Ignatios and Susan
Dear Birth Parents,
Thank you for taking the time to read our story and consider our family as you make plans for adoption. We can only imagine how difficult your decision is and we hope that this letter will tell you about our loving family and the life your baby would have with us.
Our Family
We are Ignatios and Susan Lynn and we make our home in Pittsburgh. Ignatios and I were introduced through a mutual friend, fell in love and married. We are deeply committed to each other and to our family. Our marriage is based on deep love, mutual respect and enjoyment of a life together. Chrysanthos, our son, was a joyous surprise 8 years ago after a struggle with infertility. Since our efforts to have a second child have not worked out, we hope to grow our family through adoption. Last but not least, our dog Ava rounds out our happy family.
Our Home
Our home is filled with laughter and love. We spend our time together playing games, watching movies, listening to and making music, reading and just being together.
Ignatios and I both work at a local university and value education as a way to fully develop as an individual and achieve goals in life. We’re very lucky to have job security and work that we enjoy doing. We’re also fortunate to have flexible schedules that allow us to take time off as needed. We make dinner together almost every night – everybody pitches in! – then we sit down and talk about our day. When the weather is warm, we head outside to play or ride bikes. In the winter, we like to go sledding at a nearby park. We feel it’s so important for kids to have downtime to just be kids, play and explore the world. We live on a quiet, safe cul-de-sac surrounded by long-time neighbors and families, many of them with young children too.
Our Backgrounds
Ignatios grew up in a small city in eastern PA. He spent his childhood going to school and playing with neighborhood kids at the playground. He moved to Philadelphia for college and worked there after graduating. Susan grew up in a big family in rural upstate New York, surrounded by nature, and learned how to take care of the family horses and other pets before going to college and earning two degrees.
A little bit about our heritage now. Ignatios is of Greek parentage and is named after his father and so we named our son Chrysanthos, a traditional Greek name with ‘Chris’ as a nick-name he can use if he chooses. Our families are spread over the US and Greece, and we like to travel. Recently we went to Greece to visit cousins. It was a wonderful experience to be able to create meaningful bonds that will last a lifetime. In addition, we visit Ignatios’s sister on the West Coast and Susan’s sister’s farm in upstate New York. When we’re there, we love to go horseback riding, swimming, canoeing and sharing family time together. At Christmastime we celebrate with an annual gingerbread house decorating party with our friends and family.
Susan’s mother recently moved to Pittsburgh, giving our family a nearby grandmother to love and treasure. We belong to a church that is very welcoming to all families. If we are fortunate enough to be chosen as adoptive parents to your child, we will embrace the child’s cultural or ethnic heritage and celebrate it as we do our own.
Finally
Both of our families and friends are as excited as we are about welcoming a new addition to our family, something we have been hoping for a long time. Chrysanthos can’t wait to meet his little brother or sister and our family looks forward to loving, snuggling, playing and doing all we can to make your baby feel as loved and blessed as we would be to have him or her join our family.
We are working with The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center, a licensed and well-respected adoption agency. They can be reached at 1-800-961-7704 or 412-441-4884; please ask for a birthparent counselor.