H E R A L DR O E L

W E A R E H E R A L D A N D R O E L

F R O M T H E N E T H E R L A N D S !

D E A R B I R T H P A R E N T ( S )

W E A R E G R A T E F U L T H A T

Y O U M I G H T C O N S I D E R U S T O

B E T H E A D O P T I V E P A R E N T S O F

Y O U R C H I L D .

I T ’ S N O T E A S Y T O F I N D T H E R I G H T

W O R D S T O C O N V E Y O U R R E S P E C T F O R

T H E L O V E A N D C O U R A G E Y O U H A V E A S

Y O U C O N S I D E R A D O P T I O N F O R Y O U R

C H I L D . We believe that such a decision can only

be made out of love of your child. It’s important to us

that your child knows who his or her birth family is. We

will tell your child about you and his or her heritage

in the USA and the special place you take in his or her

life. You will always have a very special and important

place in your child’s life. We will always acknowledge

you as the birthparent(s). Because we want to share

as much information as possible with your child, we

feel it is very important to have good contact with the

birthparent(s). We are open to contact in the future and

we’ll send pictures so you can see how your child is

growing up.

Please know that we have close friends who have

adopted from the United States as well and we see

how they raise their kids as proud Dutch-Americans.

During this very emotional period we wish you all the

strength, wisdom, faith and love in the world. P L E A S E

K N O W O U R T H O U G H T S W I L L B E W I T H

Y O U , A N D Y O U R B A B Y, W H A T E V E R Y O U R

D E C I S I O N M I G H T B E .

F U N A T T H E

B E A C H

W E A R E L O O K I N G F O R W A R D T O

T A K I N G O U R F U T U R E C H I L D T O

D I S N E Y W O R L D

T H I S I S U S IN J U N E 2 0 0 5 W E M E T E A C H O T H E R

A T R O E L ’ S S I S T E R ’ S H O U S E W A R M I N G

P A R T Y . We decided to meet again for dinner two

weeks later and that was the start of our relationship.

In 2008 we got a Partnership Agreement which has the

same legal status as marriage. All this in the presence of

our parents, which made it a very special day. We would

love to get “really” married later on surrounded by all of

our friends, family and in the presence of our future child.

W E S T A R T E D O U R J O U R N E Y O F

A D O P T I O N M I D 2 0 1 4 . The desire of becoming

parents grows stronger each day. All of our friends and

family are so supportive of our decision to adopt. We

have close friends who have adopted their children and

they have been a huge help to us.

T O U R I N G N I A G A R A F A L L S W H I L E

O N V A C A T I O N

F U N A T A D I S C O P A R T Y !

H E R A L D A N D R O E L

We were both raised in loving families and we cherish

the relationship we have with our parents. They are

always there for us and they are also wonderful

grandparents to all of their grandchildren. Our parents

raised us to be loyal, honest and taught us the values

we believe in today. Respect, love and Christian

values play a role in our daily lives.

We hope you get to know us a little better in the

pages to come. Most of all we hope that you get to

see that we are a happy couple wanting to become a

family. We can’t wait to become the best dads in the

world!

A T A F R I E N D ’ S W E D D I N G

HERALD IS A VERY LOYAL, PATIENT AND

WARMHEARTED MAN. To me he is the one that always sees

the bright side of things and has taught me not to worry too much.

He is the person that always makes the house feel like home. He

is the one that puts flowers on the table, lights the candles, closes

the curtains and turns on the music. He is also the handyman in and

around the house, and quite the gardener. Herald is very loyal and

when he commits to something he is in it for the long run. For friends

and family his door is always open.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE HIM AS A PROUD AND

LOVING FATHER.

I WORK FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AND

PRIVATELY OWNED CHARITY LOTTERY. It is the

3rd biggest donor for charity in the world.

As a team leader of mostly young people, I

find it rewarding to challenge them to grow

professionally and coach them into new positions.

In my previous profession I travelled many times to

the United States, mostly to New York, San Diego

and San Francisco.

