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Aaron & Alison 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.

Congratulations!
We've Adopted a Girl.

Dear Birth Parent, Hello! We are Aaron and Alison and we are looking forward to the opportunity to share, give and grow through the process of adopting and raising children. First, we would like to say thank you for considering adoption. We appreciate your taking the time to learn a little bit about us and we would be happy to talk with you more.

We both find that our most rewarding experiences have come through close family relationships and friendships, and we know we will enjoy raising children. This picture is with us and some of our cousin's kids - aren't they cute! We understand that raising children and having a family is a serious and lifelong commitment and we are excited to get started! Our friends and families (future grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) are also very excited about our plans and very supportive of our decision to choose adoption.

About us Ali is a diplomat with the U.S. State Department and Aaron is an elementary teacher specialized in multicultural and multilingual schools. Ali's job takes us around the world and though she loves being a diplomat and Aaron was born to be a teacher, at 5:00pm, we are both happy to leave our jobs behind to enjoy our evenings and weekends with family and friends.

We currently live in Tallinn, Estonia (in northern Europe) in a large penthouse condominium with 3 bedrooms and views of old town. There are parks just down the block and we have friends with kids who live just around the corner! Our international lifestyle is great for raising children and allows us to offer fantastic cultural and educational opportunities. For example, the State Department will pay for the best schools wherever we live and our children will be able to learn foreign languages and become friends with both American kids and people from all over the world. Most diplomats and their spouses have kids (many of them adopted), so there is a supportive and family-oriented community everywhere we go.

We both enjoy a variety of hobbies that we’d love to share with our children as they grow. We play ultimate frisbee and soccer and enjoy running and bicycling. Ali likes singing in choirs and Aaron enjoys singing and playing guitar and ukulele. We are both avid readers and we both look forward to reading to our kids. We also love getting together with our friends and families for long lunches and dinners to catch up and stay connected. Some of our best vacations have been family trips to Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Europe. We plan on sharing this value – love of family and the importance of nurturing friendships – with our children as part of raising them in a loving and supportive environment.

Thanks for considering us as adoptive parents. We look forward to hearing from you!

About Aaron, written by Ali: Aaron is a caring and loving husband and one of the kindest people I have ever known. When we met in 2006 and he began telling me about his 4th grade students (he's a teacher), I was struck by how much he really wanted each one of them to succeed. He'd say something like "Little 'Liana' (not her real name) is behind in reading, but she's such a great kid. We'll keep working on it and she's going to do fine." He took this approach in every part of his life: He loves staying in touch with his many friends and plans get-togethers. He calls his parents regularly and makes time to visit all his family, even cousins who live far away from us. He’s still in touch with his host-family from when he served in Nicaragua as a Peace Corps Volunteer and he even calls my mother to chat (which she loves)! It's in Aaron's nature to care for and nurture the people in his life and this is just one of the things about him that has made our marriage wonderful.

Aaron is also a very healthy and active person and he enjoys learning new things. He often cooks for us and makes sure we have tasty and balanced meals with lots of veggies. He incorporates exercise into our everyday life to keep us fit. For example, we often walk or bike to the movies, or go running in the morning before we meet friends for lunch. We've run several half marathons together, largely because of his enthusiasm. He also convinced me to try bike touring - multi-day camping/biking trips along trails and country roads. These are a lot of fun, great exercise and a wonderful way to learn about local culture. I am always impressed by Aaron's lifelong interest in learning. He is constantly reading history books and just taught himself to play the Ukulele (after a very fun adventure vacation we took in Hawaii). During our first year dating, he finished his Masters in Education and Curriculum and has even started talking about getting a second masters degree to become a reading specialist. I know that Aaron will enjoy sharing the value of lifelong learning with our child.

Finally, I love Aaron because he makes me feel great! It is a wonderful feeling knowing that he’s there to support me and cheer me on. Together, we’ve helped each other grow individually and we’ve built a very strong and loving relationship based on mutual respect and love. I couldn’t have found a better husband and I know he’ll be a fantastic father.

About Ali, written by Aaron: Ali is a loving, adventurous and hard-working person and an amazing wife. When we started dating in 2006, I was looking for someone with a zest for life who could also teach me new things. Ali completely fit that description. In those first few weeks, I told her I was interested in living overseas again (I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nicaragua after college). I was surprised to discover not only that, like me, she had volunteered with the Peace Corps (in Poland), but that she also wanted to live overseas again! By the time we were engaged, we were already making plans to go abroad. Ali has been excited to try so many new things since we have been together (half marathons, Ultimate Frisbee, bike touring) and these activities are just the ones she has stuck with. I am very lucky to have a wife who shares my sense of adventure.

I love that when Ali sets her mind to do something, she does it! She studied hard and made it into the Diplomatic Corps – and their selection process is very challenging. The fact that she bought a house all by herself and then renovated it (before we started dating) blew me away. She speaks three foreign languages: Polish, Spanish, and Estonian. Ali’s accomplishments and drive have kept me motivated to make new goals and go after them.

Another thing that I really like about Ali is how loving and close she is with her family. She is always calling her mother and sister and is in regular communication with her 91-year old grandmother. I love the patience she shows with relatives and how she has become a great friend and caring daughter-in-law for my parents. She goes out of her way to remind me that she loves me and is so good about encouraging me in my efforts and in getting us both to relax and take a break when we need one. I love that she is always honest and kind with me and I know that she will be the same way with our children. I can’t wait to grow our family through adoption and I know Ali will be a wonderful mother.