Dear Expectant Mother,
Hello from Neil and Amy.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our letter. We have a great deal of respect for you and for your love and courage as you consider adoption.
We have been happily married for nine years, and have waited for a long time to have the opportunity to welcome a child into our family. We believe that our love for each other can only be surpassed by our capacity to love a child, and we greatly appreciate your willingness to begin to get to know to us through this letter.
About Us
We met more than 12 years ago, when we both lived in New York City and worked together at a public relations agency. We quickly realized that we shared a commitment to family, sense of humor and deep affection for each other. Ten years ago we relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where we now make our home.
Our Home
We live in a suburb halfway between San Francisco and San Jose, in a bright and airy five-bedroom home. The family room is one of our favorite spots to watch a movie or just sit in front of the fireplace and relax in the evening. We envision one bedroom, that is just down the hall from ours, decorated with shelves lined with books, toys and stuffed animals. 
We love being in a neighborhood that feels like a small town, while at the same time having the convenience of living close to a large city. When family members or friends from out of town come to visit, we love to play “tourist” and drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, walk along the beach or through the Farmer’s Market on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Our home is situated on a quiet street that circles a mile loop through a grove of beautiful redwood trees. We live in close proximity to several local schools, parks and shopping. We are lucky to have almost perfect weather year-round in Northern California, and we spend a great deal of time enjoying dinner or reading in our sunny backyard. We also like to walk around our neighborhood or to our local coffee shop, chatting about our day, and stopping to say hello to our neighbors.
Amy Describes Neil
Neil grew up outside of New York City, the third of four children, and attended college at Cornell University in upstate New York. He is an avid baseball fan, runner and an accomplished photographer. We recently visited Yosemite National Park, and his photos of the mountains and waterfalls are truly amazing. Neil has worked for the past 10 years in communications at a biotechnology company. A few years ago he created a partnership with the San Francisco Giants baseball team to raise money for cancer research. Neil is committed to helping others in our community and he is an advisor to a local support group that helps patients and families who are coping with cancer. He also dedicates time to an organization that trains search and rescue dogs.
There is rarely a day that goes by where I don’t reflect on how lucky I am to have met Neil. He is perhaps the kindest person that I have ever known. He is the first person to lend support to his family and friends. He is very thoughtful and every weekend he starts his day by getting me coffee from our local Starbucks. He has seemingly endless energy (something I admire every morning as I hit snooze on the alarm one more time).
Neil Describes Amy
Amy grew up in Minnesota and went to college in Baltimore, at Johns Hopkins. She majored in English and loves to write and interact with people – skills she puts to use at her job in public relations. The word I would use most to describe Amy is compassionate. Amy cares deeply for the people that she is close to; her friends and close colleagues, her family and me. She has built trust and camaraderie with her co-workers, many of whom she’s worked with for more than a decade. Amy loves to spend time at home – her latest adventure is trying out family recipes that her great aunt and her mother passed on to her. Amy is truly one of a kind, and she’s my best friend. She is smart and funny and we have a good laugh daily about something in our lives. She has even learned to love baseball, not because it’s her favorite thing, but because she knows how important it is to me. 
I just know that Amy will make a great mom and she will be ready for every situation – from putting a band-aid on a bruised knee, to picking out first-day-of-school clothes, to taking photographs before the prom. Amy will never judge, only support, guide and love a child. Amy is one of those few people who is true to herself and to all those around her, and always does what she says she is going to do.
Amy is truly one of a kind, and she’s my best friend. She is smart and funny and we have a good laugh daily about something in our lives. She has even learned to love baseball, not because it’s her favorite thing, but because she knows how important it is to me. I just know that Amy will make a great mom and she will be ready for every situation – from putting a band-aid on a bruised knee, to picking out first-day-of-school clothes, to taking photographs before the prom. Amy will never judge, only support, guide and love a child. Amy is one of those few people who is true to herself and to all those around her, and always does what she says she is going to do.
Our Family
We are blessed with warm and closely-knit families. Neil’s parents have been married for 45 years. We are the proud aunt and uncle of two nephews and four nieces, the adorable children of Neil’s older brother and sister. Amy probably has the most fun when she gets to work on art projects with our nieces and nephews – she’s the first to suggest making hand-made cards or holiday decorations. Neil inherited his sense of humor (and love of baseball) from his father, and his kindness and compassion from his mother. Amy’s side of the family is equally close. Her parents have been married for nearly 40 years. Amy’s mom and older sister are her best friends – she talks to her mom almost every day and she is constantly emailing and talking to her sister, who is a pediatrician. We have learned so much about the importance of family and tradition from our parents and look forward to passing this on to our child
About Parenting
We believe strongly in the concept of open adoption and would seek to help a child understand his or her background and family history – and, most importantly, help the child to understand the love that led to his or her adoption and the great honor that we feel to able to be their parent.
We are very fortunate to have the capacity and resources to support a child, from infancy to adulthood. We value education greatly, and would both devote time to helping our child learn (and play). We would encourage our child to strive for his or her goals, whatever those goals may be. We also value individuality, and we would raise a child to respect others and understand how important different perspectives and cultures are. We believe in tradition and the importance of building memories that will last a lifetime. Neil fondly recalls playing catch with his father every evening before dinner during the spring, and Amy remembers Sunday afternoon movies with her family. These types of experiences built strong bonds and trust, and were a lot fun. We believe that one of the most important things we can do as parents is help our child be confident, know right from wrong, and understand that they can achieve almost anything they want by believing in themselves.
We can’t wait to begin our family – to celebrate each milestone… to teach a child to read, decorate a Christmas tree, pack a lunch box and to remind each other, every day, how lucky we are to have the opportunity to share in each of these moments.
Contact Us
Please feel free to learn more about us by emailing us at neilandamy1@yahoo.com or calling our toll-free number at 877-740-1616. You can also call our friendly adoption attorney, Susan Romer, at 1.800.U.ADOPT.US (1.800.823.6788) or email her at adamsromer@aol.com.
Warmly,
Neil & Amy
