To Whom It May Concern,

Let me start by introducing you to my husband [His name], he prefers [...] so that is what he will be called through the remainder of the letter, and myself. I will start with [His name] and his family. He was raised with divorced parents, his mother had custody of him, his younger sister K, his younger sister B, and his younger brother T. I never had the privilege of meeting his mother as she passed away a couple of years before he and I met. His Aunt is like a second mother to him, and his siblings and his grandmother took on the responsibility of head of the family loving her grandchildren and great grandchildren unconditionally. I grew up with my parents staying happily married until my father’s death in 2019. I have 1 older brother S. My brother, Mother and I remain close. My brother is divorced with 1 adult son who looks at me like a mother. My nephew is married with stepchildren and is a talented musician singing and playing guitar and leading worship for our church.

[His name] and I met on christianmingle.com and communicated for months by email, text messages and phone calls until we decided to meet face to face, meeting at Olive Garden on Jan 13, 2012. He proposed the following summer, and we married on January 12, 2013. Since we were both in our mid-30s, we decided not to wait to start our family. After 6 months of no success, I went to a fertility specialist and was diagnosed with PCOS, endometriosis, and hormonal imbalance later to be discovered as a hypothyroid. [His name] was diagnosed with low sperm count, low sperm motility, and low testosterone. We were told our best chance at conception using his sperm and my eggs was with IVF. Due to the endometriosis and PCOS my eggs were not strong enough to survive the transfer and IVF failed. This combination of diagnosis made it impossible for us to be successful at conception. When we learned about embryo adoption and discovered it was possible for us to take this journey, we did not hesitate to move forward with our decision. My fertility doctor feels hopeful and confident that I have a good chance at success.

We had 2 failed attempts to have children foster to adopt, and domestic adoption. [His name] works for the state and the agency we were permitted to be clients for is now out of business due to failing to follow state child welfare laws. We just ended a 2-year contract with an adoption agency where we had no communication with expectant mothers and have not been close to having our dream of parenting and loving a child come true. During this journey we kept busy with jobs, family, friends, vacations, hobbies, and church. Both [His name] and I work for FedEx, I am human resource, and he is a quality assurance administrator. We work opposite shifts but still find time together. [His name] occupies his down time with woodworking and unwinds with Lego projects. I enjoy crocheting and focus on baby blankets and baby clothes. I also unwind with reading and like mystery and thriller novels. Authors like Joe Hill, Stephen King, and James Patterson are examples. I already have a large children’s book library from my childhood and books that have been gifted to me over the years. We make sure we get away every year for at least 1 overnight trip and when our spending plan allows it a weeklong vacation. We will go hiking, biking, zoos, museums, ball games, escape rooms, and amusement theme parks are some examples. We also will go to a dinner show, or watch a musical, or a concert.

Our holidays are spent with family. Everyone views family as just that family, there is no “in-law” thought or talk. His family and my family all gather, and we enjoy playing card and board games and with a picnic or cookout we will play yard games.

I hope this gives you a glimpse of what our lives are like and what we will have to offer a child born into our family.

Sincerely,