Hello!

We are Justin and Erin – a fun loving and happily married couple that has always dreamed of one day becoming parents.  We have a deep respect for you and other birth mothers considering adoption and truly appreciate you considering us as potential adoptive parents. Our hope is that as you read more about us, you are able to gain an understanding of who we are as a couple and of the love, support and family we would offer a child.

About Us

We first met in college while we both worked at a restaurant in our college town.  From the time we first met, we always had an adoration for each other.  After several years of dating, we married in June of 2014.  Our wedding day was an amazing day full of love as we were surrounded by our friends and family.

We are fortunate to have a strong, committed marriage full of love and lots of laughs.  As individuals, we are nearly opposites, but as a couple we bring out the best in each other.  Erin is ambitious and more of a planner, while Justin is fun-loving and very easy going.  Together we are able to accomplish our goals in life while enjoying lots of fun along the way.

We currently own a home in suburban area in Central Illinois. The area offers plenty of parks, trails, community events, family activities, and highly rated schools.  As a couple, we enjoy spending time together, especially outdoors when the Midwest weather allows.  In our free time, we often hike and go on walks with our two dogs, Baxter and Enzo.  Baxter is a 13 year-old, quite lazy, Beagle who brings plenty of laughs to us and to our family.   Enzo is a 14-year-old Border Collie who loves being outdoors.  He will play fetch for hours, or as long as someone is willing to throw a ball for him. We also spend time biking, golfing, or going to dinner or movies.  Each year we plan a vacation together or with family.  We like to use that time to relax and reconnect while exploring a place we have not yet been.

As a couple, we enjoy spending time with family and friends. We will often get together with friends and host a game night, watch football (Go Colts!), or relax and have a cookout.  We are very fortunate to have great friends who are just an extension of our family.  Both of us have family within a short, two hour drive, and we often get together for birthdays, holidays, and other special events.  Our parents are very supportive, and everyone shares a close relationship.  We are very fortunate that through our marriage our two families really have been able to come together as one.

As a couple, we have always known we wanted to start a family, hoping one day to be parents of two or three children.  About a year into our marriage, we excitedly decided to try to start our family.  At that point, we felt secure in our careers, owned a home in a nice neighborhood with room for children, and had support from very excited family members (especially the grandparents-to-be).  After nearly four years without much luck or good news from our doctors, we realized starting our family likely would not look the way most people envision it looking.  When we reached a very hopeless point in our journey with infertility, we were able to find an enormous amount of hope in the path to adoption.  We are extremely excited to begin our family through adoption and know that our struggle to start our family will only make us cherish every moment with our child that much more.

About Erin

When I first met Erin, I was immediately attracted to her kind and enormous heart.  It did not take long for me to fall in love with her, and she is easily the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Anyone close to Erin would describe her as extremely intelligent, loving, funny, and always willing to go the extra mile for anyone.  She loves to have fun, and I especially love making her laugh because her smile lights up a room.

Always keeping busy, Erin often spends time at the gym, working on a project around the house, or just catching up with friends and family.  She also really loves to cook and bake.  Our families love her cookies and pies, and I can just see her in the kitchen one day teaching our little one how to cook and bake.  Erin is so funny around her two nephews, Myles and Cooper.  They call her Aunt Buddy, and their eyes light up whenever they see her.  She makes sure that everyone is having fun, and she is certainly the favorite aunt.  Seeing Erin with her nephews reminds me that she will be a world-class mother.  She is so nurturing to all the kids in our families, and they all adore her.

With a background as a structural engineer, Erin currently works as a District Sales Manager for a steel building company. Her promotion from a supervisor to a District Sales Manager was an amazing opportunity in many ways.  One great benefit of the position is that it allows her to work out of the home and manage her own schedule.  This flexibility allows for a really great work-life balance.  We have several friends that Erin works with, and we spend time together playing trivia and golfing.  Whenever I run into people from her work, they always remind me how lucky I am to be with her.

