Basic Info

Anthony

Age: 44
Sex:
Race/Ethnicity:
Religion:

Candice

Age: 40
Sex:
Race/Ethnicity:
Religion:

Child Preferences

Age: 3 to 10 years old
Sex: Either
Max Number of Children: 2
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian, African American, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Mixed, Bi-Racial, Unknown

Special Needs the Family is Open To: Mild Physical/Medical Disability (Open to Discussion), Animal Allergies, Asthma, Drug Allergies, Food Allergies, Defiant, Difficulty in Attaching, Lying, Wets the Bed, Failure to Thrive, Low Birth Weight or Premature, Prenatal Drug Exposure, Physically Disabled-Mild, Hearing Impaired, Vision Impaired, Pica, Academically behind due to poor attendance, Speech or Language Impairment, Exposed to Domestic Violence, Child in Residential Treatment, Child has had a disrupted adoption, Multiple Placements, ADHD, Diabetes, Spinal Bifida, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Willing to Maintain Contact via Mail with Bio Family, Willing to Maintain Contact with Past Foster Parents, Willing to Maintain Contact with Bio Grandparents & Other Relatives, Willing to Maintain Contact with Bio Siblings, Sexually Abused in the Past

Environment

State: Oklahoma
Neighborhood: City/Urban
Residency: Single Family Home
Years Together: 7
Children in the Home: 1
Pet(s): Dog(s), cat(s)

Work

Anthony

Occupation: Military Officer Nurse Practitioner

Candice

Occupation: English Arts Instructor

Adoption Agency

Agency: OKDHS
Worker: Mariam Torres
Worker: mariam.torres@okdhs.org
City: Lawton
State: Oklahoma
Zip: 73505

Family Description

We want to be an adoptive family because it has always been our family plan to have a biological child and adopt a child. There is a strong family history of fostering or adopting in our families, which included informal arrangements. We believe that we have a strong family that is built on trust and communication. We feel that we have a lot to offer a child. We want to share our positive attitudes and values with another child. It is our hope to find a little girl or boy who needs a loving, understanding, and kind home to grow-up in so that they can become a well-adjusted and confident individual. Anthony is currently serving as member of the United States Public Health Corps as an uniformed officer. He spent 13 years in the army before transfer to his current job working as a nurse with the Indian Health Service for the last three years. He will complete his Masters of Nursing for his Family Nurse Practitioner Aug. 2013. Candice is a middle school language arts teacher at a small private Catholic school. She loves her job and thankful she can make a difference in young people’s lives as they prepare for their future.

Preference Description

Kind and Caring. Wiliness to learn and grow as an individual. Ability to have fun, be silly, and laugh.

Child Preferences

It is our hope to find a little girl or boy between the ages of 3 and 10 who needs a loving, understanding, and kind home.

Family

Anthony is currently serving as member of the United States Public Health Corps as a Nurse Practitioner with the Indian Health Service.

Candice is a middle school Language Arts teacher at a small private Catholic school. Any of our children would be eligible to attend for a nominal cost.

As a family, we love to spend time together. In warm months, we relax by our pool and swim or attend local festivals. On any given day we are really just an average, quiet family. We read, play games, watch movies, and just enjoy the simple times together.

Our personalities and actions could be described as "down home." We are polite, good-natured people who eat dinners at the table and go to church on Sundays. We believe in honesty and whole-heartedness and unconditional love.

Home and Community

We live in a quiet cul-de-sac in an upper middle class neighborhood. The house has plenty of room and a large fenced in, protected in-ground pool. The child we would adopt would get his or her own room.

We have incredibly friendly and supportive neighbors. On occasions, we will have get-togethers with them. They are a valuable part of our community and family. Because of them, we have involvement in local art activities and soccer.

The child we would adopt would also attend the school where Candice teaches. The school consists of two small buildings adjacent to each other. The child would have the comfort of knowing Candice is either right across the parking lot or even in the same building. When our son, Holden, is of school age, he will also attend this school.

Support

We bring strength in parenting from experience. Both Anthony and Candice know what it is like to have to overcome difficult childhoods and sometimes rather extreme obstacles. We both have histories of fostering and adoption. For Candice, her maternal grandmother was in a German foster care system until the age of 17 and her own father was adopted as a baby. For Anthony, his sister was adopted at the age of 9. We believe we could bring wisdom and patience through our experience to the table. We are raising our son, Holden, in a strong love-centered family. We plan to do the same for our adoptive child. Because our families are so dynamic, we do not believe in halves or steps or adopted. We simply believe that family is family and it's the love that bonds us, not blood. Whomever we adopt will be our son or daughter, period.

Motivation to Adopt

We want to be an adoptive family because it has always been our family plan to have a biological child and adopt a child. Because there is a strong history of fostering or adopting in our families, we recognize the value and even the sacrifices. We want to provide a safe and loving home for a child.

We believe that we have a strong family that is built on trust and communication. It's obvious no family is perfect but we aim to be the most nurturing we can. We want to raise a child who will grow independently, maturely, faithfully knowing he or she is and forever will be part of a caring family.

Commitment

At multiple junctures in our lives, we annoy our parents. We test them beyond their limits. We scream, they scream. But then we still go to sleep in our own beds, we wake up in the same house. We sit down and eat the same breakfast together. That's life. It will happen. We will annoy and frustrate you and you will do the same to us. We understand that. We do have a toddler after all :). Despite the tests and arguing, we want you. We know what it's like to survive the difficulties life can bring. But know that where there is darkness, there is light. This family communicates. We will talk, and often. We will sit down as a family to eat dinner at the table and we will ask you about your day and we expect the same out of you. We will laugh; we will cry. We will even read together and maybe make up bedtime stories as we tuck you in. We'll say and learn the same prayers we learned as kids. You're not going anywhere. You are loved beyond your ability to comprehend right now and someday, calling us "Mommy" and "Daddy" will come so naturally you'll forget you were ever even adopted. You'll fit right in as if you were always here because you were meant to be here. Everything happens for a reason, my love.