Please feel free to contact us by email at stephandmichelle@gmail.com or toll-free at 1-877-439-3222. Or you can contact one of our adoption licensees: Jewels for Jesus (Mississauga): 905-821-7494 or helpline@JewelsForJesus.net; Beginnings Counselling and Adoption Services (Hamilton): 1-877-528-6665 or kerry@beginnings.ca; or Jennie Painter (Kingston): 1-866-255-4855 or jennie@openadoption.ca.

Your child will be loved by all of our extended family members. Our families are familiar with adoption as Michelle’s uncle and aunt have been blessed with a daughter through adoption, and Steph’s cousin has also adopted a child. We believe that forming relationships with family members and friends who are also adopted will help your child feel positive about their own adoption and secure within our family.

Hello,

Our names are Michelle and Stephane (many people call me ‘Steph’). We consider it a great honour that you are considering us as potential adoptive parents for your child. We appreciate the time and effort you are taking to find just the right family for your baby. It would be a great blessing for us to provide your child with a loving and stimulating home, with a stay-at-home mom, where your child would feel secure and free to explore and express their curiosity.

As you go over our information we hope to provide you with a sense of who we are and what we will be like as parents. We also hope that you will recognize our love and commitment to each other, our complementary personalities, and our devotion to our family and friends. In our marriage, we seek to bring out the best in each other. We look forward to providing a home that will encourage your child to explore all their interests, gifts and talents.

May God bless you and guide you as you look for a loving family for your child.

Together
We’ve been married for over 13 years and are each other’s best friend. We talk openly about everything and we love spending time together. We’re always comfortable sharing our thoughts and feelings, which enables us to understand and support each other every day. We’ve been through some challenges and hard times; including three miscarriages, but through it all we have always supported and encouraged each other, and we continue to grow closer.

We truly care for and love each other and the people around us, and we strongly believe in the importance of helping others. Throughout our lives together, we have had the privilege of being able to help others, and we have also known the blessing of receiving help ourselves. We all need each other, and it is comforting to have people in our lives who can help us through tough times.     

Together we make a great team. Every day we have fun and laugh together. While our personalities are very different, they complement each other beautifully. Steph’s off-the-wall sense of humour keeps me laughing. I am outgoing while Steph is quieter. My love of sports has rubbed off on Steph, and his love of science fiction has rubbed off on me. Being able to share in these simple pleasures together has strengthened our relationship and our love for each other. We both have a passion for adventure and we really enjoy spending time outdoors. Canoe trips with family and friends have been a highlight for us.

We’ve been fortunate to travel and explore many beautiful places together. We have wonderful memories of vacations in Canada, Costa Rica, Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean. We especially love tropical beaches and snorkeling. We look forward to providing your child with the education and opportunities that travel will bring into their life. Through traveling, your child would have the opportunity to experience other cultures. They would also enjoy fun family times closer to home while at the cottage.

How We Met
What are the odds of two people from Yellowknife and Ottawa meeting and falling in love in Saskatchewan? Well, that’s what happened! We met at Bible College while getting a ride to church. When I asked Steph to go to a CFL football game, he took it as a ‘sign’ and, as they say, the rest is history. A happy history!

Why We Want to Adopt
We love children and we long to share our lives and our love with a child. We have a profound respect for the role adoption would play in all our lives--the adoptive parents, the birth parents and the child. Adoptive families are naturally diverse, and we enjoy and celebrate diversity. We know we can offer your child a wonderful, loving, two-parent family. We promise to always support your child in every way.

About Michelle

Michelle’s Personality
I have a nurturing personality and I love helping and encouraging others. For example, in my spare time I have done some work as a volunteer math tutor, helping two students, one of whom has a learning disability. I am detailed and organized, responsible and adaptive. Being adaptive means that I will be able to adjust to any situation that parenting will present.  

Michelle’s Interests
Some of my other interests include visiting with family and friends, listening to music, doing Sudoku puzzles, playing cards and board games, horseback riding, watching sports, and planning home improvements.

Michelle’s Background
I grew up in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa. My family enjoyed many activities individually and together. I have wonderful family memories of swimming, gymnastics, skating, downhill skiing and playing piano. I loved doing crafts with my Mom and going to baseball and football games with my Dad. Sometimes we cheered for different teams, which made the games even more fun!

A Note about Michelle from Steph’s Perspective
Michelle is supportive and loving. She has always had a caring heart, and she goes out of her way to help others. Whenever someone needs help or encouragement, Michelle is excited to provide support in any way she can. There have been times when Michelle’s sister has been overloaded with work, and Michelle has put together care packages to help brighten her day. Michelle is a blessing from God, a wonderful wife, a great friend, and she will make a great mother.

About Stephane

Steph’s Personality  
I’m creative, funny, affectionate, easy-going and patient. One thing I really enjoyed doing was writing a very complicated piece of software in my free time. I find programming to be creative and stimulating. I am a reliable and trustworthy individual. I am also very gentle and I derive great pleasure in giving to others. I enjoy giving to charitable organizations that do humanitarian relief work.

Steph’s Interests
Some of my other interests include listening to music, reading, learning new technologies, cooking, history, watching adventure movies, and coin collecting.

