For further information, please call 877-343-2856 or email matching@afamilyforeverychild.org

The Wilson Family Profile

We would like to adopt a child or children who is less than 16 years old. We feel we can accommodate a sibling group of up to 2 kids. We prefer to adopt a child of Caucasian ethnic background. We are open to children with many special needs. We do not mind having contact with the child's biological parents (by email/phone/by mail ) provided the parent was/is not abusive to the child and that it is in the child's best interest. We do not mind having continuing contact with the child's extended family members or former foster parents, by email, phone or by mail . In general, we would like to adopt two children who are healthy and whose interests match our lifestyle. We would love to adopt a little girl, possibly siblings.

Introduction

Our names are Jim and Jennifer Wilson. Jim is currently 47 years old and Jennifer is 40 years old. We have two sons who we adopted three years ago. James is 17 and Jack is 12. Jim loves to have a good time and is always ready for a game. Video, cards, board or yard games, it is all the same to him. He is really into sports, especially hockey and football! Jennifer enjoys reading, scrapbooking, couponing, yard sales and bargain hunting. We have Disney passes and love to stop by a park at least a few times a month (if not weekly) for a few rides and a Mickey pretzel! We love to travel and want to see all the world has to offer! We love sharing this with our kids! We have already taken 2 cruises with our boys. Playing games, bowling, mini golf, doing puzzles, going to amusement parks, swimming, and going to hockey games and theater are some activities we enjoy doing together. Jim works full-time for CTDI as a Divisional Inventory Control Manager. Jennifer is a kindergarten teacher. We were both raised Catholic, but stopped attending church regularly as adults. We both have a strong faith in God, but are not fully sold on organized religion. If we adopt children who have strong ties to another denomination, we will be willing to oblige them and support anything they need to keep their faith. We feel that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and although our wish is to expose them to religion, we would not force it on anyone who did not want to go.

We both love hockey and are Carolina Hurricanes fans, so we try to make at least one trip to Raleigh, NC each year to watch a game in person. Jim is also a fan of the NY Mets, Boston Celtics and Seattle Seahawks. We both have a wide range of musical interests. Our taste in movies is much like our taste in music, it varies. We own most Disney movies and enjoy family movie nights. We also watch action, dramas and comedies. Time at home is spent engaging in our hobbies. We both enjoy watching TV, hockey games and movies. In the summer, we love to swim in our community pool.

Home and Community

We live in a gated community in central Florida. Our home is a single family home with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. We live in a great community with a lot of kids of all ages and have some great neighbors. Our son has a cat named Shorty. We have a passion for travel! We love to see all that the world has to offer and love sharing this passion with our children. We also really enjoy going to the Disney parks (we have season passes), sporting events, holiday festivals, bowling, miniature golf, going to the theater, playing games, swimming, doing puzzles and spending time with family and friends.

There are community sports, martial arts, scouts, dance classes and musical activities that are available, depending what the child's interests are. The Orlando/Kissimmee area (20 minutes from us) has a varied cultural scene, in addition to Disney, we have museums, musical events, theater, festivals, farmers markets, sports, nature, etc. Basically there is something for everyone and we are happy to expose our kids to everything we can to help them grow and discover what their passions are. Even better, we live in the middle of several cruise ports and we love taking cruises as a family! We are only about a mile from the elementary school where Jennifer is a kindergarten teacher and there are some amazing teachers there.

Parenting Experience

We have two sons whom we adopted from foster care as a sibling group at ages 9 and 14. They have been with us since 2016. They are now 12 and 17 and doing great! We are loving, patient, accepting and fun. We are open minded and non-judgmental. We love each other very much! We have a wonderful marriage as well as a fantastic extended family who are supportive and loving. With our training classes and our previous adoption experience, we feel that we have a great understanding of what we will encounter and how to best address these issues. We also understand that all situations are different and are prepared to help the new child/children in any way that they need us. Jennifer worked for several years as a case manager for mentally ill children and is currently a kindergarten teacher. She has a Bachelor's degree in psychology and completed most of the case work for a Master's Degree in mental health counseling but put it on hold for now due to making another career choice. We know that there are going to be challenges when we adopt. The new children as well as our current children will have to adjust to a new family dynamic. The children will likely not trust us right away and may act our and test their limits. We will work on building the attachment and trust by being involved, fun, patient and loving. We will set limits and always present a united front but will always be there to make sure our kids know that we want them and love them. If they need counseling, we will get them whatever services they need and will be as involved as we need to be.

Support

We have a wonderful support system in our extended family. Jennifer's sister and brother in law live a little over an hour away and we do things with them all of the time. Our children are very close with them and their children. We have a ton of other family out of state who see and talk with our boys regularly and who they feel close to. We also have close friends in the area who are here to be emotionally supportive or just come entertain the kids so we can have a night out. There are many community resources in our area, hospitals, doctors, etc.

Motivation to Adopt

We have both always wanted to have a family and started trying to have children about a year into our marriage. Due to infertility issues, we started discussing adoption. Jennifer had considered adoption often throughout her life and Jim also preferred pursuing this over trying fertility treatments as we know there are many children needing families. After looking into different options, we decided that we wanted to adopt children who are from foster care, rather than trying to adopt a baby or trying international adoption. We both agreed that there are a lot of children who are waiting for homes because they are a little older, part of a sibling group or have some issues. We created our family with two of these children and we all feel that we have room in our home and in our hearts to expand our family. The boys have dreamed of having a sister since before we even finalized their adoption and are so excited that we have finally begun the process. We just wanted them to have time to feel secure in our family before we began the process, and we now feel that we are all ready! We are loyal and loving and will do anything for our children so that they have a wonderful and fulfilling life!