Introduction
Dear Birthmother,
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you and for considering us as potential parents for your child. We can’t wait to be moms to a second child; there are so many fun things that we enjoy as a family. Our daughter, Kyra, also adopted from the US, is very ready to be a loving sister. We are hoping to adopt a child of African American heritage to expand our family. We are comfortable with openness and hope to achieve a good relationship with our next child’s birth family, just as we have done with Kyra’s birthparents.
About Us
We have adoption in our family backgrounds (Janneke’s sister joined the family through adoption) and we are experienced with the adoption process ourselves – a child who comes to us through adoption will be easily accepted in our family and neighborhood. Our community is inclusive and supportive of families of different heritages, two mom families and which have grown through transracial adoption.
We are both professionals who have the ability to adjust our schedules so that we will always have the flexibility to spend a lot of time, during each day, with our children. Our families, friends and community include siblings, friends and neighbors of many different heritages including African American, Asian (and…..) – a child of any heritage will be respected in our home and community.
We hope we can give you an idea about who we are, what we find important in life, how we think about parenting, and our deeply cherished wish to adopt a child. We enormously enjoy giving love, care, and encouragement to a growing child. We cherish the natural qualities that children have, such as being unprejudiced and honest. We feel fortunate to be parents to our daughter Kyra, who we welcomed into our family through adoption shortly after she was born. It is our great wish to extend our family, and to love and nurture a second child. We are very grateful that you take the time to learn more about us, and our family life.
A couple of years ago we started thinking about building a family through adoption. Over the past ten years, we have developed a strong, stable, and warm relationship. We share similar opinions about what we find important in life, including building a family. In January 2008 we were happy to adopt a wonderful baby girl named Kyra. The adoption of Kyra gave a new and special dimension to our life. Becoming parents and enjoying seeing each other enjoying our daughter as well has been a wonderful experience.
Kyra, two and a half years old, is a very social girl, and has great interest in babies and other children. We are positive that she will give her little brother or sister lots of hugs and kisses.
It would be our greatest joy and honor to love and nurture your child, and embrace him or her into our family.
Our Families
We were both raised in close and harmonious families where everyone felt genuinely able to express their feeling s and feel heard . Our families all get along easily and appreciate each other’s kindnesses. Our parents taught us to be open-minded, respectful, and self-confident. We will teach our children that its important to appreciate and understand others. They will learn, by our example, that it’s important to value each child and each adult for their unique strengths. We want to give our children the skills that will increase their confidence and make them less vulnerable in the day to day ups and downs of life.
It is our pleasure and delight to help our children grow into fulfilled adults.. Our children will grow up knowing that we value having racial and ethnic diversity in our lives. They will learn about their heritage through books we read aloud, through seeing dolls that have the appearances of their heritage and by spending time with friends and family who come from a variety of cultures and ethnicities including African heritage.
Our families and community have a long tradition of treating others equally and seeing the good in everyone.. We will encourage your child to follow its dreams, to develop in the direction from which she or he will derive motivation, happiness, and fulfillment. We will provide your child with a loving and safe environment, and we will always keep in mind what is best for the child. We cherish a kind, positive and active spirit.
Our Work
Our work schedules are ideal for parenting. We combine having a warm and loving home time with our professional careers. Morach has a masters degree in Architecture and works as a building engineer; Janneke has a masters degree in Economics and a doctorate in Consumer Behavior, and works at the university as a researcher and teacher. We can flex our schedules so that one of us can be with Kyra — we will do the same when the next child joins our family.
We work very close to our home. This enables us to focus our time on parenting while still getting our work done. We are fortunate to be able to spend time with Kyra and both have our favorite activities with her: Janneke particularly enjoys taking Kyra to music lessons for children and to the playground while Morach often brings Kyra for a visit to the swimming pool and the zoo.
Janneke About Morach
Morach is a great human being and a wonderful mother. She is kind towards others and is always interested in how other people are doing. She is unquestionably trustworthy, and helpful. I know Morach will always be there for the people who are close to her, loving them, supporting them, and helping them wherever she can. Morach will be the perfect mother to your child. Her caring nature and her endless love will give your child a great feeling of belonging and self-confidence. Morach will also be supportive and comforting when your child is sad, and give her or him a tight hug and a listening ear. Morach encourages children to develop their skills and to not let concerns stop them from trying to achieve their goals. She encourages gradual independence and, at the same time, she is always there when needed.
