Dear Birth Parent(s),

Thank you for being so courageous and responsible, in spite of your difficult situation. Responsibility forms a strong bond between you and us. You feel responsibility and love for your child to think about its future development. We are prepared and longing to accept full responsibility for your child as if it were the child that we are not able to conceive.

What more than a sheltered childhood carried by love and the best support of the child could you as birth parents and we as adoptive parents wish for your child? What more than somebody who loves the child and feels responsible for the child as if he or she were their own. Somebody who spends his time with the child, watching it and responding to its cues. Somebody who cradles it, holds it, hugs it, comforts it and dries its tears. Somebody who lives in a safe and healthy environment and gives the child the safety and security to be unconditionally loved and accepted. Somebody who communicates with the child, plays and sings with him or her. Somebody who makes a special day out of every day by taking a bath in the big tub with ducks and boats, reading bedtime stories, speaking evening prayers and singing lullabies. Somebody who gives the child self esteem, who takes care to provide a good education and who explains the world through words, pictures and endless love. Somebody, who teaches the child, with all his love, values like integrity, respect, love, open-mindedness, honesty, decency and uprightness. Somebody who will further the talents of the child. Somebody who experienced all this in his own childhood…and still experiences it because of a strong family bond.

We want to be this "somebody". Ever since we met each other 12 years ago we wanted to establish a family. We have an easy-going relationship and we show our love to each other. Although we are/were highly successful in our demanding jobs (Dirk is an attorney with his own firm and Sandra used to be a human resources manager in an industrial enterprise until the adoption of our first son Daniel last year), we spend a lot of time together. Enjoyment and living each moment is of high importance in our lives. We are curious and always open to new ideas. We love to be at home or to travel the world. We like to go hiking, biking, sailing and skiing. We love to cook for family and friends and we also love to eat - at home in our peaceful and cozy kitchen or out in a nice little restaurant. We are grateful that we have the financial means to carry on these and other ventures - such as safaris in Africa, Disney World and weekend trips to nearby Paris - as family activities, even after Sandra has become a full time mom with the adoption of our son Daniel in 2007.

We will discover the world anew through the eyes of the child, spend hours sitting on the floor building farms and vehicles with LEGO, creating sandcastles on the beach or strolling through the forests watching birds and picking flowers and categorizing them. We like to run after the child when it makes its first tries on a bike. We will experience the wintertime in the mountains as a family, building snowmen with noses of carrots, riding on a sled downhill, and take the child with its little skis safely between our legs.

We will celebrate Christmas with a gigantic Christmas tree, traditional Christmas carols and well chosen colorful presents. On Easter we will paint eggs and hang them in the trees and we will search for eggs in the garden. Birthdays will be celebrated with a birthday song and a lovely birthday table with a homemade birthday cake, candles, flowers and presents.

You can be sure that you will become part of our life if you choose us as parents. We will send you letters, pictures and paintings by which you will see your child growing and developing. By choosing us, we will do everything we can to provide you assurance that you picked the right parents for your child.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share some of our dreams with you of how we would like to raise the child you would entrust to us. We wish you peace and comfort with the difficult decision you are faced with.

Sincerely,

Dirk & Sandra