Janice and Gerrit

Our dream

Our wedding day

Our house

A day on the water

Whale watching

With Murphy

Hi! We are Janice and Gerrit and we're so happy to have the opportunity to introduce ourselves to you. We were introduced by mutual friends eight and a half years ago and have been married for seven terrific years.

Having children has been a part of our dream since the early days of our relationship.   After struggling with infertility for several years, our desire and determination to become parents has only continued to grow as we excitedly await the addition of a precious child to our family. We hope that our story will help to assure you that your child will grow each day knowing the warmth of family, the beauty of love and laughter, the friendship of community, the richness of an education, the joy of nature and the blessings of companion animals.

As good fortune might have it, Gerrit and I met on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend. A year and a half later, we were married on a beautiful winter's day in a small church by the sea, surrounded by the love of our family and friends.

We love living in our vibrant seaside village of 35,000 people where we enjoy a strong sense of community. We live in a child friendly neighborhood with a wonderful group of neighbors who share in each others lives. From our sunny, four bedroom home we can walk to the library, the elementary school, and great playgrounds. We can also hop on the town bike path, connecting us to many fun bicycling adventures. We enjoy taking advantage of our close proximity to major New England cities where art, theatre, culture, sports and educational opportunities abound.

Jan is a high school teacher who works with students to provide them with vocational opportunities in neighboring communities. She loves working with young people, teaching them the life skills needed to help them to become successful in their chosen fields. Jan also coached the girls' varsity soccer team for many years and holds the record for most wins in school history. Gerrit is an architect who works at a downtown design firm. He loves the creative aspect of his job, especially the design process. Being a senior member of the firm, he enjoys collaborating with colleagues and clients to create beautiful homes in the New England landscape.

We are fortunate that our six nieces and nephews (ages 2 - 15) live nearby. We take great delight in being involved in their lives; babysitting, birthday parties, coaching, and just plain laughing and having fun. Living in a seaside community allows us to spend time together in nature; hiking, bird watching, kayaking, or simply strolling on the beach at sunset. We love athletics too. Both of us grew up playing soccer, eventually playing in college. In fact, it was one of our soccer friends who introduced us.   While we both are busy with our activities and hobbies, we can also appreciate a quiet afternoon reading or snuggling with our kitty-cat Murphy.

Gerrit is a kind, warm and intelligent man. His calm, centered demeanor and thoughtful responses always help me to put things in perspective and to soothe and refresh my spirits after a long day.   A few short months after we met, I knew in my heart that that Gerrit and I were meant to spend the rest of our lives together. I also have no doubt that he will be a wonderful dad and I can't wait to see him walking the floors with our newborn, gently settling him/her back to sleep; helping our toddler learn how to walk and how to be gentle with our family pets; helping our children with their homework and later, helping to guide our teenagers when they are faced with making challenging decisions. Gerrit was always meant to be a dad.

Jan has the most engaging personality. You cannot help but laugh when she is telling one of her corny, lame jokes that she thinks is soooo funny. It's the spirit of how she tells it and she always makes me laugh. This great combination of beauty, love, compassion, common sense, playfulness, and family centered values all wrapped up in one great person works for me perfectly. I'm in love with her and I know that Jan will be an amazing mom to our child.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and to consider us as a possible adoptive home for your baby. If you would like additional information about us, we would be happy to answer any questions that you might have. We would be honored to be chosen to love and to cherish your child and we would do our very best to help your child to grow to be strong and loving and to find his/her own special place in the world.

Warmly,

Jan and Gerrit