Introduction

Dear Birthparent,

We truly appreciate having this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you. We know you have many things to think about right now and we wish you great peace and comfort with all of your decisions.

We will do our best to share our story and to offer you a look into our lives as potential adoptive parents. We have not been able to have a child on our own and we are very grateful for the opportunity to become parents through adoption. We know many wonderful, loving families who have come together through the amazing gift of adoption. We both come to this experience with open hearts and the understanding that birthparents have wishes and dreams too.

We absolutely love being an aunt and uncle to eleven nephews and two nieces, and we are longing to have the full experience of being parents. We are committed to providing our child with fun opportunities, travels, visits with extended family and friends as well as a college education, if desired. We will help our child understand the courage and love expressed by his/her birthparents.

We look forward to knowing the joys and challenges of parenting, giving our child all the love we can give, as they grow and define their own dreams.

Our Story As A Couple

We were introduced to each other by mutual friends and quickly realized how much fun we had being with each other. Whether we were enjoying the outdoors, going to a museum or just hanging out, we loved spending time together. We went off to New York City, fell in love and after taking some time to finish our educations and explore careers, Hunter proposed. We had a wonderful wedding celebration on a warm sunny autumn day, surrounded by our family members and friends.
In the early years of our marriage, we learned to keep a focus on the things we appreciate about one another as a way of building our relationship. We have supported one another through various challenges over the years and have discovered great strength and comfort in our marriage. We also both share a sense of humor that reminds us how important it is to laugh and have fun!
We now live in a picturesque town in New Hampshire that isn’t far from the beach, mountains, lakes, cities and cultural activities. We live with our cat, Maya, in a three bedroom home on a quiet street.

Our Home

Kirsten loves organic gardening and has planted lots of flowers as well as growing tomato plants and herbs. We enjoy having friends over, cooking great healthy meals together and participating in community events. We also love to travel to tropical places and have enjoyed some fun vacations together.

Friends who come to visit us notice that we live in an ideal place to raise children. We have made many choices based on the dream of having a family. We live on a cul-de-sac with friendly neighbors and lots of kids. We are close to schools, playgrounds and parks. We have a nice yard and a long driveway where we enjoyed watching one of our young neighbors learn to ride a bike. Our town has fun festivals, lots of artists, unique shops, beautiful farms and a great recreation department. We even chose a car with the highest safety ratings. As we write this, there is an ice cream truck coming up the street playing music. We feel very ready to welcome a child into our lives!

Our Families

Our families are very important to us and we both have been blessed with loving parents and siblings. Once we realized that adoption was the best way for us to achieve our dream of becoming parents, we began calling our family members and close friends to share our plans. Everyone has expressed great joy and excitement for us! There are grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who are all looking forward to welcoming another child into the family. Hunter’s mother actually began knitting a baby sweater shortly after we shared our news!

Hunter is the youngest of three kids and Kirsten is the youngest of four, so we now have lots of nephews and nieces who love getting together with their cousins and visiting each other. In the summer, we usually rent a cottage on a lake and invite family members to visit and enjoy the
outdoors. We have a small sailboat and Hunter loves teaching the kids (and grown-ups too) how to sail on the lake. We also enjoy swimming, fishing, playing games and having cookouts together.
Hunter’s parents are retired and they enjoy spending the warmer months up north and the colder months in Florida. We get together with them for weekend visits in late spring, summer and early fall. Hunter’s mother is very thoughtful about cooking everyone’s favorite meals and his father gives great hugs and kisses to welcome every family member. Both of his parents always remember to say, “I love you” at the end of every visit.

Kirsten also has a brother and sister who live near each other in Florida and we enjoy gathering everyone together there at Thanksgiving. The newest addition to the family is our niece who lives in Florida with her parents. There are lots of fun places to visit, family members to enjoy, and ways to be outside in the snow or sun through the year.

Kirsten’s Impressions of Hunter

I remember watching Hunter helping one of our nephews build a “Pinewood Derby” car for a Boy Scouts’ project. Hunter was being so patient and gave our nephew the guidance to create a toy car that he could feel really good about. Hunter knows how to connect with kids and make them feel good about whatever they are doing. Whether he is baking cookies, watching a baseball or soccer game, Hunter loves being with kids and they love him back!

Hunter grew up in Massachusetts and learned from his parents how to be a responsible, caring person. He was the kid in the neighborhood who helped mow the lawns and deliver the newspapers. He enjoyed spending time with his parents, his brother and sister, as well as their two dogs. He loved being on the swim team, fishing, playing soccer, riding his bike as well as building his stamp and coin collections. I think he must have learned at a young age how to work hard but to also to take time to have fun!

When we were dating, I remember going away for a week and coming home to discover Hunter had painted my room with fresh paint and had drawn a beautiful picture for me which was leaning up against the wall. It was such a great surprise! I even loved the color he picked for the room. This was just the beginning of the thoughtful things that he still does today.
Hunter is an investment advisor and he specializes in socially responsible investing. This means that he advises clients on how to invest their funds so that they can achieve financial goals, while also
helping them screen out companies that do negative things, like polluting the environment. He helps them screen in companies that do good things, like treating employees well. He also enjoys working on projects which involve renewable energy such as solar and wind power. Hunter is very trustworthy and outgoing, so he connects really well with his clients.

