Adoption Terminology

Hi! We are Adam and Amelia. We appreciate you taking the time to get to know us and considering entrusting us to parent your child. We met each other through friends from church in early 2012 while Adam was living in St. Louis and Amelia was living in Seattle. We had a long distance courtship that led to marriage at the end of 2012. We both desired to have children with birth and adoptive children always being part of the discussions for growing our family. We began pursuing both adoption and biological children simultaneously while trusting God to provide children as he saw fit. We were blessed to have our daughter, Penelope, become a part of our family in 2023, which put a brief pause on the adoption process while we adjusted to caring for a little one. We are praying and trusting God to continue to grow our family through adoption. We desire to have multiple siblings for Penelope, and our hope is for them to join our family through adoption. 

We seek to foster a home environment that encourages exploration and inquisitiveness. We like to go for walks as a family, play at the nearby park, visit with neighbors, and work in the garden. We enjoy being silly and laughing together. We all like to read, and there are lots of books in our house to encourage reading. We also cook together. Penelope loves to help make food with us, so we find ways for her to participate in an age-appropriate way, such as adding the seasonings to a dish or stirring something in a bowl.

We both like board games and look forward to playing them with our children. We have discovered that cooperative games are a good way to play together since it is everyone against the game. Amelia taught Adam how to knit, and it is a hobby we both enjoy. We knit things for family and friends to share our love of knitting with others. Amelia loves to garden and shares that passion with Penelope. We both enjoy cooking. Adam also enjoys baking, which is something he likes to share with family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors.

As you consider us, know that we value you and want you to have interactions with your child, if that is something you desire. You are important to your child, and we want them to know about you. We are thinking about you and praying for you. We hope to meet you and your child soon.

I would like to introduce you to our family. My name is Julie, and my wonderful husband's name is Will. I am 30 years old, and Will is 31 years old. We have been married for a little over eight years. Will and I met at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We had both grown up very involved in our churches, so it seems appropriate that we met at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. We were friends for two years before we started dating. Will's kindness drew me to him. We dated and were engaged for a year and a half before getting married in 2015. Will and I love to travel, and some of our favorite places that we have visited are Spain and Portugal, the Grand Canyon, cruises to the Caribbean, and camping at State Parks, beaches, and other beautiful campgrounds around the Southeastern United States. We can't wait to share our love of travel and the world with a child. We spend a lot of our weekends going to football games, camping in our camper, hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, and spending time with family either in East Tennessee or Middle Tennessee. I love to capture family adventures and memories with my camera. Since I am a professional photographer, I love to take pictures while we travel and around the local area. I look forward to capturing precious memories of our adopted child as they grow up.

We met at a Christian Club that Rick had started with a friend at a local college. We dated for four years and then got married and it was the best decision we could have made. We are perfect for each other.

About Paige (from Rick’s perspective)

Paige is the love of my life. I feel that she is the most generous, caring, loving, and thoughtful person I know. She continually motivates and encourages me to be the best version of myself. Paige is an amazing mom to our two boys and is always investing love and time into their lives. She loves to bake with them and read to them. She loves making special moments and memories in each day. For every holiday that comes around, Paige plans exciting projects for the kids to bring as much anticipation for that holiday as possible. Tea parties and fun educational games are a common occurrence in her homeschool days. She loves to take the kids outside to explore and she has the best way of bringing whatever she is teaching them to life. More than my wife, Paige is my best friend. When we are together, we are always laughing, and sharing with each other all the amazing things God is doing in our lives. I feel infinitely blessed to be married to her and to have her in my life. I look forward to the years ahead knowing that we have each other for the rest of time.

About Rick (from Paige’s perspective)

Rick is a wonderful husband to me and Father to my boys. We work, play, and laugh together daily. He is the most loyal and patient man I know and he never ceases to amaze me with his dedication to our family. He is compassionate yet strong. He is honest and trustworthy. If I ever doubt myself or get discouraged, he is always there with a hug and a listening ear. When I have an idea to try, Rick is always supportive and gives his all to help me achieve it. He embodies all the qualities I dreamed of finding in the man I would marry. As the years go by, I find myself more and more in love with him as we live this life as purposefully as possible. We hope that our children remember us most for bringing joy to others and making a difference wherever we go. Watching Rick with our two boys is a gift. He can make them laugh like no one else can. They love to spend every waking moment with him. We are thankful that Rick works from home often which gives him the ability to have more time with us than most. He knows how to make life fun and memorable even on the most mundane days. I love this man and cannot imagine my life without him. The bond we share is truly a gift from God.

We are Mark and Allison! After secretly liking each other online for years, we finally met in Colorado and knew right away that this was meant to be. We’ve been married now for 12 years, and although we don’t have any children yet, we both come from loving families where children are cherished, so having children has always been a desire close to our hearts. We’ve talked about wanting to adopt ever since we were dating! While our path to get here hasn’t always been fast or easy, we're so excited to be parents and welcome a precious baby into our lives. 

Mark is a Hardware Engineer and loves lots of outdoor activities like biking, hiking, taking care of our yard, grilling, and golfing. He really cares about our neighbors and community and will jump in to help someone out wherever he can. Allison is a Proofreader and enjoys jogging, hiking, reading, getting together with friends, watching classic 90s Disney movies, and cooking. We volunteer on Sundays at our church and are involved with a weekly life group. We live in Texas, close to Mark’s family and Allison has family in Michigan. Both of our families are super supportive and have been praying for us and you!

