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Bernard & Yuchong are hopeful adoptive parents from Virginia waiting to adopt a baby.

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

A Little About Us We really admire your strength and courage in reaching the decision to place your baby for adoption. We hope that the pictures and family story we’ve put together here will give you an idea of who we are and help you decide whether we are the right family for your baby. We would love to talk to you to answer any questions you have about our family.

We have been married for three years and have been together for over six years. We are already blessed with one child – his name is Luke and he is an active two year old who just started pre-school two days a week. Luke loves other children and we have been trying to give him a younger sister or brother for over a year now. We always thought adoption would be part of how we would grow our family but it wasn’t until after several miscarriages that we saw how God was leading us here sooner than we expected.

We both grew up in close knit families and realized the joys of brothers and sisters. To this day, Yuchong’s younger sister is her best friend and Bernie is close to all five of his siblings. Even though Bernie’s siblings are not all in the area, we make an effort to see them as much as possible. We are really excited about growing our little family and we know that Luke will be a great brother.

More About Yuchong I am the oldest child of South Korean immigrants who have been married for over 41 years. My parents came to the United States with my younger sister and me in 1978 in search of a “better” life in the United States. My father is the youngest of 4 children, two boys and two girls, and my mother is the third child of 4 children, three boys and one girl. Both of my parents lost their respective parents at a very young age, so family is very important to them and they instilled the importance of family in both my sister and me from a very early age.

My parents are retired and my mother is a bit of a home-body, but she keeps herself busy going to church and running errands. My father is more social and enjoys playing golf with his friends at least a couple of times a week. My parents moved to a condo two miles away so that they could be closer to us. Luke is the first grandchild on my side of the family (and number 18 on Bernie’s side) so my parents spend almost all their waking moments with him. They are his primary caregivers when I’m working part-time from home. They love to take Luke to the park and play with him non-stop all day. My parents speak Korean to him so he understands both Korean and English.

I have one younger sister who is single and lives in a condo less than a mile from us. I have a very close relationship with my sister – she is my best friend. We are only 15 months apart so we’ve always done things together, including living together at various points in our lives, traveling together and going to yoga together.

We had an extremely close family – it was just the four of us – my parents, my sister and me. My parents had a third child, my youngest sister, who died at age 3 right before our family immigrated to the United States. We briefly lived in Connecticut where my father’s sister and brother lived with their families and after about 8 months in the United States we moved to Michigan. We didn’t have any relatives in Michigan so we really relied on each other and did everything together, including grocery shopping. My parents were always there for my sister and me and I never once questioned or doubted their unconditional support for us. Even though they both worked very hard -- my father as a welder at a furniture manufacturer and my mother as an assembly line worker at a musical instrument manufacturer -- we always had dinner together at home. Because of losing their parents at such young ages and because of the Korean War, neither of my parents even finished grade school. However, they both understood the importance of education and worked hard to send both my sister and me through college and then graduate school. They encouraged us to do well in school and stressed the value of a good education and hard work. My father didn’t miss a day of work in the 20 years he was with the manufacturing company and my mother would go to work even though she could barely stand up because of a slipped disk.

We couldn’t afford a lot of family vacations so the ones we took were very special. My best memories are trips to Mackinac Island in the upper peninsula of Michigan and Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. My sister and I both ended up going to college in western Massachusetts and were only about 10 miles from each other but more than 1,000 miles from home in Michigan. My parents dropped us off and picked us up each year from college and those long 12 to 14 hour car trips were perfect for long family discussions and songs.

After I graduated from college and law school, I went to work with a large law firm in Chicago. In 1997, I accepted a job at a firm in Washington, where I became a partner in 2004. I left law firm life and became in-house counsel at a national real estate developer for two years. From there I joined a couple of my former colleagues from my old law firm who had formed a small law firm so that I could work part time from home and raise a family. I’ve been with that firm since 2008.

I grew up Christian Reformed but became a Roman Catholic after marrying Bernie who was raised Catholic. We are members of a Catholic Church about a mile away and attend Mass every week.
My main interests these days relate to family and home. I really enjoy cooking so we entertain a fair amount at home. We also moved into a new home about two years ago so I’m always scouring HGTV and design magazines for decorating ideas. I also really enjoy traveling so I enjoy searching for new places to visit. I’m always thinking about where we’ll go next, and the good thing is that Bernie likes to travel too. I used to practice yoga on a regular basis before I had my son and hope to get back to it on a regular basis sometime soon.

