Lauren & Carlton

We are Lauren and Carlton, a loving couple! We are so excited to adopt again! We have a dynamic and creative family and adoption is a beautiful part of our identity: Lauren herself was adopted as an infant and we adopted our children together when our son was 5 and our daughter was 10. We love our children so much and feel blessed to able to continue to grow our family! We are so excited to adopt a baby! Our circle of family and friends also includes other adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents. Lauren is a devoted teacher and active in helping the community she works in. She is committed to social justice and volunteerism. Her art and craftwork is an extension of her giving nature, creating special gifts for friends and family. Carlton is a writer and creative musician with interests in science, art, and photography. He teaches, volunteers for arts organizations and has produced many concerts of new music. Our son Josh is a young adult who lives at home with us and we have a lot of fun together! He is really looking forward to being an older brother! Our family has three pets and enjoys games, movies, concerts, and performances, exploring new places, hiking, learning new things, traveling, and visiting with friends and family. We are always planning something! We can’t wait to welcome a new baby into our family!


About Carlton

Job Description
Magazine Editor, Composer, Songwriter, and Teacher

Hobbies
Writing, singing, playing the piano, books, listening to all kinds of music, yoga, Marvel superhero movies, long walks and exploring new places.

Fun Fact
Carlton grows his hair long and donates it to make wigs for kids who have lost their hair for medical reasons. Every few years, it’s cut short again!


About Lauren

Job Description
High School Teacher and Artist

Hobbies
Crafts that join her spiritual and social nature, yoga meditation, art projects, volunteer work and traveling.

Fun Fact
Lauren’s favorite gift of all time was a hat that looked like a skunk bought for her for $1 at the thrift store. Ask her about her chicken costume!


About Josh

Job Description
Restaurant Employee

Hobbies
Gaming, music, gemstones, sea glass, all animals, traveling to new places, and visiting with friends and family.

Fun Fact
Josh is a master at jigsaw puzzles and in most board games, he usually wins!


Our Life

We are always making each other laugh! Lauren is always making up funny songs! Carlton sings and plays the piano. He is able to work from home most days. We love to spend time together—we travel and have visited Barcelona, Paris, and London. We eat dinner together, watch movies, go for walks. Our house has room to play inside and a fenced-in yard. Our town is lovely, with a movie theater, ice cream parlor and bakery within walking distance. The elementary school is a few blocks away and there are many families with children. There’s a long path along the bay that we enjoy. In the evening, sometimes we’ll have a fire in the fireplace or outside in the chiminea. On weekends, we often take the ferry into New York City or drive down to Carlton’s sister’s house in Cape May, where she is the pastor of a church.


Our Family

We have family in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Colorado. Some of those families also have adopted children. Our closest relative is Carlton’s sister, Nicole, in Cape May, who is a pastor. She officiated at our wedding! We love to visit her, her family and her church community, where we volunteer. We also have fun exploring the town and going to the beach! We have wonderful close friends who we consider part of our extended family too!


Final Thoughts

“Thank you for viewing our profile. This is an unbelievably hard decision for you to make and we are grateful that you would allow us the privilege of being your choice for your child. We are experienced, loving parents, with a happy, nurturing home filled with laughter, music, and creative adventure. Your child’s joy will be our joy and, we hope, yours as well. Thank you and bless you. We look forward to our journey together.”

-Lauren & Carlton

To learn more about this Waiting Family or the adoption planning process, call us at 800-321-5683 or email us at [email protected].

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