ParentProfiles.com

Ed & Anne are hopeful adoptive parents from Dist. of Columbia waiting to adopt a baby.

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

Introduction There are no words to describe the gratitude we have in our hearts as you consider placing your child for adoption. Thank you for taking the time to look at our site and to learn about us.

We have thought long and hard about the implications of adoption and what it must mean to you. As a couple, we are committed to loving your gift unconditionally. It is also very important to us that our child knows where he or she came from, and that we honor his or her roots. We want him or her to know about you, and how much he or she is loved by you.

We believe we have much to offer a child - a love of nature and staying active, a good education, and the creative freedom to grow into whatever person he or she chooses to be. We have a very loving marriage, and hope to create a loving home for a family. Every day we experience things we hope to share: playing with the dog, cooking good food, going on hikes, watching (and playing) baseball, looking at stars...

We also have many friends and relatives with young children, all are ready to share their time and resources with us. We feel blessed to have this community around us because we know it will provide many playmates-- and role models too-- for our child.

Our Relationship We met about six years ago in a West African restaurant in Washington, DC, and have been together ever since. As we dated we realized we had shared values, including a desire to form a loving family, and a love of singing, cooking, and just plain being silly. We both have a never-ending curiosity about how the world works - science, politics, art, nature etc. When we were kids, we both spent time reading encyclopedias and dictionaries-- just for fun!

In Washington, we live near Rock Creek Park (a national park running through the center of the city), and long walks and bike rides in the park are a priority. Ed is a runner and likes to go out on the weekends. There are many other parks nearby with soccer and baseball fields, tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, a playground and an outdoor amphitheater where they have movies and concerts in the summer. We enjoy the city's many museums and parks, as well as all the city's international flair.

~Ed Talks About Anne~
Anne is a very affectionate, loving and attentive partner who always makes me feel special. I am lucky she is my wife. She sees the good in people, is very idealistic and constantly strives to make the world a better place.

Anne is all about family and friends. She is very close to her parents, aunts and uncles, and brothers. Anne also likes planning social activities. She likes to organizing dinners and picnics with our friends, to include their kids, and activities like our annual ski trip with friends to West Virginia.

Ultimately, Anne is a small town Midwestern girl living in the big city. She is also very ambitious and would like nothing more than to put her international experience to work helping other people. But most of all, she wants to be a mom and be perfectly happy staying home and raising a family.

~Anne Talks About Ed~
Ed is extremely easy-going; he never gets upset about small stuff (or the big stuff). He treats people with kindness and respect. He’s a good tipper and gives money to homeless people and neighbors who need help. He is earnest and willing to work very hard when necessary. He is never judgmental, and it’s always easy to relax when you are with him.

Ed shows love by doing things for others. He is always helpful, and never complains about little chores. Ed would drive to the ends of the earth to make sure I get home safely. I always feel secure and content whenever I am near him, he is so grounded.

Ed is funny. His humor is subtle, and his jokes are timed just right. He makes me laugh. And I love watching him with children. He is able to focus one-on-one attention on them, even in a busy environment when no one else is noticing, and they appreciate it. When he holds our 23-pound chunker of a niece in his arms, he makes it look effortless, and the baby calms down instantly.

I feel lucky to have this man as my partner in marriage, and am very excited to start a family with him.

Who We Are Anne's Story
I grew up in Wisconsin. My parents live on a small lake there, and part time in a Florida. I have two older brothers: one near New York city; he and his fiancée have a beautiful one-year old daughter. My other brother lives in Wisconsin. He and his wife have two little girls.

Wisconsin is all about lake culture and being outside in the winter and summer. I grew up swimming, water and snow-skiing, skating and even sailing; my family called me "the fish." I appreciate having been exposed to so many activities when I was younger, and hope to do the same for our child.

I like creative projects like crafting, painting and photography, and home decorating and baking too. This Christmas season, the tree was up early, and I invited our friends' kids over to make and decorate cookies. So fun! In college, I dabbled in poetry; now, I dream of writing a book.