Erin will be the best mother and role model to our child.  She loves playing with children and reading to them.  She is excited to be able to teach our child and watch them grow.  I know she will be kind and gentle, as well as funny and loving.  Always giving 110%, Erin is the hardest working person I have ever met. I know any child would be incredibly blessed to have Erin as a mother.

About Justin

Justin is an amazingly loving husband to me and is absolutely my biggest supporter and best friend!  The two things I love most about Justin are his big heart and his sense of humor.  He’s so fun to be around and there isn’t anything Justin wouldn’t do for his family or loved ones.  I know without a doubt that Justin will be an amazing dad and role model to our child!

Justin grew up in a small town, and enjoyed being outdoors and playing sports with his neighborhood friends and on teams at school.  Over the years, Justin played baseball, basketball, and ran track.  Now Justin enjoys keeping up with professional teams, especially the Cubs and the Colts.  He typically doesn’t miss a Colts game, and we try to make it to Indy each year for a game.

Justin and I have a close relationship with his family who lives just a couple hours away.  His parents, Steve and Roz, are both retired.  They are excitedly awaiting the day when they can spend their time loving and spoiling their grandchild.  Justin has one younger sister, Jessica, who cannot wait to become an aunt to our baby.  Justin also has several aunts, uncles, and cousins, giving our child plenty of other loved ones and little kids to play with when we get together during the holidays.

Justin’s background is in Information Technology, and he currently works as a Sales Consultant for AT&T.  Justin has a close relationship with several of the other guys he works with, and often gets together with them in his free time.  Justin also has strong relationships with friends from high school, college, and other places we have lived.  Even though life has moved people to all different places in the country, their friendships still remain.  I would guess all of Justin’s friends would describe him as loyal, outgoing, funny, easy-going, and an all-around good guy and great friend.

When I think about becoming parents, one of the things I am most excited about is being able to see Justin as a dad to our child.  He will be outstanding!  We have two nephews that just adore him.  I love seeing him run around with them while they pretend to be superheroes, or see them playing Mario Kart and other games together. He does anything to make them laugh or have fun, and I know he will do the same with our children.  I know he cannot wait to read our child books using funny voices or teach them how to play sports and coach their teams.  As excited as Justin is to have those experiences with our child, I think I am more excited to be able to witness that love and joy.

What we hope to offer a child

We will provide our child a loving home and strong bond with our family that will act as a foundation for them throughout their life.  We feel it is our job as parents to be there to love and support them, guide them, and instill in them strong values.  In terms of values, it is important to us that our children show kindness and respect to others, develop a strong work ethic, act with honesty and integrity, and value relationships with family and loved ones.  Our hope for our child is that they know above all else that they are loved unconditionally and that they are given opportunities to learn, grow, and fulfill their goals in life.

As parents, we will work hard to give our child exposure to opportunities.  It is important to us that our child is able to participate in team sports, the arts or other activities that they have a passion for.  These types of opportunities give children a chance to learn important life lessons and skills that will benefit them in life.  Along with these types of opportunities, we also plan to help our child take advantage of a college education or other vocational training.  Both of us have benefited from a college education and understand the importance of making this opportunity available to our child.

Thoughts on Adoption

Our goal as adoptive parents is to help our child feel loved, supported, and understanding of their adoption story.  We hope that our child is able to know as much as possible about his or her identity and birth parents.  As our child grows and asks questions about their adoptive parents, we will always explain their birth parent’s extreme selflessness and love for their child.  We are happy to provide whatever level of openness the birth parents feel comfortable with.  We would gladly send photos or updates about the child periodically or even get together occasionally if possible.

Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents to your baby.  We would be forever grateful for the opportunity to love, nurture, and parent a child through adoption.  If you would like to learn more about us or to arrange an initial phone call, please call Cindy (anytime) at A Loving Alternative (800) 556-5635.

Warmly,

Erin & Justin