Morach About Janneke
Janneke is great with children. She enjoys spending time with children and undertakes all kinds of fun activities with them. Janneke loves to share the thrill of adventure with children – the adventure may be a game of ‘hide and seek’, a treasure hunt, an exploration in nature or a word game. She loves to watch how chldren develop their skills. A big smile appears on her face when she can give children a new experience, such as baking pancakes or a chocolate cake with them. Janneke will make your child laugh, and give her or him lots of hugs and kisses. Janneke is a sweet and kind person with a strong sense of justice, which she will definitely pass on to your child.
Our Values
Family is very important to us. Morach has an older brother and Janneke has a younger sister. We have a very close relationship with both of our parents, as well as both our siblings. Morach’s brother Serge is married and has two young children (seven and ten years old). We love to spend time together having dinners, celebrations, playing board games, or just enjoy each other’s company. The children have a lot of fun playing together.
Janneke’s sister Anja is adopted from South Korea. We think it is great for adopted children to have relatives who share a similar experience. Your child will have an adopted sister and an adopted aunt. We regularly see our extended family and enjoy warm times with them.
Our Friends
We have a close and caring circle of friends who mean a lot to us and who love Kyra. They know we’re adopting again and can’t wait to be a part of the welcoming party. They all have in common that they are warm, kind, and caring people. Many of our friends have small children, who are play-mates for Kyra and the child we will be lucky to adopt.
Janneke’s best friend is Sandra. Janneke and Sandra have a very special friendship, as they know each other for over 25 years. They grew up in the same neighborhood and have been friends since kindergarten. They were in the same class until they went to different universities at the age of eighteen. We often see Sandra, her husband Tim, and their two daughters. They are great friends, and very nice people to spend time with. They are excited about our plans to adopt and are eager to welcome the child who will join our family.
How We Spend Our Time
Both of us enjoy being active in sports. Janneke enjoys running in the outdoors. Morach enjoys badminton. We both like hiking, especially in the mountains. Nature is an important part of our life. We enjoy being active and to explore our surroundings. We both love nature, and in our spare time we spend much time in the outdoors. To us this is a great way to relax. We enjoy the fresh air, and the peacefulness of nature. It feels good to be outside the inhabited world for a while. We live nearby one of the largest national parks in The Netherlands. We love to take our friends for a walk in the park around the corner. Kyra loves the outdoors together. We look forward to the day when we can all go hand in hand with her baby brother or sister.
Our Home
We live in a small town in The Netherlands. The Netherlands is a small country in Europe an easy travel distance to Paris, London and other cities in countries with additional great educational opportunities for our growing children. The Netherlands has a rich culture and history and has an internationally recognized high standard of living for children. When UNICEF evaluated developed countries, they found that the Netherlands provides the highest standards of well-being for children of all the developed nations (United Nations Children’s Fund report, 2007). They looked at education, availability of health care, food, safety (need to state the actual parameters here).
Our home town is very peaceful, and safe for children to grow up. Close by, there are clothing and grocery stores, schools, medical doctors, a hospital, and a library. There are also swimming pools, playgrounds, forests and a zoo close to our home. Dutch communities like ours are very diverse. People of different heritages or ethnic backgrounds live together and participate in social activities. Education is affordable for everybody, and people have equal opportunities in life.
In the Netherlands there is an active community of parents with children that have been adopted from the US. We always have a good time at the family days that are organized, where we keep in touch with parents and children who share a similar experience. We also visit the annual celebration of international adoption at the US embassy.
We want to assure you that we will share with your child how much she or he is loved by you, and how well you thought about this decision. It is very important to us that your child thinks well of you, and that she or he will respect your choice.
We are open to continued contact with you, be it through letters, photo updates, phone calls, or visits, depending on your wishes. We want you to know that we would like to have you in our lives, as well as in your child’s life.
Our thoughts are with you, and we wish you a lot of strength in this difficult time in your life.
We wish you well, and we send you much courage and love,
Morach and Janneke