If we have piqued your interest and you'd like more information, please contact us at 416-737-6788 (please call collect) and ourpathtoadoption@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can contact our social worker, Angela Al-Hillal at 416-466-1046.

"If we are lucky enough to be chosen by you, we would want an arrangement that's acceptable for everyone involved and one that allows you and your child to have regular communications. That could be in the form of letters, pictures, emails and possible visits, if that's what you want."

Hello,

Chances are, you're reading our profile because you either know of someone contemplating adoption or are yourself thinking about placing your child with adoptive parents.

Our mini-profile strives to give you a clear picture about us, our life together and some of our experiences and how they've influenced our parenting philosophy. We hope that our qualities as people and our outlook on life resonate with you enough for you to consider placing your child with us.

We're two easygoing, financially stable but not career-obsessed people who want to adopt a baby girl or boy of no ethnic preference.

Our story as a couple started in the 1990s when Patrick and I met each other through friends. I had just moved to Toronto to study journalism and he was finishing his undergraduate degree in math and computer sciences.

I was immediately taken by his wit, those green eyes and that encyclopedic mind. It also didn't hurt that he spoke fluent French, my favorite foreign language. If you ask Patrick, he'll say that he was attracted to my generosity, kindness and quiet determination. He'll also say that it didn't hurt that I was cute, a great listener and love animals.

We dated for two years before getting married and pursuing our careers in journalism and software startups. In the late 1990s, we bought our first house and continued advancing in our chosen fields in Toronto. By 2000 we felt ready to start a family. But as it has turned out, we're one of the one in six couples with infertility.

With that ordeal now behind us, we're excited about creating a family through adoption, which is already familiar territory for us since Patrick himself is adopted.

About Shows and her parenting philosophy
I often look back on my childhood with great nostalgia and fondness. My family and I lived in a home that faced a park and a city-owned nursery in Vancouver.

That nursery, hidden behind a tall evergreen hedge, was our turf. My friends and I spent endless hours there riding our bikes, pretending to be characters from Charlie's Angels or Wonder Woman, and playing hide 'n' seek on nine acres of land that stretched several city blocks on each side. Much of my time was also spent with family and friends, playing on the monkey bars in the park, swimming at the recreation centre and taking ballet and piano lessons.

I had a carefree existence in those early years, as did Patrick who grew up in farm country. It's our hope that any child, who we're lucky enough to adopt, will have something similar.

When I was 11, my parents moved the family, which consisted of my brother David and me, to Victoria where they opened a medical practice. The city was more rural than Vancouver. Victoria roads often led to farms, forests and beaches, and I really fell in love with the city's natural beauty. That's why I so enjoy riding my bike on winding roads that hug the coastline and going for long hikes or runs in the forest, even to this day. This love of mine for the outdoors, shared with Patrick, is something we'd like to introduce to your child.

The good thing about a new beginning in Victoria was that I got to reinvent my 11-year-old self: Shows, the class chatterbox, became Shows, the A student.

Anyone who has gone through high school -- myself included -- will agree it had its challenges. A major one for me was breaking free of parental expectations and pursuing what I wanted when my parents disagreed.

But I still had fun in those years, hanging out with friends at the mall, going to school dances, playing competitive tennis and volleyball, holding down part-time jobs and being a member of the track-and-field team, the student council and the yearbook club.

As an adult, I've accomplished many goals that I set out for myself. Some included graduating from university and working as a journalist in several newsrooms, including a national television network where I now work part-time by choice.

If there's a life lesson I've come away with from my fledgling teenage years, it's this: you have to be true to yourself. It's a simple concept that a lot of well-meaning parents often overlook because they're trying to turn their kids into copies of themselves.

Patrick and I won't do that. We see our role as nurturing, resourceful parents. We'll be there to support your child in his or her endeavors with our unconditional love, time and money.

It's our hope that some of our qualities will rub off on this child: our love of animals, nature and the environment; our love of traveling, learning, and reading. Above all else, it's our hope your child will appreciate the importance of family and friends and grow up to be a happy, creative person.

About Patrick and his own adoption experience
I was adopted at the age of one into a large extended French-Canadian family in eastern Ontario. I lived in a house on a hill overlooking the small farming village of Ste. Anne de Prescott.

My parents doted on me, and no holiday or occasion went by unmarked, from Halloween to Christmas to Easter. They spent a lot of time with me, got me a cat and supported me in my outdoor adventures.

