Our Letter & Profile Pictures

Part of the adoption process is that we have to be matched with prospective embryo donors. Dan and I make a profile from which tells the donors about us. If they like us then we get to look at their information and if we like them then it is a match. Below are some the pictures we considered adding to our profile as well as our letter to our prospective embryo donors.

Dear Donor Family,

Thank you for taking time to view our profile. We are very excited at the prospects of one day growing our family and thankful that you might consider entrusting your embryos to our care.

Who we are as a family
Nearly eight years ago we took a “big leap” and went on a blind date arranged by Elizabeth’s mom and a mutual friend. Our date to Disneyland was an adventure and it didn’t take long for us to realize that we made a great couple and were meant to live a lifetime together. Eleven months and countless dates later, Dan proposed on Thanksgiving in front of both of our families. Seven months after that we were married by Dan’s dad (a pastor) in a 90-year old Dutch church in front of 300 of our family members, coworkers, and friends. We have now been married for over six years and enjoy the simple things in life like walks around the neighborhood, a good home cooked meal, watching our favorite baseball and football teams play, taking in a movie at the local drive-in, and competing with each other on the Wii or in other games. However, we also enjoy going on adventures large and small whether it be a trip to Europe, to the local mountains, a nearby jazz concert, or a day at the beach. We both appreciate travel and experiencing different cultures so much that we have purchased a timeshare that will allow us to share our future adventures with our children.

Our Christian faith and our church family play an important role in our lives. Our passion for the sanctity of life stems from the example of Christ who values all people and excludes none. Our hope as future parents is to raise our children to develop a relationship with God and to learn to be respectful and compassionate individuals. We want to encourage the unique qualities of our children and celebrate the unique dynamic that he or she brings to our family. We want to provide our children with opportunities to pursue their gifts and passions and open their eyes to a world of experiences they could never imagine. Most of all we want our children to feel unconditionally loved by us, by our extended family, by our church family, and our friends.

Why Embryo Donation/Adoption?
We decided early in our relationship that we wanted to be parents. However, after five years of infertility, unsuccessful fertility treatments, and one miraculous pregnancy that ended in miscarriage, we began contemplating adoption options. It was difficult to come to grips with our infertility but we have grown closer as a couple because of our trials and we are SO excited about the opportunity to become parents through embryonic donation/adoption, experience pregnancy and birth, and share our lives with our future children.

About Elizabeth (By Dan)
Elizabeth is a high school English teacher and honors academy coordinator. In college she earned both a BA in English and a BM in Music Performance. She loves teaching all types of literature. She loves to travel with me and experience worldwide locations steeped in history and romance. She is an extremely talented musician and loves performing in the church orchestra, at weddings, and for family at holidays. She has an unmatched dedication to helping children of all learning levels; she adapts well when faced with adversity and pours her heart into everything she does. While she enjoys being able to work with her students at the high school she is eagerly looking forward to her transition to becoming a stay at home mom and spending time with our kids. She also hopes to teach music lessons out of our home part-time. She loves children’s books and has already collected a library of children’s literature for our future kids. She has a fun and energetic reading style that puts a smile on my face every time she reads to our nephews. Elizabeth is an outstanding cook and makes wonderful meals that bring countless compliments from friends, family, and myself. She has a great eye for decorating and is sought out by others for her artistic eye. She has been a blessing to me as a wife and friend. I know she will be a creative, encouraging, and loving mom!

About Dan (By Elizabeth)
Dan is an amazing husband and will make an equally amazing father! I secretly relish those moments when I find him playing on the floor playing cars with my nephews knowing one day he will be doing that with our own children. I love how his witty humor, practicality, and vibrant personality compliments my own character traits. Dan is a man of many talents and interests. He is an avid tennis player, great handy man, and excellent at planning fun surprises! Dan decided early in his youth to serve the community by becoming a police officer. His role is to protect the public and help those who have been victimized. His gentle compassion and patience coupled with his leadership skills makes him an excellent and well-respected officer. I feel very fortunate that he has enough seniority on the job to have “family man” hours so we can spend plenty of time together as a couple. I am proud of Dan for going back to school in his late twenties to earn his BS in organizational leadership with a minor in biblical studies. It is just one of many examples of how he pursues excellence in his life and strives to be the best leader for our family that he can be.

Our Home and Community
We recently purchased our newest home last year specifically because we knew one day soon we would begin to expand our family through adoption. It is a warm and cozy house with plenty of space including a room we hope to soon turn into our nursery! While our neighborhood is located in close proximity to a major city on the west coast of the U.S. we enjoy the fact that our immediate neighborhood (which is a recent development) is more rural in nature. We enjoy the many parks, our community pool, hearing the cows moo at night and taking short 30 min. drives to the nearby beaches and mountains. We are also excited about the new elementary school opening this year near our home.

We hope you have enjoyed learning about us! We know your decision must be difficult for you and we want to assure you that if your wish is for us to become the adoptive parents of your embryos we will honor you by cherishing this most amazing gift!

With much respect and admiration,

Dan and Elizabeth