Dear Friend,

Let us begin by telling you how much we admire your strength and courage in your decisions making process.

We are Michelle and Steve. We met while attending college in North Carolina. Steve is originally from Winston Salem, NC and Michelle is from Coral Springs, Florida. We dated for seven years before our engagement. On November 17th, 2001 we exchanged our own wedding vows before family and friends in a beautiful ceremony. Our relationship is based on commitment, trust, and respect. Both sets of our parents have been married for over 30 years. Steve is the oldest in his family with a younger brother and sister. Michelle has a younger sister.

After a year of settling into our marriage, buying a home, and settling into our careers, we decided to start a family. It was during this time we realized our infertility issues. After several IVF treatments and Michelle having surgery on her fallopian tubes we were still unsuccessful in conceiving. God works in grand ways, and after extensive research on adoption and adoption agencies, he led us to Amy at Links. During this process we have learned to be patient and realize that things happen for a reason.

We both work in the field of education. Every child deserves an education where he or she will receive the resources needed to fulfill their potential in life. Steve has worked at a local university for the last 15 years. Michelle works for a non-profit organization with the Parents as Teachers program. She conducts home visits with moms and their children. The organization’s philosophy is an, “innovative educational and family support program that the parents are their child’s first and most important teacher.” Our jobs are very supportive of creating an atmosphere of balance between work and family, and providing flexible hours to attend school and extracurricular activities.

We live in a small rural town in North Carolina in a safe, quiet neighborhood. Our home is four bedrooms with two bathrooms, plenty of room to raise a child. The community in which we have lived for over five years has plenty of children to play with. Pebble is our loveable, shy cat; she’s been with us since her kitty days. Our backyard is large; we enjoy working in it and relaxing there. There are local parks and zoos which we hope to spend many sunny afternoons.

Being outdoors and traveling are two of our passions. We talk frequently about taking our child to the beach, parks, zoo, picnics, and even Disney World. There are so many family traditions that we want to start, such as reading books, baking cookies, and doing art projects for the holidays. We cannot wait to create endless memories with our child.

Our families are very excited for us and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild. They play an active role in our lives to this day. We have family get togethers for dinner during the holidays and throughout the year. Our siblings cannot wait to be aunts and uncles for the first time. There will never be a shortage of hugs for our little one. We have a close- knit group of friends that are also eagerly awaiting the arrival of little feet in our nursery. We are both very active in our church. Michelle is a Deacon and chairs the College and Military Committee. She leads an effort to make sure our college students and men and women serving our country in the military are informed on church activities. Steve is an Usher on Sunday mornings. We both teach the high school Sunday school class. Many of the members and our pastor have said prayers for us and want to be a part of our child’s life. Be rest assured, he/she will be loved by everyone we know!

I hope you will talk with us about the possibility of being the family for your child. Please call us to ask us any questions that you might have.

Sincerely,