Choose A Family : Parent Profile
Halina and Brent
Dear Birthmother:
Our names are Brent and Halina (rhymes with Gina), and we are excited to write this letter to you. It seems strange in a sense to write such a personal letter to someone we haven’t yet met, but once you’ve met your future spouse in a job interview (more on that later), you learn to be open to life’s surprises.
We can’t fully understand what you are going through right now, but we know that if you are reading this, you are brave, compassionate, and strong. You are so courageous to be considering this act of selflessness, and we feel honored that you would even consider us as prospective parents for your child.
Creating a family through adoption has always been the preferred choice for both of us. We were fortunate to find in each other a partner who felt the same way. We strongly believe that a family is made not through shared genes but through shared experiences. A family is shared hugs, tears, laughs, and walks. A family is road trips, trail hikes, bandaged knees, and vegetable gardens. A family is songs in the car, questions why, and a book at bedtime.
Every child should be able to have a secure and happy home with loving parents, and we know that we have the love, energy, and desire to provide this for your child.
BRENT: YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF THE COUNTRY . . .
I grew up happy and contented in a small Idaho town. My grandfather and I kept horses in the field across the street from my house, and we would ride in the mountains or along the Snake River. Music was all around me: my mother and grandmother both taught piano, and my dad often sang in church.
My parents raised me to be self-sufficient, free-thinking, and independent; these are traits that I want to pass along to your child. I had to earn my own spending money, so when I was 12 I started my own business mowing lawns. In high school and college I was very involved in student government (I was student body president of my high school) and drama.
I earned a college degree in history and initially planned to teach. I craved an outlet for my creative side, however, and worked on some independent films to satisfy that urge. Well, I loved it, and before you could yell “Cut!”, I had switched career paths. I have worked in the art department of various film and television productions for the last 15 years.
When I’m not working I’m a project hound. I love to tinker with things and work with my hands: I once spent weeks getting my grandfather’s old Rambler station wagon to run again, after it had sat in his field for 15 years, just to see if I could. I have renovated two houses and am working on a third. I love to putter in the garden and am awfully proud of my enormous tomato plants. I hike, bike, and snowboard as often as I can.
HALINA: THE NATIVE CALIFORNIAN
I grew up in southern California, the youngest of three children. My childhood was filled with many years of ballet classes and classical piano lessons, and I still love to dance and play the piano. My parents immigrated to the United States from Ukraine, and I grew up in a bilingual and bi-cultural environment, which gave me insight into the value of other cultures and the fresh perspective they can offer. To explore their newly adopted country, my parents took us on a vacation to a different U.S. destination every year. I was one of the few kids in school who had been to about 40 states. This early experience definitely shaped my love for travel and taught me how important it is to understand others in their environment.
After graduating from college, I worked in various fields until I decided to go back to school for interior design. During this time, I had the opportunity to work on a commercial, and that’s when I knew I wanted a job in the art department. For the past eleven years, I have worked as a set decorator, mostly on television shows and movies. I love creating new environments, whether magical or realistic, and I am excited to share this passion with your child.
My love of design extends beyond work, and creating a beautiful and peaceful home environment is important to me. I love to wander through antique and thrift stores, hoping to find the perfect piece. When I’m not working or shopping, my favorite pastime is probably curling up on the sofa with a good novel or taking modern jazz or ballet classes. When I need to relax and stretch, a good yoga class always does the trick. Music, dance, art, and design have brought great pleasure into my life, and I hope they will do the same for your child.
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
Sometimes when you ask for apples, life gives you an orchard. We met each other in 1998 when Halina interviewed Brent for a job. Four months later, we started dating and soon realized that our initial chance meeting had led to us finding our soul mate. Brent asked Halina to marry him on a Malibu mountainside overlooking the ocean. Halina made him ask the question again just to be sure she heard him correctly. Six months later, two very different families came together for a wonderful wedding ceremony officiated by Brent’s Texas minister grandfather and incorporating old world Ukrainian wedding traditions. We doubt there’s ever been a wedding like ours!