D O W H A T Y O U L O V EL O V E W H AT Y O U D O | H E R A L D ’ S W O R K

R O E L T A L K S A B O U T

H E R A L D

H E R A L D F E E D I N G H I S N E P H E W

W I T H A L O T O F W A T E R I N T H E A R E A T H E R E I S A LW AY S

S O M E T H I N G F U N T O D O

ROEL HAS A WARM AND OPEN PERSONALITY. Roel is

always the first to initiate and organize events with family and

friends, which is really appreciated by everyone. He is an energetic,

creative and enthusiastic person in work as well in our private life. He

has a good eye for detail, He enjoys cultural events and likes going

to the theater. Roel loves a bit of corny humor and cares much for

animals. Roel had a rabbit named Boris that, unfortunately, recently

passed away. His love for animals is something that Roel will share

with our future son or daughter.

He is very thoughtful of the people he cares for. I SEE HIM AS

BEING A VERY FUNNY, ACTIVE AND LOVING DAD.

I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR A MAJOR

AIRLINE SINCE 2008. I worked as an

operational team manager for 4 years

and recently worked in their social media

Department as an IT manager.

In September 2016 I started a new

position as Project Manager in Facility

Management within the Company.

D O W H A T Y O U L O V EL O V E W H AT Y O U D O | R O E L’ S W O R K

H E R A L D T A L K S A B O U T R O E L

B O A T I N G W I T H R O E L’ S F A M I LY M A K I N G P A S T R I E S W I T H N E P H E W S

A B O U T O U R

H O M EWE BOUGHT OUR HOUSE IN 2010

AND IT BECAME OUR HOME

IMMEDIATELY. It is dated from the 18th century

and we love the old character the house still has.

It has a large private garden, is located close to

the city center, but also is just 10 minutes biking

from the countryside. Schools, daycare, shops

and parks are in walking distance, and as the

city is surrounded with a lot of canals, we often

spend time on or near the water.

The community is very open and diverse and is

a mixture of different cultures, entrepreneurs,

young couples, families and students.

• On December 5th. we celebrate “Sinterklaas” as a family which is

similar to Santa Claus, only he visits

on December 5th and brings lots of

presents for the kids.

• On April 27th we celebrate King’s Day at our home with all of our friends

and family. For two days, everybody

puts on their orange outfits and the

city turns into a big flea market. We love having everyone stay overnight at our

place for the weekend. It’s turned into a tradition to start the festivities with a large

breakfast together.

• We find it very important to spend special events together with family and friends. Birthdays we spend at home, with friends or we organize a boat trip in the

city with our parents.

• In the days before Christmas we always take a few days off to spend together.

We get a tree, decorate the house (inside and outside) and bake our own cookies.

O U R T R A D I T I O N S

B R E A K F A S T W I T H F R I E N D S I N O U R B A C K YA R D

R O E L B A K I N G

C H R I S T M A S

C O O K I E S

K I N G ’ S D AY W I T H O U R F R I E N D ’ S D A U G H T E R

W E L OV E O U R H O U S E !

T V S H O W

H E R A L D : M O D E R N FA M I LY

R O E L : G A M E O F T H R O N E S

F O O D

H E R A L D : M A M A ’ S C H I C K E N S O U P

R O E L : P A N C A K E S

D E S S E R T

H E R A L D : C H E E S E P L A T T E R

R O E L : C R E M E B R U L E E

R O O M A T H O M E

H E R A L D : G A R D E N

R O E L : K I T C H E N

A N I M A L

H E R A L D : D O G

R O E L : D O N K E Y

C H I L D H O O D A C T I V I T Y

H E R A L D : B U I L D I N G T R E E H O U S E S

R O E L : S L E D D I N G

H O L I D A Y T R A D I T I O N

H E R A L D : S E C R E T S A N T A

R O E L : B A K I N G G I N G E R B R E A D C O O K I E S

H O L I D A Y

H E R A L D : C O S T A R I C A

R O E L : D I S N E Y W O R L D

G U I LT Y P L E A S U R E

H E R A L D : D U S T Y S P R I N G F I E L D

R O E L : D I R T Y D A N C I N G

C O L O R

H E R A L D : G R E E N

R O E L : O R A N G E

• You may always SPEAK YOUR

MIND, as long as it’s with

respect and love for the other.

• You can BECOME EVERYTHING

YOU WANT TO BECOME, as

long as you work hard for it and

do it from the heart.

• EVERYBODY IS UNIQUE and

therefore we are all the same.

• In the end IT’S ALL ABOUT

RELATIONSHIPS and the

people you love.

