Karen and Joanna
Dear Expectant Parent(s),
We are Karen and Joanna and we are thrilled about the possibility of becoming parents. We met and fell in love five years ago, and have been experiencing life to the fullest ever since—years of playing, socializing, traveling, loving, and learning. Life has been extremely good to us. We cannot wait to begin the next chapter as moms with a new child and a new family. Joanna is anxious to expose our child to the beauty of nature. Karen cannot wait to teach the little one how to ride a bike. We both are unbelievably excited to share our love of life, adventure, and community with a child. To us, an open adoption feels like a wonderful way to welcome a child into this world and into our lives.
So, who are we? Karen would say that Joanna is kind, grounded, and whimsical, has a most magnificent cackle of a laugh, enjoys creating delicious things in the kitchen, and has at least two green thumbs. Joanna would say that Karen is the life of the party, the fixer of all things domestic, never complains when she gets huge scrapes from mountain biking but is a delicate flower when she gets a splinter, and is very creative and playful. We both feel that we balance each other exceptionally well.
Karen is a high school teacher and Joanna is a pediatric nurse. We both feel passionate about and are very committed to our respective chosen professions. We have carved out a life that involves children, and we agree that kids teach us something every day of both our professional and personal lives. As a nurse and teacher parent team, we believe that we will provide a child with many of the things he or she will need in order to become a confident, healthy, and well-rounded human being (who knows to wash his or her hands frequently and knows all the times tables…) Our work schedules afford us ample time to spend together with a child and as a family. Joanna works only three days a week while Karen has the attractive school schedule: all the breaks you can imagine with entire summers off.
We live in a vibrant area of a major northwest city where parks, playgrounds, libraries, and museums abound. There are neighborhood kids, neighborhood schools, and lots of family and friends with kids with whom we regularly spend time. Additionally, between us we have exactly five aunts-to-be and three extremely eager grandparents-to-be. We have a terrific village in which we can raise a child and we feel blessed in this way.
They say that “home is where the heart is” which is surely true in our case. We would like to grow the list of what “home is” to include sweet animals (two fuzzy cats and one super-lovable dog), flannel sheets and down pillows, a dinner-party sized dining room table, and a stable where we can rub down our bikes and kiss them goodnight. Our home is our nest. We have created a home that comforts us and welcomes our family and friends. We have a year-round vegetable garden. Our yard is peppered with sunflowers, interesting rocks, an occasional piece of yard art, and multiple berry patches. Our backyard looks forward to days of kicking around the soccer ball, swinging on the swingset and playing hide-and-seek. We daydream of spending time with our family in the yard, gardens, and in front of the fireplace.
We have spent all this space telling you about us without talking about how we feel for you. We are unable to express what a challenging situation we imagine you must be in and how strong we imagine you to be. Considering an adoption requires great courage and love. Thank you for this—we honor who you are and the choices you have made. Should we as a couple match what you are looking for in adoptive parents, we look forward to and would be grateful for the opportunity to meet you.
With Respect,
Joanna and Karen
For this family's complete adoptive parent profile, please contact Open Adoption and Family Services.