We’re Andrea and Nelson! We’ve been together for twelve years and married for eight (this March), and about five years ago we were blessed to adopt our amazing son, Oliver. Andrea is fascinated by a lot of things, ranging from shark biology to crazy celebrity beef. Nelson enjoys working with his hands and BBQing on our smoker. As a family, we love going on adventures together, spending quality time, and exploring whatever is making us curious at that moment (like animals at the zoo, the jellyfish at low tide, or what we can build with Legos or cardboard boxes). Our family believes in open communication, unconditional love, and asking questions. No topic will ever be off limits in our home. Oliver is very excited about welcoming a sibling home and has been praying for it to happen “tomorrow.” We, too, are excited for another little one to join our family. Thank you for considering us!

One of the greatest things we can share as parents is access to our friends and family. We are unconditionally loved and supported by so many people whether they be biological or adopted relatives, or dear friends. We have strong relationships with some special people – some who have been in our lives for 30+ years. Several of our friends live minutes from us, and a few have recently started their own families so are itching for play dates. Both sets of our parents are still married and are wonderful grandparents. Andrea has an older brother and sister-in-law, and Nelson has 2 sisters, 3 brothers and 2 sets of in-laws. We are aunt and uncle to 13 nieces and nephews and combined, we have 10 aunts, 10 uncles and over 60 cousins. Simply put, we have a lot of family and friends! And everyone is beyond excited to welcome home a new member!

Along with our extended human family, we have two fuzzy members of our family - our adopted animals Indy and Obi. We rescued Indy as a 3 month old puppy. And 2 year old Obi chose Oliver. Really! He came right up and head nuzzled him. It's been love every since! These two pets are characters who love us, but most especially they love kids. 

Paul and I met during our first semester at Texas A&M Veterinary school in 2012. We formed a study group together and would spend late nights at the library studying for tests. We were fast friends and started to build that foundation before we ever went on a date. Paul is steadfast and calm in life's struggles while Haley is goofy and always ready to laugh. We made a great team. Thank goodness Paul worked up enough courage to ask Haley out! Two years later we were engaged and in August of 2015 we were married! From a young age, Haley knew God was calling her to adopt. When we met, Haley shared this calling with Paul and he agreed but wanted to try for a biological child first and then adopt as a second or third. After 2 years of no luck and a diagnosis of endometriosis for Haley, we knew God had already called us to adoption. We never pursued any in-vitro because we knew God had a child waiting for us that was perfect for our family. God definitely followed through with that promise after meeting our first son, Luke. We know there is another child out there God plans to add to our family and we cannot wait to meet them! 

We met in Virginia the summer after Katie graduated college and had an immediate connection. We started out as good friends and soon after fell in love. We live in a small town in the northern DFW area with our son Josiah, and two small dogs Sophie and Riley. We all enjoy spending time outdoors, trying out new restaurants and going on adventures. We love to laugh and have fun just being together as a family.

Our innermost desire is to raise a family in joy, peace, love, and happiness and to raise children to be successful in life spiritually, educationally, and economically. Regarding our reasoning behind our adoption journey, we have endeavored to have children naturally of our own for over 17 years which is the same length of our marriage. Due to infertility, we have gone through nine failed In Vitro Fertilizations; countless attempts through other procedures to treat infertility; as well as continuing to try to conceive naturally. Though our journey has been arduous, we have kept the faith and our hopes high. We are grateful to God for leading us to Christian Adoption Alliance. We are so excited in becoming a blessing to you and your loving family in allowing us to raise your child. We are very grateful once again for you and we cannot thank you enough. You have become a key piece in our journey in raising a family. 

I, Luciana, am Fun, loving, family-oriented, and a music-lover are some of the qualities that describe me. I am the youngest out of my four siblings. Math was my favorite subject in school. In High School, I was in the National Honors Society. In college, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science with a major in Business Finance in 2001. I am currently an Executive Director of a Nonprofit Organization that provides low-income individuals and families with housing with case management and supportive services. My hobbies are playing with my three doggie girls, listening to music, dancing, watching court shows, and going on outings with my family and Godchildren.  

Firstly, being family oriented means everything to Errik. Out of his two sisters and him, he is the middle child and of Polish descent. Errik is Loving, Adventurous, a Goal Achiever, and Dependable. He love his three dogs and spending time with our four Godchildren. Errik is a Senior Project Manager for a Construction company. He graduated with his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering in 2013 and graduated with his Master's Degree in 2015. His hobbies are spending time with family, going on family trips, spending time with my three dogs, and listening to rock music. Ozzy Osbourne is his favorite rock artist. One of his favorite lyrics from one of his songs is, "It's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate."

We met on an online dating site. I noticed right away that Peter was special. He asked good questions and took a genuine interest in getting to know who I was. I was intrigued by him. After a couple of weeks of exchanging long messages, he asked me out to dinner. Our first date was at a restaurant called Smokey Bones. We felt at ease with one another right away and more dates followed, including bowling, a trip to the zoo, going to an indoor amusement park, and trying new restaurants. We enjoyed our second date at a local Thai restaurant where our connection deepened. Later, Peter proposed by setting up a private dinner with food from this same restaurant. He also had a book made that included all of our email messages from when we were getting to know each other online. Since we decided on a small wedding, we had our ceremony at a local park pavilion on the most beautiful fall day. It was a perfectly simple, sunny, and wonderful day. We chose a small wedding with hopes of going on a big adventure for our honeymoon. We went to Ireland, a place I had always wanted to go. Peter had been there before on a high school trip, and had wanted to come back with his wife someday. I guess both of our dreams came true :)

We have always felt called to adopt, and passionate that families can be defined by LOVE as well as biology. We are grateful to be considered as you make such a loving decision for your baby. 

*Links to our Instagram and Profile Book are in the "Letter" Section* =)

"Adventure is out there!" UP is our favorite movie. It would be awesome to talk more with you and see if you'd like to go on this adventure together!