Chris and Erica

We are deeply humbled and grateful to you. We can’t imagine the pain, fear, and uncertainty you might be feeling with such a heavy decision. While we may never fully understand, we promise to always remember the difficult path you’ve traveled to reach this point. We believe you are offering the greatest gift, your baby, and we hope to be the family you choose. We are in awe of your strength and resolve as you select a family for your baby.

With love,
Chris and Erica

Adoption has always been part of our plan to complete our family. After multiple failed fertility treatments, we decided to focus our efforts and finances on adoption. Despite the struggles, we never gave up hope of making our family dreams come true.

Chris shows his love primarily through acts of service, and he serves daily to demonstrate his love for family. In our home, we share in all chores 50/50 and he does the grocery shopping, takes the trash out, mows the law, and is always willing to run an errand for our household. He is the first to volunteer to pick up a loved one from the airport or find a way to make someone else’s day easier through service. Chris will be an excellent father, who will be an active, loving partner in raising a child. He is kind, thoughtful and selfless. He is quick to laugh, play and has a fun, sarcastic sense of humor. He is an analytical person and extremely intelligent. He will offer facts on so many different topics that I am frequently in awe of his knowledge base. I could not have picked a better partner to be the father to a child, he is dedicated, responsible and caring. I am overwhelmed with emotions thinking about all he will teach to a child in our family one day.

Three things you might be surprised to learn about Christopher:

1. Christopher shows his love through acts of service, grocery shopping every Sunday morning and taking out the trash!
2. He has a very sarcastic sense and dry of humor which easily lends to “dad jokes”
3. Christopher is always dreaming up his next innovative project and loves creating with the help of his 3-D printer!

In my mind, Erica is the most amazing woman in the world. She has always been the most loving and caring person. I have never met someone with so many close, lifelong friends, and not just social media friends, but loyal friends who support, love, and engage. This is accomplished through her efforts to reach out, engage, and foster those relationships. She is the oldest sibling of five, which has added to her experience in hard work, management, patience, baby rearing, and sharing. She brings a strength and foundation to our relationship that balances me and provides a bond that is eternal. She brings an aura of love and openness that would provide happiness and security to any child. Her wisdom is vast and meaningful. This provides a safe home and a bright future. Erica is the total package of brains, beauty, and kindness. Within her embrace a child will grow up with the tools and support to be the strongest, smartest, and best human.

Three things you might be surprised to learn about Erica:

1. Erica has a remarkable ability to foster close, lifelong relationships with friends and family, she is thoughtful, generous and engaging.
2. As the oldest sibling of five, Erica prioritizes family and is patient, funny and loyal.
3. Erica creates a loving and comfortable home.

Your baby will bring a sense of completion and peace to our home. We have dreamed of all the things we would want to do with a child as part of our family. We know that adding a baby would allow us to participate in activities we have longed to have a part in. For example, we both love being in the water and swimming. We would look forward to taking a baby swim course at the local rec center and later joining a swim team once old enough to participate at our community pool. We know having a child will allow us to broaden our place in the community. We dream of the simple moments we experience each day just being sweeter since we will have a baby to experience it all through their eyes. Things like taking walks as a family in the evenings before dinner will just carry more joy as our family will feel complete.

We live in a diverse and welcoming suburb of Virginia—an area Erica knows well, having grown up here. We truly believe it’s the perfect place to raise a family, which is why we chose to make it our home. Our neighborhood is vibrant and active, hosting many neighborhood events. nearby pool with a swim team, and we’re excited about our local elementary school, which has a diverse student body and dedicated staff—including a close friend who teaches first grade.

Our home features four bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a basement playroom already loved by our nieces and nephews—and soon, we hope, by your baby too. We cherish spending time in our backyard with our dogs, Pebbles and BamBam, along with family and friends. Your baby’s room will be right next to ours, designed in a soothing, gender-neutral style that complements the inviting atmosphere we’ve created throughout our home. We can’t wait to complete this final space with love and care.

Three fun facts about our home/neighborhood!

• We live right outside Washington, DC in a diverse neighborhood in a Virginia suburb.
• Our community hosts many events from trunk or treat, egg hunts, and stream clean-ups.
• Our home is cozy and has a great backyard for us to play with the dogs and garden each summer.

