Allen and Karen - Knoxville, Tennessee

Dear Birthparent,

Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about us! We are very excited to share with you about our lives! First we want you to know that although we have never met you, we have been praying for you daily. We know that God has a wonderful plan for our lives as well as for yours. We admire you for choosing life for your baby and we hope and pray that God will give you peace through the difficult decisions you will have to make.

Our names are Allen and Karen. We are both Christians and are active members at a southern Baptist church. We are very committed to our faith and to our church, and we will raise our children to cherish these same values and beliefs. We are very grounded in our personal relationships with the Lord. We are in a Sunday school class with other young married couples and have close friendships there. We enjoy helping in community outreach events at church and doing fun things with our class. We met while we were in college, finished our schooling, and then married two months after graduation. We have been married now for seven wonderful years!

A couple years into our marriage we decided we wanted to start a family. We tried to get pregnant for about a year and had no success. When we visited with the fertility specialist we were told there was no chance we would ever have biological children. This news was devastating, but we soon began to see it as a blessing. We began to research adoption and found Bethany Christian Services. We contacted them and began the process of adopting a baby. Our daughter Samara was born on August 30, 2007 and we officially adopted her on May 12, 2008. Now we are so excited to add to our family through adoption again and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for our future- and yours!

Samara is the joy of our lives! She will be two in August and keeps us very busy! She makes us laugh everyday with her bubbly personality and the funny things she does. She is a very girly girl; She loves to play with her dolls and her toy kitchen and with dress-up clothes. She also loves to play with our puppy Barney. He is a german shepherd mix and is absolutely wonderful with Samara. He has been so gentle with her since the day we brought her home and they have become best buds!

Allen has a wonderful, large family! His parents are happily married and he has three sisters and one brother. All of his siblings are now married, and two of his siblings have children also. We love our nieces and nephew! His parents are so happy to be grandparents and they can’t wait to have more children added to the family! We always celebrate birthdays with the whole family as well as holidays. Most of Allen’s family, including his “Ma-maw” live nearby. It is wonderful to be able to see them so often and know that our children will have such a large, loving family close by!

Karen’s parents also have a wonderful, inspiring marriage. She has one sister, Jessica, who she is very close to. Jessica is an awesome aunt and is very good at spoiling Samara! Jess and Samara are pretty much inseparable when we are together. Karen’s parents are missionaries here in the United States. She has one grandma and many aunts, uncles, and cousins with whom we have very close relationships with. Although we do not live in the same state as her family members, we are all still very close and get together as much as possible! Karen’s family is very excited about our choice to adopt a second time!

Allen has a degree in Engineering Design Graphics. He enjoys computers, designing websites and playing video games. He hopes to one day start his own graphic design and animation business. Allen currently works as a production operator and he loves his job! He also enjoys outside activities such as fishing. Karen has a degree in Art with an emphasis in graphic design. She enjoys painting and drawing as well as doing computer design. She loves to scrapbook and does photography. She also enjoys singing and reading. Karen has been a stay-at-home mom since we adopted Samara, and finds it very rewarding and has no immediate plans to go back to work. We like taking vacations and traveling together and with our families, as well as playing board games and playing outside with Samara and the dog.

Allen’s thoughts about Karen:

I love Karen very much! She is such a supportive, loving wife to me, and has really helped me grow stronger in our Christian faith. She is a bubbly and happy person and makes friends easily. She is a wonderful mommy! She is so creative and fun and you can rest assured that your child will have a great relationship with her.

Karen’s thoughts about Allen:

Ever since I met Allen he has talked about wanting to be a dad. He is the most talented, loving, caring, and gentle person I have ever met! He is a great dad! I watch him with Samara and my heart just melts. He is so playful and it seems like children are just naturally drawn to him! Allen is a wonderful provider and takes care of us very well.

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and learn more about us! We are very excited to have more children and we thank you for considering us for your child! We are looking forward to an open adoption and feel that it is important for your child to continue to have a relationship with you in the future. Our prayer is that God will give you the comfort and wisdom you need to make the difficult decisions that are ahead of you.


In His Love,

Allen and Karen

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