More About Bernie I am the youngest of 6 children (3 girls, then 3 boys). I was born in New Jersey and grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. Both of my parents have passed away but I am close with all five of my siblings. My mother was an Irish immigrant, came through Ellis Island, and moved to western Pennsylvania at age 7 to live with her aunt (her mother passed away). My father was the youngest of six children and his mother died when he was young so he was raised by his father and older siblings. My parents met in Pittsburgh, my father’s hometown, and they married after he returned from World War II. My father sold industrial pumps and compressors and my mother was a homemaker for most of their married life. She took on a job when I started high school.
I had an extremely stable childhood. I lived in the same house from age 1 until I graduated from college. My parents came from very humble beginnings and they emphasized the importance of religion, family and education. They took us all to church regularly and sacrificed to make sure we all had a chance to succeed. As a result, all of my siblings graduated from college and graduate school. We owe all our happiness and success to our parents.
My parents did a great job of balancing everyone’s sports and extracurricular activities. I remember my father made it to all of my games, and most of my practices. We never had much money but I always had what I needed. I learned the value of hard work and independence from my parents. My mother ran a tight ship and cooked dinner every night and my father never missed a day of work. Because we had little money and many kids, my parents never got to take us out to dinner at restaurants but I never felt that I had missed anything. My parents always told me that I would succeed and that they were proud of me. I had complete confidence that they would always be there for me and they were. I didn’t agree with every decision they made but they never once let me down. They were great role models for parenting.

I went to college in DC and law school in North Carolina before settling in the DC area where I’ve been ever since. I am currently an enforcement attorney for a regulator in Washington, DC. Previously, I was an attorney for a large law firm and another regulator.

My oldest sister and her husband live less than 2 miles away and go to the same church as us. Three of her children are out of school (two live locally, one lives in New York) and one is in college locally. My other siblings and their families live in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Orlando, Florida. Plenty of fun places to visit. In all, I have 17 nieces and nephews (from grade school on up) and we stay in contact with all of them. In fact, we had a family reunion this summer at Hilton Head, South Carolina, where our son, the youngest cousin in the family, got to play with many of his cousins. We also recently went to a niece’s college graduation in New Orleans and a nephew’s high school graduation in North Carolina.

I’ve always enjoyed playing sports. I played football, baseball, basketball and golf growing up. I kept playing football in college and after law school I picked up skiing. Family comes first but I still love playing basketball and golf when I have time. I also enjoy going on ski vacations. This past winter we took our first family ski vacation to Park City with some good friends from the area. Having lived in this area for a long time, I have a lot of friends that I enjoy spending time with.

Our Family Life We can’t wait to grow our family. We have been blessed with Luke and we are looking forward to having another little one in our home. We hope you sense how excited we are about raising another child. We will give your child the same thing our parents gave us: a caring, nurturing environment, a strong religious faith, a stable home life, every educational opportunity, access to any sport or activity your child wants to pursue, and the joy of a sibling. Neither of us travel for work so we are both home for dinner every night. (That’s part of the reason we enjoy traveling so much for vacation.) We live in a great neighborhood, walking distance to wonderful schools and parks (check them out in our album), and a short drive (or subway ride) from all the cultural opportunities in Washington, DC like the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo. We can’t claim to be great musicians or artists but we plan to give your child every chance to pursue those interests. We already have a spot set aside in the house for a piano.

Doing things together as a family is a priority for us and we try to take Luke to the park or a museum every weekend as a family. Luke would love a brother or sister to join him. We also go to church as a family each week and do our best to get together with our families as much as possible. We’re pretty sure Bernie’s brother in Orlando will soon become the favorite uncle to visit because of Disney World but we will be sure to vacation with the rest of our family too.

We are very committed to each other and our family. We have a fabulous support system, with grandparents and siblings within two miles of our house. We have great neighbors with small children and a great network of diverse friends in the area. Our home was built two years ago and we now feel like we are totally moved in and ready to grow. We have more than enough room for another little one and we are almost finished organizing his or her bedroom. You should know that if you pick our family your child will grow up in a loving home with a fun-loving brother in a big extended family with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and many cousins. Regardless of your choice, know that we will say a prayer for you on your journey.

Please call us toll free at 1-877-324-6972 or Send us a message.

Bernie, Yuchong and Luke