Having his own business gives Hunter some flexibility to work from home at times or to have a morning free and then work at night. This means that he’ll have flexibility to be an active at-home parent attending some appointments and school events. Hunter has a great assistant and works with another financial advisor who can cover things when Hunter is out of the office. His financial expertise has also been helpful in enabling us to set financial goals and in creating the financial security that will help our child have the funds needed for educational opportunities or whatever trade or vocational dreams he/she develops.

Hunter volunteers on the boards of two local non-profit organizations and offers his financial expertise to them. We both care about sustainability, and together we organized a “Green Team” at our church. Hunter is a very giving person and people greatly appreciate what he contributes to their groups.

On the weekend, Hunter likes to visit the local farmer’s market. He often will come home with fresh basil to make up some pesto or a bunch of apples for a pie. Overall, he is very enthusiastic about life and he creates great connections with people.

It can be easy for people to say, “I love you!” but Hunter shows it with his loyalty, helpful actions and caring each day. I know he will be an amazing father and as a role model he will show our child important things about treating other people well, caring for the earth and loving life.

Hunter’s Impressions of Kirsten

I am really looking forward to Kirsten and I becoming parents together! Kirsten is a warm, intelligent person, and I know she will be a great mother. When we first met, I was really drawn to her perceptive and insightful nature, which is one of the many things I love about her. She is a great writer and brings her excellent marketing skills to our business each day.

I remember one time when we were supposed to be getting ready to go on vacation together, but I got really sick. Kirsten went into action and picked up the perfect humidifier, organic juice, herbal teas, and spent some time cheering me up. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt really fast. We had a great vacation.

I also have seen what caring aunt she is to our nieces and nephews, engaging them through conversation, laughter or patiently playing a board game. I remember when one of our nephews was having difficulty sleeping and she gently calmed him down and helped him settle in with a bedtime story.

Kirsten grew up in Connecticut with her parents, two brothers and a sister. As a child she loved dancing, swimming, writing stories or poetry and riding her bike. Her parents taught her to be kind, to keep learning new things, and to think for herself. I know she will encourage our child to be kind, active and to think for himself/herself as well.

Our nieces, nephews and the kids in our neighborhood are immediately drawn to Kirsten because of her warm and kind nature. She has worked as a nanny, as a tutor in an elementary school and baby sitting for friends and family members. When she worked in the elementary school, she learned a lot about managing behavior issues in kind, gentle and helpful ways. Kids trust her, and I have seen more than one reserved, quiet, child suddenly reach out and grab her hand or run to her with a big hug. Our niece once wrote a paper about “Aunt Kirsten” after they spent a day building a snowman, baking muffins and sledding together.

Kirsten has a wonderful sense of humor which she brings to all situations. A friend recently told me that she loves talking to Kirsten because she always gets her laughing. One time when we got stuck in a traffic jam (none of the cars were moving at all) Kirsten pulled out a jar of bubbles and began blowing them out the window. People began pointing, smiling and watching the wind carry the bubbles up in the air. We saw one bubble go up to a car in front of us, be pulled into the passenger’s window and drift across and out the driver’s window. Everyone had a good laugh!

Over the years, I have watched Kirsten volunteer many places. We currently attend a church that is all about celebrating diversity, positive approaches to life, and community, not to mention great music! Kirsten found this church for us and volunteers here. We both wanted to avoid places that pushed feelings of rigidity, guilt or fear and instead wanted a place that offered a loving positive environment and an uplifting message. It is important to us not to push any specific religion on a child, but to allow her/him to have the experience of various faith traditions and then decide what he/she believes in.

We are lucky that Kirsten will be able to be a stay-at-home mom. She will be able to take 3 month off and then will work part-time from home, consulting in our business two or three days per week. I know Kirsten will be a very attentive, loving, and devoted mother. When she worked at the elementary school, she started collecting children’s books and has a great collection of stories to read our child

She also has many friends and will enjoy taking our child to play groups, museums, parks, nature centers and playgrounds. She will figure out what our child loves to do and will create fun and fulfilling experiences for her/him.

Together I know we will create the type of family where everyone can just be themselves and feel loved and valued for who they are. We will create great memories together, enjoy lots of laughter and provide a life that works well for our child.

Our Promise To You

If you decide that you would like to have us adopt your child, please know we promise to do our best to provide a loving, safe, healthy and happy home where your child can grow and thrive. You can be assured that we will give your child educational opportunities, fun vacation travels, as well as the love of extended family and caring friends.

As parents, we will listen compassionately and offer gentle guidance, support and encouragement through the years. We will seek to allow your child to discover and follow her/his own path without pushing our own personal agendas into her/his life. We know our marriage is strong and we can provide both financial and emotional stability.

We also will listen to the things you would like your child to know and will tell him/her about the thoughtful way you approached your decisions. We want your child to feel love and respect for you. Kirsten has already started adding books about adoption to her collection and we will help your child feel good about how he/she came to us. We are open about discussing what level of contact you would like to have over time, so you can be in touch through letters, calls and/or visits, according to what feels right to you.

If thinking about your child growing up in this type of environment gives you a bit of peace, we hope you will consider giving us the absolute greatest gift of all, a child to love. We would love to talk with you and answer any other questions you may have. Please contact us through, “Full Circle Adoptions” at 1-800-452-3678.

Thank you so much for reading our story and getting to know us better. We wish you all the best!

Sincerely,

Hunter & Kirsten