Throughout our relationship, we hoped to have children in our family. Over the first few years of our marriage, we experienced pregnancy losses and eventually had to come to terms with infertility. It was difficult to cope with our losses and to adjust the vision we had for our future. Though they were challenging, through those years we learned how to support each other in really hard times, and we grew into a stronger married couple as we moved through our grief.

Still, we felt certain that adding children to our family was right for us, so we started to consider adoption. We researched the possibility, and we prayed about our decision. We spoke to our friends -- and friends of friends -- who had experiences with adoption, either as adoptive parents, birth parents, or adopted children. These conversations helped us become certain that adoption is the right avenue for us.

We know we are ready to provide a safe, stable, loving, and nurturing home for a child we adopt. We look forward to bringing a child into our family and becoming parents through adoption.

We really like being Uncle Tim and Aunt Becky, spending time with the children in our lives. It's so fun to watch them grow and learn, developing into their own people and figuring out how the world works. Tim likes to share his favorite sports and his favorite children's movies with our nieces and nephews, or to play video games with the oldest, who is now a teenager. Becky likes to pick books to give for Christmas and birthday presents, and to figure out the rules of new board games so we can play with the kids. We share stories with each other frequently of the funny things they've said and the ways we see their individual personalities shine.

We know we would like all of those same things with a child of our own, and we would delight in the daily routines we would develop within our family -- the car ride games, the story time, the lullabies. We look forward to establishing traditions as a family, to celebrate the holidays with a child, recognize the start of each school year, and travel together in the summer.

Being a parent is also a huge responsibility, one we feel called to take on. Raising a child based on our values and helping them grow into the person they're meant to be would be a tremendous blessing.

We value diversity and appreciate the richness of different cultures that we encounter in our area and in our community. Our families are not diverse, and both of us attended schools where other students largely looked like us and came from similar backgrounds. We recognize what we missed out on by being surrounded by our own culture, and as adults, we seek out new experiences and a broader understanding of other cultures.

We use traveling as a way to learn about different cultures, visiting other cities in the U.S. and exploring the neighborhoods within them. We make sure that what we read, watch, and listen to represents a variety of voices and perspectives.

At work, we are challenged and encouraged to be culturally informed in our teaching. For Becky, this includes training on anti-bias and anti-racism work, which she has participated in for several years, seeking out opportunities beyond what's required. This training influences her teaching as well as the conversations she has with family, friends, and others about justice and equity. For Tim, work brings similar training, but his coaching experiences have also brought him into relationships with players from many different backgrounds. He has learned and continues to learn from those relationships.

Living in a suburb outside a major city in Missouri, we are glad to have access to all kinds of events and opportunities. It takes us just a few minutes to get into the city, for museums, theater, sporting events, and other outings. There is an annual fair for 4th of July, and a Festival of Nations at a park nearby. We love to go see musicals outdoors in the summer, typically along with friends and family. At the same time, with just a short drive, we can hike in the woods and be in the water.

We live a short walk from the local elementary school, and we're just a few minutes from the school where Tim works, too. There are children on our street and in our neighborhood that a child in our home would grow up with. Our local park, which Tim went to as a kid, is beautiful, and there are walking and biking paths nearby. On those paths, we see a diverse crowd of people, out exercising and enjoying nice days together. There's a kid-friendly tourist spot close to our home, which has great events year-round.

We bought our 3-bedroom house planning to expand our family, so we have room to grow and space to play. The basement is decorated with Tim's movie memorabilia, and upstairs is filled with books and family photos. It's a really happy space, one we love to spend time in.

We are so lucky to live near our extended families, and we see our siblings and parents often. We gather for the holidays, and we decorate Easter eggs, carve pumpkins, dress up for Halloween, make gingerbread houses, and bake Christmas cookies. We have an annual escape room trip with our siblings -- so far, we always make it out.

We also get together with family to watch soccer, hockey, and volleyball games. At our house, we host board game nights or watch a movie with Tim's projector outside, or we'll hang out at a sibling's house to barbecue or to babysit our nieces and nephews. Sometimes, we host our nieces or nephews for sleepovers, and we go on plenty of trips to the zoo, the park, the lake, and their sporting events.

We chose to live here because we value family, and being part of our families' daily lives and special occasions is really important to us. Grandma and Grandpa on both sides babysit our nieces and nephews, and they are excited to welcome a child to our family, too. Our family supports our adoption plan, and we know we can continue to lean on them and celebrate with them through our journey.

We are so grateful that you are taking the time to learn more about us and that you are considering adoption. We admire your courage and strength in this period of decision-making and are keeping you and the baby in our thoughts and prayers.

Our first date was a New Year's Eve party, as 2012 turned to 2013, and our first kiss was after midnight. We decided to call January 1st our anniversary, rather than December 31, to celebrate the beginning of the new year -- since our relationship was just beginning, too. We were married in 2016, on a hot and beautiful summer day, celebrating with our friends and family. Photos from the reception show a dance floor filled with children, having a fantastic time in their fancy clothes. We aimed to have children soon after our wedding and were thrilled when we learned we were pregnant just a few months in. Losing that pregnancy was the start of a few difficult years of possibility and grief, and we learned that we would not be able to have biological children in early 2020.

Still, we know that our family isn't yet complete. Both of us love the relationships we have with our nieces, nephews, and cousins. With them, we like to play games, to talk about books and movies, to watch their sporting events, and just to spend time together as they grow up. We know we would enjoy these same things -- and more -- with a child of our own. In addition, as teachers and for Tim as a coach, we have developed so many relationships with young people, and getting to inspire and guide them brings meaning to our lives. We teach our subject matter, but we also teach values, like behaving with integrity, viewing others with empathy, and working hard to improve, whether as an athlete or as a writer.

A child in our family would be shaped by those lessons from our years of teaching and by the value we place on education. More importantly, they would join a large, loving family where our siblings and parents are close by and central figures in our lives. We can't wait to see the relationships a child would build with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins they would have in our family, and to see our family members interact with our child, in all the delightful ways they do with our nieces and nephews. We are lucky to have excellent parents who we can depend on, and from whom we have learned so much about what we believe, how we should act, and what's important to us. Our parents, and our siblings with children, are wonderful role models for us as we envision ourselves as parents.

We know that families can come together in all kinds of ways, and we look forward to growing ours through adoption. As a birth parent, you would be a part of our extended family, an important figure in the child's life. We would speak of you positively, out of gratitude for the choices you made for the child. We would happily send you letters and photos at birthdays and milestones, and we would be open to other contact and visits as the child grows up. We would be open to meeting and getting to know you both before and after the child arrives.

We love our life together, with the home we have made, the traditions we have started, and our circle of friends and family. Whether it's our summer vacations exploring new cities and beautiful scenery, or quiet nights at home watching movies and making dinner, or the game nights, barbecues, and special occasions we enjoy with loved ones, there is a lot of joy in our life. Bringing a child to our family would multiply that joy and enrich our lives, and we are so excited about that possibility.

Thank you again for considering us, and know that we are wishing you the very best in your journey.

Sincerely,

Tim & Becky