Being a parent means loving unconditionally, nurturing, supporting, and raising a child into a productive and caring member of society. Ann has always dreamed of being a mother someday. She remembers talking with some of her best friends growing up, about raising their children together and the things she looked forward to about parenting. As Ann's friends have started their families, she has had the joy of playing the role of auntie, playmate, babysitter, and godmother to those children, while also looking forward to starting a family of her own. Seeing Stephen's joy when playing with friends' children, whether it's outside, playing make believe, board games, or building with Legos makes it evident to Ann that he will be actively engaged in parenting.

Stephen also always envisioned a life with children. We most look forward to nurturing a child, sharing our interests and adventures with them, and loving them wholeheartedly. Ann looks forward to seeing Stephen share his love of figuring out how things work and being Mr. Fix-it with a child. Stephen looks forward to Ann sharing her sense of humor and love of music with a child. We look forward to seeing our parents love (and spoil) a grandchild.

We love spending time together and find that, outside of work, we rarely do things separately. When we work from home, we find that we like to get out of the house after work so we might go bowling, mini-golfing, or take our dog, Betty, to the park for a walk and to play in the stream. In the spring we work on the landscaping and gardening together and into the summer, we tend our vegetable garden a little bit each evening. When the weather is not too hot, we like to take our bikes to a nearby bike trail and go for a ride. Some evenings, after dinner, we like to build puzzles, play board games or even play instruments together. Other evenings, we watch a movie or play video games together.

We both have a love for traveling and experiencing the history and culture of other places and when we are not traveling, we are dreaming about the next place we want to visit. In the summer we like to spend our free weekends at our cottage--biking, boating, building campfires, and relaxing. All of these are things that we look forward to sharing with a child someday.

We both have Polish and German heritage. We look forward to honoring and celebrating the heritage of the child we welcome into our family. We are lucky to have some diversity in our extended family and friends groups and know that the people in our lives will be a great asset in learning about how to incorporate a child's background into our own traditions. As a musical family, we look forward to researching and experiencing music and other art forms from other cultures and learning about them with a child. When Ann's aunt and uncle adopted their daughters from China, they enrolled their adopted children and their biological children in Chinese culture classes to help all of the children learn together and understand their diverse backgrounds. We believe that this can be an excellent tool in helping to address cultural diversity. Additionally, we believe that it is important for children to have the opportunity to spend time with and learn from people with similar cultural backgrounds so we plan to seek out organizations and groups where this will be possible.

We live in a suburban community in Pennsylvania. Our neighborhood is a nice combination of older people and young families with children. One of Ann's childhood friends lives at the other end of our block with her husband and two children, which was a major draw when we were deciding where to live. There are two small playgrounds within walking distance of our house and a big county park with a bike trail, dog park, walking paths, wave pool, and even a game reserve about 10 minutes away by car. We also have an amusement park and water park very nearby.

We live in a three-bedroom home with a total of seven rooms. As time allows, we have been updating our home, first completely remodeling the bathroom, and more recently, the kitchen. Stephen's favorite room is the new kitchen and Ann's is a tie between the living room and dining room where we gather with family and friends.

Besides the local parks and trails, we have several lakes, rivers, and streams we can drive to in under two hours. We enjoy spending time near the water, boating and swimming, and look forward to sharing that love with a child.

We enjoy hosting dinner and game nights with our family and friends from time to time. With Stephen's younger sister and her husband, game nights usually include video games or board games. We go to Sunday dinners at Ann's parent's home and most often play card games there. It is common for Ann's parents to stop by for a visit when they are in the neighborhood shopping or running errands, too.

We split our holiday dinners between our families, giving us ample time to see everyone during that time of year. Christmas Eve dinner is always hosted by Ann's parents and is usually a steak dinner. Christmas morning we go to Stephen's parent's house for French toast brunch and a gift exchange. Ann's aunt, uncle, and cousins also live nearby and we see them for a homemade Polish feast including pierogis and kielbasa on alternating Christmases and Easters.

One thing our family enjoys is getting out of town and spending time at our cottage about two hours away. We spend time boating, fishing, swimming, having camp fires, and relaxing. Ann's family has been going there for the last 30 years and Stephen looks forward to the slower pace of cottage life.

All of our family and friends are extremely excited to welcome a child into our lives!

We are so thankful that you have taken the time to get to know us. We do not know what has led you to your current situation, but we admire your strength and the love you have for your unborn child in choosing life and considering adoption. The fact that you are even considering adoption tells us that you are incredibly selfless and brave. We pray that you feel loved and supported as you move forward in making the choice that is right for you and your precious baby, whatever that may be. If you choose us, your baby will always know that you love them and are a very special person.

Our story together began in January of 2016 when we met online and after exchanging messages for a week or so, we met for coffee. From that first date, we had a whirlwind romance and Stephen proposed to Ann in August and we were married the following March. Before we were married, we discussed everything from finances and goals, to family planning and caring for our parents as they aged. We knew we wanted to start our family as soon as possible, but God had other plans for us. Just before our third anniversary, we learned that we may not be able to have biological children. We had each considered adopting before we met and both having adopted cousins, it was natural for us to pursue this as a path to having children together. We have so much love to give to a child and our family experiences growing up have taught us that biology is not what makes a family, love is.

We live a simple life in a suburban community in Western Pennsylvania. We enjoy most of the same hobbies, so most of our time is spent doing things together. Lately we have been enjoying home renovation projects—landscaping, growing a garden, renovating the kitchen and repainting the other rooms. We find it so rewarding to see the progress we have made on updating our home and redecorating to reflect our style together. We enjoy traveling and take any chance we can to get out of town and experience a new place. The place we go most often is our cottage near a lake. We find it so peaceful to spend a lazy weekend reading, sitting by the camp fire, taking our dog for walks, riding our bikes, and just relaxing. We look forward to the day when we can share these simple joys with a child.

As people who value family, we hope to have an open line of communication with you. We want your child to know the family they live with as well as the family that gave them life. In addition to pictures and letters, emails and phone calls, if distance permits, we are open to spending time together and encouraging your child to really know his or her birth family. We believe that communication between our family and yours will help your child to understand his or her roots and background. We look forward to fostering this connection with you as your child grows.

We are truly grateful that you have taken the time to read this and consider us to parent your precious baby. We know that this must be overwhelmingly difficult for you and we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers as you continue on through this journey. We pray that you stay healthy and happy as you make the choice for you and your little one that brings you the most peace.

With great love and admiration,

Stephen & Ann