To potential expectant parents who are considering adoption:
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to check out our profile. We really hope it gives you an idea of who we are as a couple and as a family, and just how excited we are about building our family through adoption.
We love being parents, and try to soak in the many little moments that make parenting so special- walks to the park, building forts, wiping runny noses, etc. We are an active family; you’ll usually find us playing in the backyard, having dance parties in the kitchen, or finding a bike path or hiking trail. We became parents because our two kids’ birth parents chose to give them life, and entrust them to us to be their parents. Being adoptive parents to our kids is the greatest gift we have ever received. We promise that the child we adopt will be raised in a home full of love, laughter, and encouragement. We are really committed to making sure a child in our family knows he or she is loved unconditionally.
As you continue your decision-making process, we wish good things for you. We pray for you to feel God’s love for you and your baby, to experience peace in your heart in whatever decision you make, and to receive solid support from people who unconditionally care about you.
Who we are as a family:
HOW WE BECAME A FAMILY: We met in 2005 as college students studying abroad, and got married in 2009. When we started to try growing our family, we dealt with infertility. We had talked about adoption being part of our family, and felt a calling to pursue adoption instead of continuing with medical treatments. In December 2013, our son’s birth mother chose us to be his parents, and in 2017, our daughter’s birth mother chose us to be her parents. Raising these two kids is a fantastic gift and adventure.
ABOUT US: Carin is a stay-at-home mom, and picks up shifts as a child life specialist at a nearby children’s hospital. You can often find her reading a book or coaxing her family to join her for an evening stroll. Brady works from home as a manager for an industrial manufacturer, and travels occasionally for work. He loves keeping up on Minnesota sports and coaching the kids in Little League baseball, and in between he plans what meat to cook on the grill. Our 8 year old son loves fishing, Legos, karate, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and baseball. Our 5 year old daughter loves to join in on any activity with her big brother, as well as cut and draw with paper, create pretend worlds all around the house, and equally loves fluffy princess dresses and climbing trees. We think our kids will shine as big siblings!
OUR TIME TOGETHER: Our favorite place to be is together. Our home is warm, safe, predictable, sometimes loud and messy, and always full of love. Many cherished family memories are within our home in very “regular” moments- a meal at the kitchen table, a slow Saturday morning in pajamas, Friday movie nights, and dance parties in the kitchen. Most days we can be found in our home or community, but we also value travel and make time in our schedule and budget to go on adventures in our country and internationally. Henrik wins for our most adventurous eater (ate octopus in Greece) and Malia wins for most outgoing (she makes friends literally every place we visit, even when others speak a different language). We are so excited to have another child join our family!
Our views on openness in adoption:
Our children’s birth families are acknowledged and celebrated with the utmost respect and gratitude. Our great desire is that our child will know and have a relationship with his/her birth family, as we believe this is a significant gift for the child that also extends to his/her adoptive and birth families. Our childrens’ birth families are significant parts of who they are, and by extension a significant part of our family, too. We cherish these relationships. Currently, we communicate with our son’s birth family through phone calls and annual visits, and with our daughter’s birth mom through frequent emails and photo exchanges.
We hope that openness is part of our family story. We are more than willing to keep in touch with birth parents through emails, photos, phone calls, and visits. We look forward to discussing openness with birth parents and together collaborating on a plan. Should a birth parent be interested in meeting us prior to making a decision, we would be happy to spend time with them so they can get to know us more. We would also be open to establishing a relationship with birth parents prior to baby’s birth, if this is something the birth parents also desire.