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NEIL & CARRIE
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Social Worker Comments
Neil and Carrie have been happily married for almost five years and both of them very much want to provide a loving home to a child. They both love children and both desire to experience the joy of being parents together.
Neil and Carrie have longed to start a family and are very ready to bring a child into their home. They feel very good about their decision to adopt and they feel deeply that they can love and rear an adopted child as their own, giving this child a good, loving, secure and Christian home.
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Neil and Carrie state that family, friends, co-workers, and fellow church members are extremely supportive and excited about the couple’s desire to adopt a child. Their child will most likely be the first grandchild for each of their parents so they are very excited indeed.
Neil and Carrie believe birthparents make a brave, selfless decision when placing their child for adoption. They truly appreciate and are grateful for the opportunity a birth mother would provide for them to love and care for her baby and provide a stable home for him or her.
Neil and Carrie desire to adopt a Caucasian, or Black/White, Hispanic/White, American Indian/White, or Asian/White child, healthy or with minor medical needs, age birth to three months of age, either male or female. They do not wish to adopt a sibling group at this time. They would accept a child whose mother occasionally used alcohol or tobacco products. They would accept a child who was born prematurely (up to 4 weeks prior to the due date). They would consider a child whose mother used higher amounts (moderate) alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. They would consider a child with allergies, (except dog and cat), mild asthma, or one who would need hearing aids, has a heart murmur, or heart defect. They would also consider a child with a mild physical disability, mild learning disability or one that has other mild risk factors.
Dear Birthmother,
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We are Carrie and Neil and we’re so glad you are reading our letter! As we’re sure it would be for anyone, it is difficult to capture the essence of our family in a few short paragraphs but we hope this letter and the attached photographs will help you know us and help you see the room we have in our hearts to expand our family. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and review our profile. Regardless of your decision, we are praying for you, your happiness, your health, and your future.
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Our Life
We met through mutual friends in January 2002 and had an instant bond. As we got to know one another, we learned that our paths had crossed several times before we actually met – in college and at the company where we both worked! Our friendship blossomed immediately and it didn’t take long for us to fall in love. In 2003, about a year after we met, Neil officially proposed to Carrie one Saturday morning after breakfast. Unplanned, the proposal was about getting married to enjoy every day life together … for Saturday morning breakfast, for mid-day phone calls and instant messages, for the laughter and the tears. We were married in 2004 on a hot summer evening that was so much fun and full of family, friends, and more smiles than we can count!
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Our immediate family includes two dogs (Ellie & Albert) and one cat (Sadie). Ellie is a snuggly girl and hates getting her paws wet; Albert is all boy, loves playing in the mud, and is truly the happiest dog we have ever known! Sadie believes she rules the house (don’t all cats believe that?!?) and can never resist falling asleep in front of the fireplace. We also have a salt-water fish tank with two clown fish (Daisy & Duke) and one wild-looking shrimp (aptly named Dr. Red Hot because he cleans the tank and is bright red).
We live on a cul-de-sac in a nice community where there are a lot of kids, animals, and couples of all ages and colors. Our evenings are generally marked by walking the dogs and cooking dinner together. Weekends often include normal chores (cleaning, yard work, etc.) but also relaxing – getting together with friends, seeing a movie, playing cards, even going bowling. When we need to get away, we enjoy camping, hiking, and visiting family. Every day life is just that – we love being together, playing with our animals, cooking on the grill out back, and lounging around in our pajamas on Saturday morning while we cook a big breakfast. (Neil makes amazing sweet potato pancakes!)
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About Carrie
Carrie grew up in a family that valued education and the possibility of anything. She has an undergraduate degree in technical communication and a master’s degree in information management; today, she works as a project manager on a sales support team at a technology company. Outside of work, Carrie enjoys creative activities such as photography and baking. (When a move separated her from a dear friend, she was “awarded” a top-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe that is to die for!)
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Carrie’s parents have been married for nearly 40 years and currently live in upstate New York. Her mom is retired and her dad is looking forward to his “fishing career” when he retires in a few years. She has one older sister (Katie) who is a social worker in New Jersey. Despite the distance, we see each other a few times per year to celebrate Thanksgiving and birthdays. Her extended family is primarily in Michigan but she also has family in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and even Australia (oh, how we would love to visit one day!). |
About Neil
Growing up as the oldest of four boys, Neil was always busy with school, sports and music. He completed an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a graduate degree in industrial engineering; today, he works as a process improvement engineer at a major technology company. He still loves to “tinker” though and always has a project going – maintaining the fish tank, developing a new gym workout, or refining his woodworking skills. (He built a beautiful bookshelf for our hallway!) Perhaps most notably, he loves playing his acoustic guitar, which is put to good use with our church praise band.
Neil’s parents live in the capital region of New York. His dad is an engineer and his mother has worked occasionally as an administrative assistant. For the most part, though, she has been a stay-at-home-mother to Neil and his three younger brothers. His brother Chris is a computer scientist and is getting married to Jen in Summer 2009; Dave works for a cable company and does some construction work as a contractor; Mike (the youngest) is in college studying business.
Why Adoption?
In 2006, after we had both completed our graduate school work, we started thinking it was time to expand our family. In 2007, we started attending a new church regularly. We really enjoyed the people, the pastor, the messages, the music, and the overall feel of the church. We were both raised in Christian families but had never belonged to a church that we enjoyed so much. It has been life-changing and little did we know what was happening – God was at work because He knew we would need our faith and a church family very soon.
In 2008, we learned there was a reason we weren’t getting pregnant and that our likelihood of getting pregnant naturally was very, very low. Suddenly, conversations about adoption from years ago had new meaning and we immediately began researching our options. Fervent prayer, a lot of research, many conversations with friends and family, and more prayer brought us to where we are today. Our understanding of adoption continues to increase and we are deeply grateful for this opportunity.
We view parenting as one of life’s beautiful challenges! As parents, it will be our job to try and balance the roles of teacher, friend, confidant, and coach. As adoptive parents, it will be our responsibility to help our child understand and embrace his or her unique birth story. We would work to use honesty, education, and faith to enable our child’s self-confidence and individuality. Our prayer is for our son or daughter to grow into a loving, respectful, intelligent adult with both inner and outer strength.
We are blessed to have each other, a wonderful family, and the best of friends. We’re hopeful and prayerful that we are meant to have a son or daughter someday soon. For now, take care of yourself – we wish you all the very best.
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With warm hearts ,
Neil & Carrie
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