Mary and Joni
Hello,
We are Mary (right) and Joni (left). We are excited about adopting a child and are deeply committed to the value of open adoption. We were both raised without knowing one or both of our birth parents, and we have a profound understanding of the importance of a birth family in a child’s life. Meaningful and ongoing contact with birth family members is important to us. We respect the difficult choice that you are now facing, and thank you for considering us as a possible adoptive family.
Mary was adopted as a 6-week-old infant through a closed adoption process. She met her birth mother 8 years ago and her birthfather 6 years ago. She has wonderful relationships with her extended birth families and is especially close to her birth mother. Joni was raised by a single mother in a home with her two older brothers. Joni met her birthfather when she was 19 years old. She has many half-siblings on both her mother’s and her father’s sides. Despite the complexity of relationships, Joni’s family members are kind, respectful and loving to one another. Both of us have developed a greater sense of identity from developing relationships with our birth families.
We are nearing our 15th anniversary as a couple and have had many amazing experiences together. We met while both working at a large university in central Illinois, and we moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2006. In addition to our supportive and loving families, we have been blessed with a large and extended family of friends. We have a mix of close friends - straight, gay, older, younger, with kids, and without kids. Our friends and family are excited to support us in our new roles as parents and want to be involved in the life of our child.
Joni works in Human Resources for a local hospital. She has a calm and grounded personality that is appreciated by friends and colleagues. Joni is also a musician and plays guitar, sings and writes songs. She has performed regularly in local coffee shops and small music venues and has self-produced 4 CDs of her original music. Promoting artistic expression with our child is very important to Joni. Our home will be filled with opportunities to sing, play instruments, draw and paint.
Mary is talkative, energetic and nurturing and serves as the “social coordinator” of our household. She recently left a 17-year career in higher education administration to explore other career opportunities. She will ensure that our child has a wide variety of activities and relationships. Mary is also an avid reader and will share this with our child. Our friends’ children love having Mary read them their bedtime stories.
We live in a comfortable (and colorfully painted) home on a quiet street close to parks, schools, a library, and playgrounds. We chose to live in a diverse neighborhood to provide ourselves and our child with a variety of opportunities and experiences. We have three wonderful, older pets: our dog Ellie (age 12), and our cats Maddie (age 15) and Raea (age 19). Being active and healthy is important to us - we enjoy hiking, biking and gathering with friends. We often walk to local coffee shops and restaurants and we enjoy seeing live music and participating in neighborhood events.
We are excited about the joys and challenges that will come from parenting and hope to develop a long lasting relationship with our child’s birth family. We look forward to meeting you if the fit feels right and we wish the best for you and your child.
Warmly,
Mary & Joni
For this family's complete adoptive parent profile, please contact Open Adoption and Family Services.