Dear Expectant Parents,

We respect your courage and strength to choose this road. It is our hope that we can make this journey easier for you.  To start, we’d like to tell you a little about ourselves and our life.

Mark and Meg

We have known each other for 21 years this summer.  It does not seem that long as we both still feel so lucky to have each other.  We were married in 1994 in Raleigh, North Carolina before our family and friends from all parts of the country.  We met in North Carolina while Meg was a senior at North Carolina State University, and Mark had just graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina. 

The City Life

After graduation, we moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so that Meg could attend Law School and be near the majority of her family.  We will always feel at home in the south, but fell in love with the diversity of people and wealth of culture in Philadelphia.   We lived in a great neighborhood in center city near the Art Museum and river for over 5 years, where Meg played softball in a women’s city league, and Mark coached.  We also played intramural tag football and made so many good friends, even though our team was not the best! 

The river gave us a perfect spot to watch the rowing races, walk, bike and rollerblade.  Though Mark was always much more adventurous with rollerblading, and Meg stuck to her leisurely pace with the bike.  This rings true in our relationship, as Mark is outgoing, fun and daring, and Meg is more quiet and relaxed.  You can often catch her curled up in a corner with a book, even with 20 family members around, or sneaking off to a Yoga class.

The city also allowed us to take advantage of the eclectic music scene which Mark continues to enjoy as his tastes range from his roots with the Grateful Dead, to jazz, blues, folk, rock, reggae, and fusion.  We have a number of musical instruments at our home, but are still at the toying stage with all of them.  There are family members and good friends who play instruments, are in local bands, and bring them to the house.  When we travel, we seek spots where we can enjoy live music.  New Orleans was one of those trips where Mark found incredible bands every day.  In Key West, the steel drum music found us as we celebrated Mark’s birthday.

Travel and Work

Traveling remains a large part of our life with family and friends.  We enjoy skiing, snowmobiling, horseback riding in the snow, as well as swimming, water skiing, sailing and playing on the beaches of New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida and Maine.  We are lucky to have family in all of those places.  During the years together, we were fortunate to travel overseas, as well as to over half the states in our country. 

Mark’s job is also diverse as it wraps advertising, marketing, technology and publishing all into one, with a focus on agriculture.  He is the “techy” in the family, as well as the cook.  His Mom used to joke us in the early years that on a Sunday morning we could find Mark in the kitchen, and Meg reading the newspaper. 

Mark has been with his company for over 15 years.  His work base relocated for a time, and so we finally moved to the suburbs to a single family home with a great yard.  Mark inherited the gardens and you can often catch him outside taking care of everything. 

We both work, but have flexible schedules where we can work from home. As an attorney, Meg can often bring files home and works her schedule around the important events in our life. Meg was also able to work part time for the first five years of Max's life and plans to do the same for the next child.  

Mark has the luxury of working remote and so we can both be involved in the children's lives. Mark coaches Max's baseball and basketball teams, and Meg is a "lunch Mom" and helps out with his school. We have a lot of family that live within 5 to 15 minutes of us, and are always around to help, hang out and are built in friends.

Max

In 2003, Max was born into our lives after two ectopic pregnancies.  We feel so blessed to have him and enjoy every minute of his little life. He is now 6 and just started first grade.  All three of us love to travel, be with family, friends, enjoy music, sports, movies, game night, puzzle night, books, yoga, gardening, building stuff and creating art.  Mark just built a fort in the back yard which is a huge hit with Max and all his friends, as well as Mark and all his friends.

Our families

Meg comes from a large family and is the youngest of 5.   Her dad was one of 6 and her mom was one of 5.  So that resulted in many, many cousins.  Mark has one brother and three cousins who are all very close.  Both of our parents divorced when we were young, but have been remarried for a long time.  So the positive out of all of that is that there are now 8 grandparents and more step-siblings that are a part of our life.  We are very close to our families, consider them our best friends, and see them often.  Holidays and birthdays are celebrated with abandon, and steeped in tradition.  There is always a reason for a party and to come together as a family. 

Adoption in our lives

Even with all of this family, we know that we want to share our lives with another family member in our home.  We have talked about adoption for many years, even before Max.  We have always considered adoption as my niece, Alexandra, was adopted 11 years ago this summer, 4 of my cousins were adopted and so many of our close friends have adopted children.  It is such an extraordinary gift that you, the birth parents, give to another family and to that life inside of you.  All we know is that you must be such a special person to be so generous of spirit. 

Max must ask us every day when we can have a brother or sister for him.  We live in a great neighborhood where there are lots of children and friends.  We are fortunate that we can give him, and any brother or sister, the opportunity to go to a wonderful school, attend a fantastic summer day camp with lots of swimming, take music lessons, and play the local sports.  We have talked about adoption to Max often, but the first time was the best, as he said “Yeesssss, can we do it next Saturday?”   That is how we all feel.

And our home    

There is so much we would like to tell you about ourselves to help you in your decision, but most of all we want you to know that we have more than enough love for your baby.  Our home is a safe, nurturing, and fun place where all the kids like to play. We strive to have our house be the one where the kids want to hang out, and feel comfortable from the young years through the teenage years.  As we write this, we can hear Max and his friends from school.   We take turns playing with them, doing crafts, and hanging out in the yard and driveway with them.  Throughout the day, we have heard the basketball bouncing, baseball bat hitting the ball, yelling, and laughing, with the occasional request for snacks. It is the best music to both of us. 

We also want you to know that words cannot quite express how very grateful we are that you are even considering our family.   This time in your life must be difficult and we can only imagine the rollercoaster of emotions that you are experiencing.  We hope that we can provide you with a sense of security that your child will have everything it needs, and more.  As adoption is prevalent in our lives with family and friends, we have had the opportunity to watch our cousins successfully reunite with birth families, and our friends’ young adopted children enjoy a relationship with birth family members.  Each situation is different, but being open is the key.  We will embrace the situation that works best for you, and always celebrate you and your child’s heritage, with our own.  We wish you peace and light in your decision and in your life.

Sincerely,

Mark and Meg