Sean and Sheila

Approved and Waiting Adoptive Family

At A Glance

Names: Sean and Sheila
Children: none
Reason for adopting: multiple miscarriages
Number of Years Married: 6
Ethnicity of Adoptive Parents: Caucasian
 

Birthmother/Birthfather Letter

Dear Birthmother,

We have been happily married for 6 years. In our marriage, we work as a team and our love is built on friendship, understanding, shared values, and good humor. We have always dreamt of having children. After several miscarriages and meetings with doctors, we decided our main desire was to have a baby we could love. We talked to several friends who had adopted and knew it was the right choice for us. Your child will be our first child, but we’d love to adopt a second so that they can have a sibling.

Sean grew up in a big family, and all but one of his siblings lives locally. He has many interesting stories to tell about his years singing with the archdiocesan boy choir, playing trumpet in his high school marching band, working at his local town's market (not a supermarket), learning to grow vegetables at the Grow-it camp, and his long-time newspaper route. His love of baseball comes from his Uncle John who taught the game to him and his brothers. His family lived near a large 1,800 acre nature park with miles of trails. Sean is a terrific guide through that park - he knows every trail.

Sheila grew up in a smaller family. She is close to her sister, brother, niece, and her Dad. We spend time with them on a regular basis. Although I never met her Mom, Sheila and her family have many (mostly hilarious) stories about her. Sheila's family are big sports fans, and so many family trips have centered on a big football game out in Colorado Springs, South Bend, Nashville, or Baltimore, or some other sports town. We’ve also attended one or two college basketball games together thanks to Sheila’s family. But anyone who knows Sheila, knows her biggest interest isn't really sports, it is music.

In spite of the fact that Sheila was not a diehard baseball fan, we are still alike in many other ways, including our views on marriage, education, money, and parenting. Together we enjoy traveling, being outdoors, going to concerts, spending time with family and friends, and just hanging out. We are both music lovers. My Mom was a private music teacher and made sure all of her kids were introduced to music. Sheila studied piano, flute and voice, and has pursued singing with a passion.

Thoughts on parenting: Sean and I share similar values. We both graduated from college so we understand the value of education, and live in one of our state’s top school districts. We realize education extends into the home and we expect to be involved with homework, fostering a love of learning, and encouraging our child to do their best.

We hope to raise children who hold fast to their values, and take pleasure in the small things in life. We believe in treating people and the world we live in with respect. Sean is passionate about recycling and energy conservation. And though I’m sure their grandparents will want to spoil them, we believe that children will thrive with a loving balance of routine, consistency, and fun indulgences.

What does all this mean? We’ll encourage them to be creative and work with others. We’ll expose them to music, books, and sports. We’ll do chores together, work and play in the yard. We’ll bake cookies, and eat dinners together. We’ll go to church, and volunteer together. We’ll applaud them when they do well, and guide them when they make mistakes.

Our home: We live in a beautiful setting. Our home is bright, open, and sunny. Our yard is hilly with some tall, towering trees, white dogwood trees, and flowering bushes. In the summer, the sounds of songbirds, crickets, katydids, and cicadas fill our yard. We are friendly with our neighbors who are families with young children. We are just minutes away from several state and national parks, gardens and arboretums, a local orchard for fruit picking, 30 minutes away is center city Philadelphia with the zoo & museums, the beaches of New Jersey are just over an hour's drive, and Washington DC, Baltimore, and New York City are just a few hours away.

We have two cats which we adopted 4 years ago: Bailey and Ginny. They’re brother and sister and add a lot of character to our house. Both are very sweet and gentle.

Family & friends: We both come from close-knit families, and when we get together there’s never a dull moment. Both families love to enjoy a good time. Sheila has a sister and a brother. I have two brothers and two sisters. Sheila’s Mother died in 1996, but since then her Dad has remarried and we’ve adopted Lucy into the family. They met through a bicycle club and continue to bike a few hundred miles each year. My parents are avid orchid growers; in fact they’ve made it their business. Rather than retire, they’re growing orchids.

Because our families live nearby, we celebrate birthdays and holidays with both sides of the family, and in the summer, we host backyard barbecues.

Our promise to you: We can provide your child with a loving home, affection, and a good foundation to help him/her grow up to be happy and secure.

Your child will always know their adoption story and the way we became a family. We look forward to hearing from you, and would be happy to keep in touch over the years.

We thank you for considering us as adoptive parents. We can't wait to hear from you!

Wishing you the very best,
Sean and Sheila