My maternal grandmother ran an old-fashioned general store in the village and I spent as much time there as at home.

The store was a big operation that the whole village depended on, and my grandmother had a large entourage of workers, who over the years had become family.

When my parents adopted me into the clan, I was the first child to arrive on the scene in a generation, and I became the centre of their attention.

As a kid, I had total freedom and spent my time riding my bike with friends along the country lanes, making improvised go carts out of scrap wood and lawnmower parts and building tree houses in the woods next to the cow pasture. In the spring, I would make my own maple sugar by "borrowing" a bit of maple sap from each of the tapped trees near the sugar shack, and letting it boil down on my grandmother's old-fashioned stove. After a typical hard day of play I would come home for dinner, and my godmother Mimi would give me a bath in the kitchen sink.

I think that if we're lucky enough to adopt, your child will find himself or herself in a similar situation. Like me, he or she will be the first baby to arrive in a generation with my parents, siblings and extended family eager to shower him or her with affection and attention.

When I was seven, my family and I moved to Toronto because of my dad's work. This was a big change, moving from the country to the city, and having to learn English. I continued to visit the village every summer until I went to university, and spent my summers there working as a mechanic and farm hand.

In high school, I hung around with a tight group of friends, who are today still my friends. I was into political causes and planned a few events like an anti-apartheid dance and organizing for local environmental causes. It was at this time that I discovered I had an aptitude for math and computers, which I would pursue in my future career.

In recent years, my parents moved back to the country to a four-acre wooded lot that backs onto a river and a nature reserve. So we too could introduce your child to nature walks and show him or her the best spots to look for frogs in the river and for the tracks of raccoons on the riverbank, like my father did with me when I was young.

Even though I was adopted, I never felt like I was not with my real family; however, in my teenage years I started to consider how my biological mother must feel. On my birthday each year I still wonder if she is thinking of me somewhere out there. It's a bit sad that the old adoption system didn't make it possible to maintain contact. Because of this Shows and I favor an open adoption.

Our home & neighborhood
We live in a restored 1920s house on a street that's lined with oak trees in the Beach, Toronto's kid-and-dog-friendly neighborhood.

We're three streets over from a sought-after elementary school and several close friends with young children. And we're a five-minute stroll to the boardwalk by the water and the main street's one-of-a-kind restaurants and shops.

We like the Beach's small-town atmosphere and its proximity to the water. We also like that people say hi to you on the streets and that we know the staff who work at our local butcher shop and grocery store.

Our neighborhood also has several playgrounds and parks to run around in and all sorts of programs for kids to enjoy, such as soccer, hockey, dance and arts and crafts -- all within walking distance.

Our thoughts on open adoption
As mentioned, Patrick is himself adopted. He was placed with a loving family under the closed adoption system of the early 1970s. He feels sad that the system didn't allow for his biological mother and him to remain in contact. Fortunately, the current system encourages open adoptions and we certainly do too.

If we are lucky enough to be chosen by you, we would want an arrangement that's acceptable for everyone involved and one that allows you and your child to have regular communications. That could be in the form of letters, pictures, emails and possible visits, if that's what you want.

Our thoughts on discipline
A certain amount of structure is necessary for children to feel they live in a safe, predictable and loving environment. This can sometimes lead to some differences in opinion at the grocery store checkout!

We believe that a good approach is to explain to the child why his or her behavior is unacceptable and if necessary gently correct it with time outs. We will make sure the child understands what behavior would be acceptable in that context and be given the power to make the appropriate choice.

Our hope is that by focusing on having fun together, being close and having lots of cuddle time that the child won't feel the need to act out as much.

Patrick on religion
Both of us participated in organized religion when we were children. While we are not formally religious now, we try our best to practice the values found in all religions: compassion, kindness and tolerance.

I meditate every day. It's no big deal; it simply helps me to remember that we are all part of something bigger and to recognize the difference between what I merely want and what I need.

The process of adoption is another reminder that we are all part of something bigger: think of all the children, all the mothers like yourself and all the hopeful adoptive parents out there. Boy, things didn't work out how we planned. But I'm convinced that out of these difficult choices, there is the possibility for great joy and happiness for all of us.

Closing thoughts and contact info
We hope our profile has drawn a clearer picture of who we are and what we can offer as parents.

Thanks again for taking the time to read our profile. We hope our paths will cross on our path to adoption.

Our very best,
Shows & Patrick