Three things you might be surprised to learn about our pets:

• We have two dogs: Pebbles born in 2016 (Goldendoodle) and BamBam born in 2022 (Bernadoodle).
• Both are kind, gentle, and love being with children and they will be the first ones to greet your child each morning.
• They love our long evening walks, chasing squirrels in the yard and road trips.

We are close with our family and friends and are thankful to have a supportive community. We know your baby would be part of our special community and is truly a long-awaited arrival not just for us, but for all of our loved ones as well.

Four fun facts about our family and friends:

• We chose to live close to our family and friends to be part of a supportive community.
• Erica’s parents live less than a mile away which is a quick 10-minute walk through the park.
• We look forward to including your baby in our community, from birthday parties to weekend playtime with many cousins.
• Your baby will be a long-awaited arrival for us and all our loved ones to dote and spoil.

We love keeping traditions as a family!

Christmas:

• We cut our Christmas tree from a farm each year and decorate our home for the holiday.
• Christmas Day is spent with extended family exchanging presents and sharing a meal.

New Year’s:

• We celebrate with Erica’s family, drinking sparkling cider from vintage glass shoes at midnight, a tradition from her late-Grandma.

Birthdays:

• We always take our birthdays off from work as a personal holiday to celebrate and treat ourselves to a day full of our favorite things.

Creating New Traditions:

• We love celebrating life and look forward to creating new traditions with your baby, making every holiday special.

We prioritize and enjoy our leisure time in the evenings, on the weekends and on vacation. We take one vacation to the beach in the summer with Erica’s family. This includes her parents and siblings and their families. It is a highlight of our summer as it is a nonstop week of fun and together time. We make plans to get away for a long weekend to the mountains or explore a nearby city. We also plan a vacation each year with just us as a couple. This year we escaped to the beach in the winter. We both feel so grounded by the ocean, so it is a really rejuvenating place for us to visit.

Some of our favorite activities on evenings and weekends are being outside on a walk or hike, swimming at our community pool, reading and watching a good movie or TV show together. We believe it is important to rest and recharge, especially in this fast-paced world. We know that including your child will only enrich the memories we create during our leisure time and travel.

Work and Home Life:

• Both work full-time from home with separate office spaces.
• Split household chores and errands equally. Established patterns over a decade to accommodate a baby.
• Baby will bring completion and peace, allowing participation in longed-for activities.

Hosting and Leisure:

• Enjoy hosting weekly dinners with family and friends.
• Binge-watch shows with Christopher cooking and Erica doing dishes.
• Love planning trips, especially to the beach and road trips to Pennsylvania.
• Dream of simple family moments like evening walks becoming sweeter with a baby

Favorite activities:

• Walking, hiking, swimming, reading, and watching movies.
• Believe rest and recharge are essential, and including a child will enrich leisure time and travels.

Three things you may want to know about us:

1. We will be your child’s biggest cheerleader by unconditionally supporting their hopes, dreams, and interests.
2. We believe in teaching through example and being a trusted and safe space for your child to make mistakes and learn.
3. We are committed to fostering an open relationship with you.

Your baby will learn that family is everything and life is meant to be enjoyed. We will teach your baby to celebrate all the wins in life, feel supported to take risks, and learn from them with us by their side. Christopher will teach your baby how to build Legos, maintain the car, and do projects around the home, while Erica will teach your baby how to paint with watercolors, read, and garden. Your baby will know how courageous, loving, and selfless you are. They will understand that you are strong and gave the greatest gift anyone could give. We will teach your child to respect and honor you and the choices you are making, fostering an open relationship so your child can have your love as part of their community.

Your baby will know how courageous, loving, and selfless you are. They will know you are strong and gave the greatest gift anyone could give. Your child will be taught by us to respect and honor you and the choices you are making. We will convey that you put your child first and will encourage them to remember and cherish you for making that decision. We believe that a child is best raised with a supportive community and are willing to foster an open relationship with you for your child to have your love as part of their community. We will be completely open with your child and share stories of you and your family.

We promise to always be a safe, supportive, and loving haven for your baby. We will give your baby unconditional love. We know how precious life is, we recognize it is a gift to be surrounded by loved ones and that is a gift we will give your baby each day. We look forward to the little joys of life, from catching a sunset together to treating your baby to little surprises. We will cherish each moment with your baby, we will always put their needs first. We will celebrate your baby’s successes, as well as be a soft landing for failures. We recognize your heartbreak may be our joy and we promise to honor and respect you. Your baby will never question if they are loved, safe or supported.