I went to a Catholic grade school and a public high school. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin in French and Communication Arts (radio and film); I am a bit of a film buff, and appreciate good movies. I had the to opportunity to study abroad in France in college, and travel has really changed my life. To me, interacting with international people and speaking foreign languages are really fun. Exposing our child to different cultural experiences and languages will be very important to us.

After college, I became a Peace Corps Volunteer and lived in West Africa. I worked on vegetable gardens and tree nurseries and even learned to speak Arabic. After Peace Corps, I taught French to high school students. Sometimes I run into my students in DC, and they tell me they were inspired to go on and study French or International Relations in college, which of course makes me very happy. I later earned my master’s degree, and now work in International Affairs for the U.S. military.

Despite my adventures and hard work, I really hope to be able to stay home our new baby.

Ed's Story
I grew up in Washington, DC, in a loving household. I have six brothers and sisters. My extended family is large, and there are lots of young children running around at social gatherings. Most of my family lives in the DC area, and we get together often for summer cook-outs, holidays and special occasions.

When I was young, I really liked school. I loved engaging my teachers and learning new things every day. For me, excelling at school made me feel special and unique. I graduated as valedictorian from junior high school and then moved to a New England boarding school. I loved the experience at that school, and consider my friends and the faculty to be like an extended family. From there, I attended Duke University and earned a degree in Public Policy. I now work for the federal government in IT security.

Athleticism and sports are important to me. I grew up playing football and other sports with friends in my neighborhood, and played sports (lacrosse and football) in college. The team-sport experience teaches us a lot about self-respect, discipline and sharing in great experiences with other people. Because of this, I feel strongly about our child participating in athletics.

I like to stay fit and push myself to succeed at new activities. For example, I learned to swim as an adult and still practice regularly. Another example is golf: I wanted to learn, so I bought clubs, joined a league, subscribed to a golf magazine, and went out with my brother as often as I could. I am turning into a good golfer.

I also like cooking. Seafood, pork chops and almond waffles are some favorite dishes, but... I also make my own ice cream. I've made strawberry, pralines and cream, rum raisin, even basil. (And guess who gets to eat it! Anne is happy!)

Our Life Hobbies & Activities:
(Anne) I sing in the church choir; we produced a CD of beautiful music from a variety of sources, including spiritual and classical music. I also sang in a church musical as a creative outlet. The play was based on a folk tale from Haiti; I played the Goddess of Water.

Ed is a great singer too; he kicks butt at karaoke. He also participated in musicals in high school. We both sing all the time in the car and around the house.

The gift of music is very important to us. When we see musicians playing, we are envious. We think that learning an instrument at a young age is a gift-- a reliable friend to carry with you through life. People we know who are musicians are joyful and always have the music to fall back on when times get tough.

Like many people, we dream of travel. We've gone on several trips together, including Peru, Hungary and the Bahamas. We hope to go together to Paris one day, and to Rome.

Experiencing nature is very important to us. We wish to create a safe environment for quality family time, and to expose our child to outdoor activities, like skiing, hiking, skating, tubing, etc. We are both firm believers in enjoying the great outdoors!

Spiritual Beliefs:
(Ed) We are both spiritual people. I was raised 7th Day Adventist, and Anne was raised Catholic. We were married in a Catholic ceremony; this tradition was especially important to Anne.

As part of the pre-wedding process, we went through the Sacrament of Marriage preparation. It was an extremely valuable experience; it gave us an understanding of how important the commitment we were making is, and how important it is to sustain that commitment.

Currently, we belong to a vibrant church community, with people of all ages involved. The church is very involved in the larger community, both creatively (through musical and theater groups) and through service-oriented activities. Our church offers religious education for young people, and opportunities to get involved, from housing initiatives for the homeless to service trips to New Orleans in these post-Katrina years.

Though our faith is based in Christianity, we remain open to learning about all spiritual practices and traditions, believing that they are all related as one.

Our Hope
We will always be open to maintaining contact with you. We hope this peek into our lives might spark a connection with you. We know the decision you are about to make is going to be one the most important of your life, the first step to creating the future that you envision for your child. We sincerely believe that we can help you realize your dreams for your child, and ours. We hope you will consider us in your search for the perfect home for your child.