Hello!
We’re Luke and Ed, and we’d like to thank you for giving us the chance to introduce ourselves and share with you our dream of becoming parents. There’s no way we could possibly understand how hard this is for you, but we hope that our letter will bring you some encouragement and hope.
We’ve been together for almost nine years, having met through mutual friends while in college pursuing our goals of becoming teachers. There was an instant connection, and we became almost inseparable. We celebrated our civil union in 2006 after six years together, surrounded by our closest family members and friends. Our loving and committed relationship as best friends and partners continues to grow, and we’re looking forward to living the rest of our lives together.
Like most couples, we have both similar and different interests and hobbies. Among those we share are going to fairs and festivals every year; walking; going to the movies; watching our favorite t.v. shows; playing games; and spending time with family and friends. We’re also very big ice cream eaters, although we’re trying to cut back! Luke’s a big “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” fan, and he loves being and working outdoors. He can’t wait to start a garden, and he’s looking forward to having our kids help him around the yard. Ed’s a HUGE Harry Potter fan who loves to read, and he enjoys shopping and doing craft projects. Since he was a kid Ed’s loved playing with Legos, and he can’t wait to share that passion with our kids.
We’ve both known for a long time that we want to dads and truly believe that we’re meant to be parents together. We’ve chosen to adopt to start our family, and becoming parents will enhance our lives and make them and our relationship even more special. We’re confident that with our huge hearts, strong values and belief in family, we’re prepared for whatever comes our way. We want to raise our family with all the love, strength and support we share with each other. We’ll raise your child with strong values, including respect for him- or herself and others, compassion and honesty. We’ll encourage age-appropriate responsibilities so that your child can learn that he or she needs to do his or her part as a member of our family, that he or she can do what he or she sets his or her mind to and that he or she should be proud of a job well done. Your child will be encouraged to follow his or her interests and dreams, and we hope to provide him or her with the opportunities to explore and fulfill them. We hope to raise your child to be open-minded and well-rounded, and this includes encouraging an awareness and celebration of his or her cultural and ethnic heritage. We’re committed to learning as much as we can about your child’s background and sharing it with him or her as something to respect and celebrate as part of who he or she is. We’ll integrate your child’s heritage into ours to create one that is unique and special to our family.
We’ll give your child the unconditional love, laughter, honesty, support and encouragement he or she needs to be safe, secure, happy and successful throughout his or her life. As he or she grows up, your child will know that he or she came into our lives through adoption. He or she will know that your decision to make an adoption plan for him or her was made out of nothing but love. We’ll be glad to share with him or her any information you feel comfortable sharing and would like your child to know over the years. We’re open to knowing what would help you feel reassured over the years that your child is safe, happy, healthy and loved. We’re open to establishing and maintaining a connection with you as your child grows, develops and achieves because we believe it’s important for him or her to know how much he or she is loved by everyone. By being open and honest throughout his or her life, we hope to help your child grow up knowing who he or she is and being proud of that as well as proud of his or her family. Together, we can decide the extent of that connection, always keeping the best interests of your child as the primary goal.
We’re very fortunate to have an amazing family that includes many relatives and friends. Luke’s side of the family includes his father; his mother; an older sister, her husband and their two kids, Luke’s niece who’s in sixth grade and his nephew who’s a sophomore in high school; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, second-cousins and even third cousins. Ed’s side of the family includes his mother; his brother and his girlfriend; three grandparents; and several aunts, uncles, cousins and second-cousins. Everyone is so excited that we’ve started the adoption process and are on our way to becoming parents! They’re all very supportive of us and our dream, and many have already begun sharing advice with us, offering to give us items they no longer need and buying supplies and gifts for our future baby. They’re looking forward to welcoming a new child into their lives as a grandchild, niece or nephew, cousin or close friend. Several of our cousins and friends have young children, and some are likely to have more within the next few years. A few of our friends are just starting their families like we are. These kids will all be wonderful playmates and friends.
We live in a beautiful Colonial house, and there’s plenty of room in our home as well as our hearts for a child! There are three bedrooms, one of which we’re currently turning into a nursery. There’s an eat-in kitchen where we eat most of our meals together. We’ve made it almost a rule of our relationship that we’ll always eat dinner together, and the time we spend sitting at the table talking about our days at school, where we are in the adoption process, tasks we need to do around the house, plans for the weekend and all sorts of other things means a lot to us. We’ll definitely continue this routine once we have kids because we believe that time together as a family is really important. There’s also a separate dining room where we’re looking forward to eating and having birthday and other holiday celebrations in the future. This will also be a good place for our kids to do their homework and work on projects. We have a large living room where we like to curl up on the couch and watch our favorite television shows and movies and where we often host game nights with our family and friends, two more things that’ll continue when we become dads. We also have a large partially finished basement that we’re turning into a play room/office. Outside, there’s a deck that overlooks our backyard. There are a couple large trees that are perfect for climbing that also drop quite a lot of leaves in the fall that will make awesome piles for kids to play in. There’s a flat area where we’re going to put a playscape and a sandbox. There’s also a nice front yard to play and have fun in. Our driveway is a good place to draw with sidewalk chalk, and there’s space for a basketball hoop and to learn to ride a bike. For us, home is the place where we want to be most often and where we feel the happiest, and we know that will only become more so once we start our family.
The town we live in is quiet, small and rural with a few stores and restaurants, but it’s within short driving distances to bigger towns and small cities where we go out to eat, shop and go to the movies. There are several parks nearby that have swing sets, slides and fields to run around and play in. We’re also close to a library, a swimming pond, a walking/riding trail and a couple miniature golf courses, all of which will provide many fun family outings. In our travels around town, we’ve seen a lot of different child-centered programs offered, including Boy and Girl Scouts, reading programs at the library, baseball, basketball and soccer leagues and a “Touch-a-Truck” event. Our town has a good school system, which was one of the reasons why we chose to live here. The elementary school is about 15 minutes from our home, and the middle and high school that serve our town and a neighboring town are about 10 minutes away. Being teachers ourselves (Luke teaches sixth grade math. He’s been teaching for seven years and has worked with students in grades three through eight. Ed’s been teaching third grade for the past seven years.), we understand and respect the importance of education and parents’ roles in the education of their children, both in and out of school. We’ll be very active in our kids’ education and use what we know and have experienced as teachers to ensure that they receive the instruction, opportunities and services they need. We’ve already started saving money for college or whatever other educational or vocational path our kids choose to take. We’ll be very involved in the schools they attend and the community programs they participate in.
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and get to know a little about us. We hope that we’ve begun to express who we are as a couple and as future dads. Like in all families, our goals are to be loving and committed parents and to create a warm and nurturing home filled with lots of love and laughter.
You probably have many questions and concerns as you consider and decide what’s best for your child. We’d love the opportunity to share more about ourselves and to learn more about you through letters, telephone calls or meeting in person.
You’ll be in our thoughts and prayers, and we wish only the best for you.
Sincerely,
Ed and Luke