Erik & Jen

Hello from Wisconsin! We’re Erik and Jen. We’ve been together 3.5 years and are excited to become first-time parents. We have a dog, Milo. Jen loves kids and naturally nurtures those around her; she has always imagined being a mom. As an uncle, Erik has loved getting to know our 5 nieces and 6 nephews, and now finds it hard to imagine not being a dad. He is great with kids of all ages.

We love the idea of an open adoption, but want to discuss and decide on contact together with you. We want our child to have the full picture of who they are and who/where they come from. We recognize that this will be an ongoing conversation with you. More than anything, we would love the opportunity to get to know you.

Our Story

We met during the pandemic and got to know one another through a lot of phone conversations. We met face to face wearing masks, and had multiple zoom meetings getting to know one another’s friends and families. We both love cheesy movies!

We have learned throughout our marriage that communication is vital. In one of our first conversations, we talked about family and specifically about our openness toward adoption. We wanted to be intentional about growing our family sooner rather than later. We tried to conceive naturally, but that wasn’t the plan God had for us. Rather than trying to pursue additional paths, we decided to move forward with adoption, confident that this is the journey God has for us.

We like games, different cultures, and stories (movies, books, television shows, and podcasts). We love to watch Wisconsin sports (Badger NCAA football, Packers NFL, Brewers MLB) together. Erik says, “Brewers baseball is the background of summer”, and this is relatively true for us. We love to eat Indian, Thai, Mexican, and Chinese food. Erik is an amazing chef, while Jen is an excellent baker.

About Jen (by Erik)

Jen is originally from the South, and occasionally says “y’all” in conversations. She has an older sister and younger brother.  As a child, she moved around a lot, and has learned to make any space into a homey space where others feel welcome. Most of Jen’s adult life was spent living and traveling in Asia. She worked as an ESL teacher in illiterate communities and served with many non-profits. She then worked with families overseas and helped them adjust to life abroad.

Jen is bubbly and makes friends wherever she goes. She loves the outdoors, coffee, intentional conversations, good books and movies, cuddling with her pup every chance she gets, and watching Wheel of Fortune.

Jen looks forward to teaching our child about the various cultures she has lived in. She wants to share her love of languages with our child too. She hopes that from a young age our child will feel comfortable in different environments with different types of people. We are working towards Jen being a stay-at-home mom for our child. She longs to be present day in, day out as our child grows.

About Erik (by Jen)

Erik is a true Midwesterner and loves all things Wisconsin. He was born and raised in small town Wisconsin. He has three sisters, and tends to be quieter and more even-tempered than them. He moved to the city after college and has loved “big city” life. His family lives around Wisconsin.

He loves to read and has a hard time going to bed when he’s close to an ending. He loves playing games and watching Jeopardy; he would be a great contestant one day. While quiet, he could talk to you about sports or science-y things for hours. He is an amazing cook, is kind to all he encounters, and a loyal friend.

Erik looks forward to family camping trips. His family took annual camping trips and visited places all over the United States. We’ve camped together and see this as an important part of our family traditions. Erik looks forward to helping our child with homework and teaching our child how to dance.

Our Extended Family

Jen has a large extended family in Georgia and Alabama, while Erik has a smaller family who live mostly in Wisconsin. We are both close with our extended family and alternate holidays between both. We have 5 nieces and 6 nephews who range in ages from 3 years to 20 years. We love to see them swim, play sports, or doing drama in local theatre. Our families are incredibly supportive of our decision to adopt. While we don’t have any adoptions in our immediate family, we do have some in our extended families. Our parents can’t wait to be grandparents again!

We love holidays & traditions! We look forward to decorating our home for the holidays, reading the Christmas story, opening Advent calendars, Easter egg hunts, carving pumpkins, parties with friends and family, and homemade birthday cakes. We love Wisconsin sports and attend multiple sports events each year. We’ve already bought little onesies for our (Wisconsin) Badger baby, as we envision many hours cheering on our teams.

Milo, our pup, loves everyone he meets and is great with kids.

Our Home in Wisconsin

We love our home! We live in a cozy home that was built in the early 1900’s. It has loads of character. We have 3 bedrooms, one of which is being transformed into a beautiful nursery. We have a fenced in backyard.  In the summer, we love to grill out or make a fire in the fire pit, while watching Milo fetch toys. In the winter, we hunker down inside and put together puzzles or play games.

While we live in a big city, it doesn’t feel large. Our neighborhood is warm and filled with a diverse group of people – some elderly, some with older kids, some with newborns. Our immediate neighbors adopted their two children, and we love the idea of being able to have this shared experience with them. We live close to multiple parks and a bike/walking path; we envision many hours spent there.

Our home is filled with Southern, Midwestern, Indian, and Asian cuisines and cultures. Our city is a melting pot of cultures, and we are excited for our child to experience the numerous people and cultures around us.

A Note to You

We are committed to getting to know you, hearing your story, and catering this process in a way that allows you to feel seen, heard, embraced, and loved. We want to journey with you throughout your pregnancy, and afterward, in a capacity you feel comfortable.

We commit to hear our child, meet them where they are, and nurture their gifts as they grow. We commit to love and accept our child and cannot wait to be their momma and daddy. We are ready and eager to support our child in their interests, whether it be in the arts, academics, sports or in any other field. We want them to have the freedom to have space to grow into who God has created them to be.

We are committed to taking the amazing things we learned from our families, and learning all we can to parent our child well into adulthood. We long for our child to accept all people equally and are committed to raising them in a loving and grace-filled community of believers where the gospel is lived out.

We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

In Closing

We are so excited to see our family grow through adoption. We believe God has welcomed us with open arms into His family, and we long to do that for you and your child. We know that we are meant to be parents, and can't wait to welcome a child into our home and lives. Thank you for considering us.