Steph’s Background
I grew up in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. I had lots of fun playing games with my sister. I have great memories of catching frogs, exploring the forest near our home, and prospecting for gold. Sometimes I would spend an entire day in a pile of rocks looking at fool’s gold. Unfortunately I never found any real gold. In the wintertime, we would go tobogganing and skating. It would be great to share the wonders of the world with a child.

A Note about Steph from Michelle’s Perspective
Steph has a very sensitive and understanding nature. He is also caring, compassionate, supportive, encouraging, patient and affectionate. He is a lot of fun and he makes me laugh every day. He’s an incredible husband, and I am grateful that I am able to share my life with him. Throughout our marriage, I have always envisioned Steph being a wonderful father someday. I can easily picture Steph tickling a child, giving them lots of hugs, exploring the outdoors together, and taking them to places like the museum and the Science Centre.   

Our Extended Families

Michelle’s Extended Family
I’m very close to my parents and my sister. During our regular visits, we enjoy spending time together going on walks, watching sports, shopping and playing card games. We chat on the phone often, and my Dad and I e-mail frequently, while my sister and I communicate a lot through Facebook. My sister and I are good friends and we have a lot of fun together. One of our most memorable times was traveling together in Europe. My sister is really excited to be an aunt, and my parents are really looking forward to becoming grandparents.

Steph’s Extended Family
Although we don’t live close to my mom and her husband and my sister and her family, we visit together about once a year and we have very close relationships. When we’re together, we play games and have a lot of fun. I always have fun doing silly impersonations with my brother-in-law and making the kids laugh. When we are apart we keep in touch through phone calls, letters, e-mail, and Webcam chats.

Fun Times at the Cottage

Each summer we enjoy visits with Michelle’s family at her parents’ cottage. We have fun doing a variety of activities and visiting with other families. We dream about catching frogs, exploring, fishing, going on nature walks, doing crafts, having camp fire sing-songs and roasting marshmallows with a child one day soon.

Our Values and Beliefs

We have both been Christians for about 19 years. We believe that all people are precious to God and are loved by God. Every person has great value because they have been created in the image of God. This is true regardless of race, ethnicity, faith, talents and abilities. As a result, we strive to be loving, kind and generous. We believe this is a great starting place to raise a happy, healthy child.

We look forward to sharing our faith with your child, and we want to be involved with your child in various children’s ministries, like Sunday school. We hope your child will someday choose to become a Christian, but your child will be free to make his or her own decision. Our love for your child, and for all people, is unconditional and does not depend on what they believe. We promise to always love your child unconditionally and, by our example, we would teach them to love others unconditionally. We will teach good values and judgment, as well as respect for all people and nature.

We love the diversity of the people in our church family. There are many different cultures and age ranges represented, as well as singles, couples and families. Some families within our church have adopted children domestically, while others have chosen the international route. We know that your child will be welcomed and loved by our church family.

Our Parenting Plans

Stay-at-Home Mom
I will be a stay-at-home mom during your child’s pre-school years, and Steph will take a paternity leave. Doing this means that we will be able to provide your child with a stable, nurturing and stimulating environment during their most formative years. We are very excited and feel strongly about the importance of providing this kind of home environment. We are enthusiastic to be able to see your child’s first smile and first steps, along with so many other special moments. Once your child is in school, I will be a part-time stay-at-home mom. I will be able to attend school field trips, pick-up your child from school and greet them with a big hug.  

Early Years
We plan to teach your child some basic sign language to help them communicate more easily before they learn to speak. We’ve seen the benefits of this when some of our friends’ toddlers have made specific signs, such as a sign asking for more food. We value the importance of relating to each child differently and according to his or her own personality and stage of development. As parents, we will be patient and understanding and we will give your child lots of praise and encouragement. We will also give your child age-appropriate freedoms and clear boundaries so they will always know what to expect and will always feel safe and secure.

Activities
We can’t wait to be able to play with a child at home, at the park, attend play groups and provide educational opportunities so they can reach their full potential. We also look forward to planning activities with our friends and their children.

As we get to know your child’s personality and abilities, we will facilitate and support their curiosity as they explore possible areas of interest such as music, art, sports, nature and science. It will be so exciting to discover these areas with a child and to help them develop their interests.

Adoption and Our Relationship with You

We look forward to developing a relationship with you. It is our hope that our families can continue to have a relationship together, if this is what works for you. If you are comfortable with openness, we hope our relationship with you will include regular visits, as well as sending each other photos, e-mails and letters on an ongoing basis. However, we are aware that sometimes birthparents need time and distance, and we will respect you and your decisions and be sensitive to your needs. We will always honour you and treat you with dignity and kindness.

We want your child to feel good about their adoption and to know that you deserve our consideration and respect. From a young age, we will talk about their adoption. We will help them understand adoption terminology as they develop in their understanding. Communication in our family is open and your child will be encouraged to ask questions at any time. We will answer these questions positively, encouraging their curiosity and helping them to feel secure in their identity.

Your child will be loved by all of our extended family members. Our families are familiar with adoption as Michelle’s uncle and aunt have been blessed with a daughter through adoption, and Steph’s cousin has also adopted a child. We believe that forming relationships with family members and friends who are also adopted will help your child feel positive about their own adoption and secure within our family.

Thank you so much for taking the time to go through our letter and for considering us as potential adoptive parents for your child. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have. We hope to hear from you soon.

May God bless you.

Sincerely,
Michelle and Stephane