Dear Expectant Family,

We hope this letter finds you in a moment of peace in what we can only imagine as an incredibly challenging time. We hope that you are receiving the support you need and that you will, in time, find clarity as well. We are profoundly humbled by your bravery. We know that there is loss here. At the same time, we hope that this could be the beginning of a connection that could bring peace and hope to you and to us, and through which we might create together a beautiful family and future for a child. Thank you so much for taking this time to consider us.

Our names are Osvaldo and Shanna. We are a couple living in the metro area, and we are committed to providing a loving, compassionate, creative, and supportive home for a child. We love each other, and our friends, family, and extended community, very much, and we believe that, in connecting with you, we will be able to create together a safe, open, and hope-filled life for a child.

We have been married for the past 10 years and together even longer. In many ways, we grew up together and continue to do so. As a part of that growing process, we want to take a new step in life: to transition from being a couple to being parents, and to make all the changes called for by such a step. We have had many conversations about this! We have tried to imagine the responsibility and the selflessness that are required—and the joy and sorrow that show up—when raising a child. We have imagined the fun, the play, and the infinite discovery, and the heartache and the fears, the sleepless nights and the steep learning curve. We are ready to shift from imagining to experiencing, by connecting with an expectant family who feels we could be the adoptive parents they want for their child.

A little more about us: we love nature, art, books, and music. We work from home, Osvaldo as an editor, translator, poet, and artist, and Shanna as a writer and clinician in private practice. Osvaldo is bilingual (Spanish and English): he was born in Los Angeles, California, then lived from ages five to 15 in different small towns in central Mexico before moving to Dallas, Texas for high school. Shanna was born in Elk River, Minnesota and moved a lot growing up. We met in school in Ithaca, New York, went dancing on our first date, and have been in love ever since. 

We appreciate that it is crucial for children to experience open and honest relationships with their caregivers, and we would want to foster that with our child and with you. We would cherish your involvement in our lives. We would gladly, intentionally, thoughtfully, and realistically make the openness plan with you. We would honor our child’s history and origin, and we would work with you to find all kinds of ways to convey to our child how loved they are.

We would be honored to meet you to explore the possibility of joining families with you.

If you are interested in reaching out, please do so. We would love to learn more about you and your wishes for your child and to explore together the possibility of making an adoption plan.

Warm wishes,

Osvaldo and Shanna