We complement each other so well that it’s like we’re a two-piece jigsaw puzzle. Halina loves to make homemade soups and try new recipes, and Brent loves to eat whatever she cooks. We love to go to the movies—it’s what drove us to pursue our careers in the film business. We’ll see anything, from the latest blockbuster to a tiny independent film. We each collect our own little vintage oddities at flea markets and estate sales: Brent looks for ice buckets and paint-by-numbers, and Halina keeps an eye out for Asian figurines and California pottery. Maybe our favorite time together is Sunday mornings, when we just drink coffee, read the paper, and do the crossword puzzle. Sunday afternoons find Halina tending the roses and Brent trying to get new succulents to take root on our hillside.
Probably our favorite thing to do together, though, is travel. We’ve adventured in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Our last trip took us to Japan (where we tried, unsuccessfully, to master the language!), and we often visit family and friends in Washington State, Tennessee, Texas, northern California, and New York. We like to relax closer to home, too: We’re currently renovating a vacation house in Palm Springs and can’t wait to hang out by the pool with our family and friends.
Speaking of friends, we think we have the best group of them possible. Whether it’s barbequing, friendly competition on game night, or our annual Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner party, we love to entertain. We take group trips to Palm Springs every fall and to Mammoth Mountain to ski every spring. Many of our friends have children and “Uncle Brent and Aunt Hal” are always up for playing games or reading a bedtime story.
COUNTRY MICE, CITY MICE
We reside in a neighborhood in the hills surrounding Los Angeles and can be hiking on trails in a matter of minutes. We hear coyotes and owls at night and see all manner of wild animals in our backyard, but we’re only minutes away from movies, concerts, street fairs, museums, and even grocery stores and malls. We’ve got great neighbors, and we all look out for each other. There’s a neighborhood elementary school just down the street. Our house is a cute three-bedroom ranch that we restored from the ground up. It’s not fancy but it’s comfortable, roomy, and just right for us.
Sometimes we like to “get away from it all” to Halina’s parents’ almond farm in central California. We help out around the farm and in the evening walk through the orchard and listen to the birds and crickets. We love it so much that this year we bought a small parcel of land nearby and are starting an almond farm of our own. We’ll be planting the trees this fall. Brent is especially excited to tap into his rural roots again! We can’t wait to take your child up there to experience the country life. Maybe when they’re older they can even drive the tractor.
FROM THE ALMOND ORCHARD TO THE FAMILY TREES
Our close-knit families are thrilled about our decision to be parents. Brent’s mom and dad love being “Nana and Papa.” Nana will teach your child piano as soon as she can, and both look forward to taking the little one exploring around the family cabin in the Tennessee hills. Halina’s mom is looking forward to becoming a grandmother again, and her dad is already planning the baby’s college fund.
We’ve made it a priority to be very involved in the lives of our siblings, nieces, and nephews. Brent has two sisters who have wonderful husbands and four great kids between them. We spend our Thanksgivings together playing board games with the kids. They’re going to be excellent older cousins to your child. Halina’s sister and her husband have two incredible daughters, and they can’t wait to welcome a new baby into the family. Halina’s brother is a screenwriter who lives minutes away from us. He’s an excellent uncle—a Pied Piper who leads his nieces on creative adventures with his storytelling and play-acting.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS . . .
Our careers are important to us and have provided us with the means to live a comfortable lifestyle. That said, we are committed to creating a wonderful family environment in which to raise our child. Our jobs give us the flexibility to decide when we work, and we’ll be able to “tag team” work and parenting duties so that most of the time one of us will be home with your child.
We both come from households that put great emphasis on education. We are both college graduates and feel that a good education is vital for a child. We will seek out the best resources for education—not only in school, but also through community events, museums, and other avenues.
We were both raised in religious households where principles such as faith, honesty, and the Golden Rule were not just taught but modeled by our parents. We will teach our child to appreciate the mysteries of the universe, treat others as family, and be honest and just. We will teach them to do what they can to help others less fortunate and to respect their world.
We’re fortunate enough to know from our own childhoods that a loving and nurturing home is essential to the health and happiness of a child. We have no doubt that we can create a safe haven where your child can grow, experiment, laugh, cry, challenge, and just be a kid.
We appreciate the time you’ve taken to get to know us, and we hope that you will consider us for adoption of your child. If you would like to speak with us or have any questions for us, please contact your Adoption Advisors at AdoptHelp by calling 1-800-637-7999 toll-free.
Thank you.
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