Hi there! I'm Courtenay from Fresno, California. Thank you so much for taking the time to find out a little bit about me! I am so excited to become a mother and ready to embrace the ups and downs of the journey ahead. I know adoption can be incredibly complex and I can only imagine, a difficult decision to make. I have always believed that making an adoption plan for your child is such a brave and selfless choice. As I journey down this path to motherhood, I can only feel grateful.

I have dreamed of being a mother for a very long time and beginning this journey makes me hopeful and excited. While I am single, I am fortunate to have a very close, very diverse, extended family and friend group. Your child will have many role models. When thinking of growing my family as a single mom, adoption was always the choice for me. My childhood best friend was adopted from Korea and this had a big impact on how I thought about what it means to be a family. I dedicated a large part of my early life to my education and training as a physician and now have the time and resources to provide a wonderful home to and share my life with a child.

I am a warm, fun-loving person who enjoys going on adventures and spending time with friends and family. I love to help people and was lucky enough to be able to make this my career. I have always looked up to my grandfather who taught me to do the right thing, even when no one is looking. I’m a lifelong reader, writer, and dreamer. One of my favorite childhood life-lessons came from a picture book called Miss Rumphius. The main character admires her grandfather and tells him that one day she too will travel the world and live by the sea. “That is all very well little Alice, but there is a third thing you must do.” said her grandfather. “What is that?” asked Alice. “You must do something to make the world more beautiful,” said her grandfather. These are words that I continue to live by.

I am an ER doctor who loves animals, creative writing, running, and the outdoors. I am lucky that my work schedule is very flexible providing me lots of free time to spend with friends and family, and to pursue my hobbies. Exercise is the way I clear my mind. I try to get a run in at least 3-4 times per week, and look forward to getting a jogging stroller. I also love to travel, and love languages (I speak English, Spanish, and a little Japanese). And when I’m not moving my body or practicing languages in another country, you can find me relaxing with a good book or writing.

I live in Fresno, California, where we are lucky to have 194 sunny days per year and Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks both close by! I am a short drive to the coast for the beach, and a short drive to the mountains for skiing. I live in a friendly diverse residential neighborhood with sidewalks and large trees that make it great for running, walking dogs, and riding bikes. There are always families out enjoying the fresh air.

My favorite parts about my home are my swimming pool and the fruit trees in my yard! I have peach trees, a lemon tree, an orange tree, a clementine tree, pomegranate trees, and fig trees so I have fresh fruit year round and dream of picking the fruit with my child. I have a small collection of Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals and Maileg Mice toys with a little mouse-house that I started putting together for the baby’s room. I am having way too much fun buying toys and dreaming!

I have been an animal lover since I was a little girl and I have one dog, one cat, and a tropical fishtank. I found my little dog Scarlett as a stray 8 years ago and she has been by my side ever since. She is such a sweet girl who loves all people, especially children. I adopted my cat, Lilly, from a friend and love all of her snuggles. She is shy but also very sweet and very loved.

My parents live on the ocean in Maine and my sisters (Aunt Emily and Aunt Morrow) and I, love to go visit especially in the summer! I am fortunate to have very supportive parents who are SO EXCITED to become grandparents! I can’t wait to take my future child to Maine to spend time with family. My mom (Grandma Trish) and my younger sister (Aunt Emily) are both artists and our home was always full of arts and crafts projects when I was growing up. My mom taught me to paint and make jewelery and I still love making crafts. Recently I started decorating vintage cigar boxes with decoupage as gifts and places to store tiny keepsakes and treasures. I know my mom will be very excited to make craft projects with her future grandchild. My dad (Grandpa Neal) loves the outdoors and always took us camping when we were kids. He is already talking about teaching his future grandchild to fish and canoe.

Christmas is the biggest holiday for my family and we love to get together and decorate the house and bake Christmas cookies (my favorites are snowball cookies). I have such great memories of the holidays as a kid and am excited to recreate them with my own child.

Unconditional love is at the core of my parenting philosophy. My child will know, beyond any doubt, that they are loved, by you AND me, no matter what. It is very import to me to help my future child grow into a responsible, kind, compassionate, and thoughtful individual. I believe this is best taught by modeling this behavior in my own daily life. I hope to foster strong self-esteem, resilience, and independence by encouraging my child to try new things, learn from mistakes, and practice problem solving. Celebrating, supporting, and honoring diversity is also an important part of my life and philosophy. My future child’s ethnic and cultural heritage will be celebrated in my household, and I will seek out role models from my child’s cultural background to ensure that they have a strong network of support.

Thank you again for spending some time getting to know me. I hope that through this book, you were able to get a sense of who I am as a person and how I live my life. I am so excited to become a mother through the beauty of adoption and welcome the opportunity to learn more about you, too. I promise to love your baby unconditionally and for forever, and to protect and advocate for them. I promise to give your baby a safe happy childhood, with lots of opportunities, and the support and freedom to become exactly who they are meant to be.