually whizzes right by me and adapts her strategy as she goes. This is kind of like how she is in life. She has a game plan for everything she does and when things don’t go as planned she adapts and moves on.

Jonathan is devoted, affectionate, and easy-going. Like me, he easily adapts to change and will alter his routines to accomodate the people he loves. He is naturally inquisitive and is a great role model to our neices and nephews. He always takes the time to understand how someone feels and to be there for them.

He likes reality tv and comedy shows, especially The Office and Thirty Rock. His favorite movies are Tommy Boy, Rounders and Donnie Brasco. On a typical day he will walk the dog, play fetch in the backyard and spend time making noises at the parrot to get her to talk. Jonathan also likes all types of board and video games but Xbox is his favorite because you can always play against someone online. He is also very handy and can fix almost anything in our home that needs it.

Carlene has a great sense of humor and is caring and thoughtful. One day at work, I had come out of 5 hours of meetings to find a box on my desk. Inside the box was a note that read, “When work makes you crazy, get nuts!” She sent me a box of assorted, unsalted nuts, because she knows I like the unsalted kind.

Carlene loves animals. If we didn’t live in the suburbs we would have a farm with every type of animal imaginable. She has an enormous capacity to love people and animals alike. She also loves the beach. This is where you will find her during the summer, either swimming or reading a good book.

I (Carlene) am a school social worker who works with students with developmental delays. Primarily I make sure that their needs are met in the classroom. I also counsel children with emotional and behavioral problems. I help them at an age when they are just figuring out who they are and who they will become.

Jonathan is a manager in a medium size corporation responsible for the design and execution of projects that help the company run efficiently. He enjoys building relationships with his co-workers and is able to do so through his interactions with all areas of the company. When he teaches coworkers he has a great deal of patience and brings humor to subjects which some might find boring.

We live in a 3 bedroom home in a suburban neighborhood with our cats, Bo and Cleo, dog Piper, and parrot Goofy. They all get along with each other and are welcoming to visitors. Piper is great with children of all ages who have been in our home and the cats just seem disinterested.

We have great childhood memories of growing up with our family pets. We hope to provide the same fun memories for our son or daughter. As he or she grows older, Piper will be ready to play ball or tag along. Piper is already familiar with all the children in the neighborhood from babies to teens and she loves all of them and intuitively knows to be extra gentle with babies. With the older children, she loves to be petted and play fetch.

Our neighborhood is very family orientated. Children on our block play in the safety of our cul-de-sac. When we watch them we can't help but hope that one day our child will be able to do the same under our watchful eye. As we walk the dog we see children riding bikes, playing in the park, and playing ball....one day our child will play in these same streets with their friends.

The Future We know that bringing a baby into our home with change our life, but for the better. We think about taking the baby on daily walks with us and the dog, going to the park to play and exposing the wonders of the world through travelling when he or she gets older.

When our baby comes, Carlene will take a leave of absence from her job to care for him or her. Our parents, brothers and sisters are already talking about babysitting, taking our child shopping, and having play dates with the cousins.

We will share in waking up for in the wee hours and singing nursery rhymes after the task of changing diapers. As a toddler, he or she will be given safe spaces to explore and the resources to begin the early stages of learning. As a child, we'll join play groups and go to swimming lessons and any activities that he or she becomes interested in... whether it is music, dance, sports or cooking. He or she will have fun while instilling the values of education and friendship, family, and more. As a teen, he or she will be given more space to become their own person while always knowing to count on us.

Traveling during school vacations will be a must. Our child can explore new places and see how people in other states or countries live. I, Carlene, love traveling and have visited several countries. It will be fun seeing the world through our child's eyes.

Music will be apart of our child's life if he or she wants. I, Jonathan, I have a collection of instruments from all over the world. I'm taking piano lessons and hope to entertain our child with the songs I learn.

Adoption will be spoken about in loving and positive ways so our child will grow to feel good about his or her birth parents and us. We’ll raise him or her to be confident as we provide unconditional love and support to follow his or her own dreams.

Family, Friends, and You My parents, Carlene, have been married for 41 years. I have an older brother, David, 39 and Laura, 21. I cannot imagine my life without either of my siblings. I am close to all of my relatives. Several times each year we get together with extended family and make a group of 50+. We gather together with more immediate family around the holidays: Thanksgiving, July 4th, and Easter. Other times we get together to eat great food, talk and share lots of laughs. After dinner, before dessert, we normally take a walk, play a game of volleyball, or swim in the warmer weather.

When I (Jonathan) was 10, my parents separated and eventually divorced. Before the divorce we lead a pretty normal middle class life, but after the divorce my mother struggled to make ends meet. Losing it all made me appreciate what I had and what I have today. Through it all my mother, brothers, sister and I remained very close. We are very fortunate to have overcome our obstacles and have all been blessed with great careers and family. We all live close to one another and see each other often. My brothers have 4 young children between them.

We each have a core group of friends that we have known since childhood. They are all married and we have a fun time when we are together. One our friends has two children. We enjoy playing with them and laughing at the silly things they do. Our other friends are hoping to have children in the future so all our children can have playtime with each other as they grow.

This will be your experience…we’ll be supportive of your concerns as you get to know us. You would become part of our circle of important people if you ultimately choose us as potential parents for your baby. We realize you may decide upon another family. And if this is so, we would wish you well.

We’re here for you if you call us at 888-271-0111 or email us Send us a message.

Sincerely, Carlene & Jonathan