• WE PROMISE TO PROVIDE ALL

THE LOVE AND CARE NEEDED,

but most of all we will read

bedtime stories, scare away

the crocodiles from under

the bed, learn to ride a bike,

have pajama days, help with

homework, decorate the

Christmas tree, throw birthday

parties, bake cookies, build the

biggest snowman, watch the

stars, feed the ducks, and so

on….

AND FOR ALL THIS WE CAN’T

HARDLY WAIT….

A F E W O F O U R F A V O R I T E T H I N G S

V A L U E S W E L I V E B Y

W H A L E WAT C H I N G I N C O S TA R I C A D R E S S E D U P F O R A W I N T E R F E S T I VA L

HERALD’S FAMILY:Herald has 2

sisters, he is the second born. In

total the family now is 12 people

(4 grandchildren, 4 couples). My

parents celebrated their 45th

anniversary this year with the whole

family in Spain. My parents are both

retired. My mother used to own a

children’s daycare center and my

father worked in the construction

industry. They are very active and

spend a lot of time with their three

grandchildren. Important things

during my childhood were holidays

on our family boat, traveling, skiing,

horses and playing tennis. We grew

up with a Catholic background. My

brother-in-law was adopted as a

child from Indonesia. They have

searched for his parents for years

but never found them. That is also

why we strongly believe in open

adoption.

ROEL’S FAMILY: My family consists of; my parents, my sister Esther, her husband

Martijn with their two children Stijn and Lars. I grew up in a little Dutch village. My father

was an English teacher and my mother was a stay-at-home-mom the first years of my

life. My childhood was filled with love and warmth. My parents absolutely made me the

man I am today. They still play a very big role in our lives.

My dad and I have enjoyed traveling around the world together over the past few years

We also like to go biking together. They are great parents and lovely grandparents.

My nephews spend a lot of time with their grandparents and I love to see the strong

connection they have with each other.

W I T H O U R N E P H E W S

M E E T O U R F A M I L Y

R O E L W I T H O U R N E P H E W

F U N W I T H H E R A L D ’ S F A M I LY

A DAY AT T H E M U S E U M W I T H O U R C L O S E F R I E N D S A N D T H E I R K I D S

S P E N D I N G T I M E W I T H R O E L’ S F A M I LY

We have both already planned with our employers that when

the day comes when we start our family, we will each stay at

home for at least one day per week to take care of our child.

Next to that we have two loving grandmothers who will come

to our house one day per week as well. Both our jobs give us

the opportunity to be flexible in working hours and locations.

Around the corner is a lovely daycare and when the time is

right we will introduce our child to the other kids that spend

the day there.

O U R C H I L D C A R E P L A N ST R A V E L I N G I N C A N A D A

Over the years we have seen our sisters and friends start their

families. We spend a lot of time with them, and their kids have

become a big part of our lives. We love to see them grow up

and we cherish the special bond they have with us.

Last year we were asked by our very close friends (Harald &

Brenda) if we wanted to become the legal guardians of their

four kids, in case anything would happen to them. A request

that touched us deeply and we fully accepted.

T H E K I D S I N O U R L I V E S

H E R A L D W I T H O U R N E P H E W

M A K I N G S A N D C A S T L E S W I T H O U R F R I E N D ’ S C H I L D

O U R P R O M I S ET O Y O U

We promise that your child will be raised in a warm family,

with two loving dads, great grandparents, loving sisters,

dear friends, nephews and nieces, all standing beside us and

who are all very excited to meet their new family member.

Your child will get all the chances in life to become what he or

she wants and to secure their ambitions. He or she will always be

loved and will be raised to have an open mind and a kind heart.

W E W I L L P R O V I D E A S A F E , L O V I N G

A N D S E C U R E H O M E , A P L A C E W H E R E

E V E R Y T H I N G C A N B E S H A R E D A N D

D I S C U S S E D A N D W H E R E T H E D O O R I S

A L W A Y S O P E N F O R T H E P E O P L E W E L O V E .

W E ’ D L O V E T O H E A R F R O M Y O U !If you have additional questions for us or would like

to speak to us, please contact THE ADOPTION

ALLIANCE BY CALLING 1-800-626-4324.

H E R A L D & R O E L

H I K I N G I N C O S T A R I C A