| Hi,
We’re a loving and energetic couple who’ve chosen to start our family by adoption. We hope you’ll choose us to be the adoptive parents of your child.
Adopting a child has always been our first choice for starting a family--we haven’t come to adoption because of fertility issues. Both Denice and her brother were adopted as infants from different sets of birth parents. When we met, Denice was about to start the adoption process on her own, but we decided to put this on hold so we could get to know one another as a couple before welcoming a child into our family.
Lewis in Denice’s words
Lewis is generous, kind, considerate, honest, bright and patient, but the most important thing is that he is my best friend. He is sometimes forgetful in an absent-minded professor kind of way that is adorable. I admire his patience building Lego towers with our nephew and niece and watching him explain to them different animal prints while we are hiking together. I think he prefers spending time with them rather than hanging out with the adults. He also loves to swing on swing sets and we’re always stopping at parks for a swing. Lewis, I have learned, is a remarkable mentor to his colleagues and friends. He has an innate ability to teach without talking down to people, and everyone he is in contact with has an enormous amount of respect and gratitude for his guidance. He is going to be a remarkable father.
Denice in Lewis' words
Denice is the warmest, most loving person I have ever known. She is very outgoing, and has an amazing ability to connect with practically everyone she meets. She loves to help other people, whether they are family, friends or complete strangers. For the last couple of years, she has been volunteering as a book group leader with a charity that helps single teenaged mothers and their babies. Denice loves children and is a wonderful aunt to her brother’s children. She’s also either an unofficial second mom or a big sister to several of our friends’ children. I admire Denice’s courage and determination--she is never afraid to tackle a challenge. A few years ago, she gave up a successful career in the financial industry to pursue her dream of being a poet and has been working very hard ever since to develop her talents as a writer. She is my soul mate, and I love her more every day. She is going to be a wonderful mother to your child.
Our families
We are very close to both our families. Even though everyone is scattered across North America, we visit them all regularly and in between keep in touch with frequent telephone calls and emails. Last summer we got together in British Columbia with Lewis' brother and his wife and Lewis’s parents to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary. This summer, we will be getting together in New Brunswick with Lewis’ parents, Denice’s brother and his family, and Denice’s parents to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. One of the main reasons we recently moved to a larger home was to have more room for our families when they come to stay with us. They are all looking forward to welcoming your baby into the family.
Our home
We live in the Riverdale neighbourhood in Toronto and recently moved into a spacious three-bedroom house on a quiet dead-end street. Our three-story home has a fenced backyard, and a great family room in the finished basement. There are three parks on our street and there’s a community centre with pools, tennis courts and a wading pool two blocks away. We’re close to the waterfront and to many great cycling trails. Our neighbourhood is full of young families and, according to some of the children on our street, our front garden is an excellent place to hunt for worms and bugs.
Our views on parenting
We want to be supportive of your child, but not pushy, and will do whatever we can to help your child achieve their dreams--whatever those dreams might be. Lewis earns a high income as a corporate lawyer, and Denice is a former banker, so we’re very secure financially and will be able to provide your child with anything they might need while growing up. However, we believe that love and time spent together are much more important to a child than the things money can buy. Denice will be a stay-at-home mom, so there will always be a parent around to bandage a scraped knee, serve milk and cookies, or help with a school project. Lewis wants to be around as much as possible while your child is growing up, and he is his own boss, so he plans to work from home a lot and is already setting up one of our bedrooms as a home office. We look forward to sharing our love of reading, travel and the outdoors, and the love of our extended families, with your child.
Adoption
We believe that communication is the key to a successful adoption and hope to have an open and honest dialogue with you. One of the things we’ll want to talk about with you is what support and encouragement we can offer you during your pregnancy. We believe in open adoption, so we’ll also want to talk about what amount of contact is best for us all after the adoption. We’d welcome learning as much about you and your family as you feel comfortable sharing, so that your child can know as much as possible about where he or she came from.
There’s no right or wrong way to adopt. It all comes down to talking with one another and coming up with something that works for all of us.
Please get in touch with us so we can talk to you about welcoming your birth child into our family.
All the best,
Denice & Lewis
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