Hi! We are Barbara & Dietmar.

We are a fun, active and loving couple and thrilled about adopting a baby. We are so happy you are interested in learning more about us, and as you read our story, we hope you’ll see that we have a lot of love to give and can’t wait to share a balanced life full of fun, adventure and education with your child.

Originally from Austria, we moved to the U.S separately and met here nearly ten years ago. Our first meeting was supposed to be a short coffee break but ended up being a long, fun dinner with lots of talk and laughter. We’ve been together ever since! We married a few years after and had the most wonderful wedding ceremony in Iceland. We invited family and friends to join us for a long weekend in a small town where we enjoyed the great Icelandic culture. We cannot wait to go back with our child to revisit some of those places.

Since then, we have had endless fun together at home, traveling the world and spending time with friends and family. We are fortunate to have a strong understanding of each other in part due to our similar cultural backgrounds and having grown up in similar environments. Most of all, we are best friends and could not imagine a life without one another.

For the past few years we have lived in a spacious four-bedroom home in a comfortable, family-friendly neighborhood in Atlanta. Visually, we were drawn to this area by its proximity to the city’s main park, the charming older homes and mature trees. Our house is very cozy and ever changing as decorating is Barbara’s favorite past time. There is a lot of cultural diversity in our neighborhood, which provides the area with an artsy feel. We want to raise our family here because it offers great schools and we have access to everything a big city offers while being safely nested in a

About UsRiding our bikes through the park

homey suburban-like area. Our neighborhood is known for being bike friendly, which is our favorite past time, allowing us to ride to different parts of town. Our favorite destination is the park, which has bocce ball courts, basketball courts, playgrounds, dog parks, farmer’s markets and the Botanical Gardens. It is a great place to spend the day with family. In our home, our child will have his or her own bedroom and lots of space to play with friends. In addition to this house, we own a vacation home in Austria. It is the home Barbara grew up in, which makes it very special.

Our perfect weekend starts with a long breakfast, which tends to take most of the morning. After breakfast we’ll go and get fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market then ride our bikes to explore new places in town. In the evening, we love to spend time with our friends over a good meal. Weather permitting, we sometimes venture up to the woods north of the city to camp for the weekend. We love the beauty and quietness of the woods, a large crackling fire and yes, s’mores are a must. In everything we do, we share the passion of enjoying life and lots of laughter!

We love traveling and enjoy going off the beaten path and experiencing the local culture. We particularly like Central and South America for its natural beauty and energy filled culture but never forget to lazily lie on the beach, snorkel and dive. During the winter we typically go to Austria to spend time with our families and enjoy the holidays in the beauty of the snow. Traditions are very important to both our families and we love soaking in the many customs Austria has around Christmas, especially the wonderful Christmas markets. Our vacation house there makes these trips very comfortable allowing us to wind down, reconnect with family and enjoy the winter wonderland feel of Austria! If we are lucky we get to go skiing or sledding with nieces and nephews.

We are very fortunate to have a stable, loving relationship and are very much aligned on important aspects in life. It is very easy for us to make decisions together, while almost always finding humor in a situation when needed. Common interests like travel, reading and interesting discussion topics have strengthened our connection. We simply like to spend time with each other and would love to share this connection with a child.

We both have exciting careers with very flexible work schedules and are able to work from home. We both love our work and believe our careers keep us engaged and challenged. Luckily, our neighborhood has many families with children of all ages.

W E S I M P LY L I K E TO

S P E N D T I M E W I T H

E A C H OT H E R A N D

W O U L D love TO S H A R E

T H I S C O N N E C T I O N

Riding our bikes through the park

When Barbara and I met, I immediately knew she was a special person. I had just moved to the U.S. so it was an interesting twist of fate to fall in love with somebody from my own country. We immediately connected and have been growing closer ever since. She has a positive attitude, loves life and is a very caring person. There hasn’t been a day where she wasn’t there to support me and help me with something I cannot quite figure out myself. She inspired me to go back to school part-time, just like she did and was completely supportive and helped me get through the tough times.

Barbara grew up in a tiny village close to Vienna, Austria. Growing up in the countryside allowed her to enjoy her childhood to the fullest, without the dangers of a bigger city. She frequently tells me stories about spending her days out in the woods playing with friends, exploring animals on the many farms nearby and discovering every corner of the small village. The effortlessness of her childhood allowed her to know what it is like to grow up in a happy family and truly be a child. As the youngest of three, she is very outgoing and entertaining

About Barbara

Barbara with family in Austria

and makes all of our friends and family laugh. She truly is the life of the party and so much fun to be around.

Family is very important to her and she has told me great stories about her childhood family vacations like the many RV trips to Greece. While her family is far away now, she is still very close to them and we get to see everyone several times a year either in Austria or here.

Her favorite time is spent with the many nieces and nephews she is very close to and luckily we get to spend many holidays and vacations with them. We often talk about having a family and carrying on that tradition. Planning vacations, reading about destinations and learning about other countries is probably her favorite past-time. There is no doubt in my mind she can find the most amazing and at the same time least visited place wherever we go. I do not have to worry about any of the planning; she takes care of it all.

Barbara has always been very close to her parents, so it was very difficult when her mother recently passed away unexpectedly. We spent many wonderful hours with her mother and it was difficult for us to get used to this new reality. Her family has actually become closer as a result of her mom passing. Now, we spend even more time with her dad, especially when he comes to visit us and stays for many weeks. Her dad loves children and will be a great help with his grandchild.

Barbara has a Masters degree in Finance, which led to a successful career in banking. Her job provides her with a lot of flexibility to spend time with a child. While her career is important to Barbara, she has always wanted to be a mother and she will be able to provide a wonderful life and great experiences to our child. I imagine her child will be just as smart, witty, loving and caring as she is.

Family vacation in Greece is always a favorite

Barbara having fun with a niece

Dietmar is the most wonderful person in the world and I cannot imagine life without him. He is truly my best friend. Regardless of the situation, he is a half-glass-full kind of a guy and sees the best in everyone and every situation. Even after a long day at the office, he is mostly interested in hearing all about my day.

I love his sense of humor. He is really funny, makes me laugh and at the same time, he is grounded and has a peacefulness about him that keeps me calm even if I would rather jump up and down. We recently finished renovating our house and there is no way I could have done a large project like this with anybody other than him. It was so easy with him and we now get to enjoy our newly renovated house and hopefully soon with our child.

Family is very important to us and I am so lucky he immediately fit into mine. He is loving and caring and became an important part of my family. Always ready to spend time with nieces and nephews, we have had many fun vacations together as a family during which Dietmar cooks for all of us. Goulash is the all-time favorite!

About Dietmar

Dietmar cooking my favoriteAustrian dish

We love to spend time together and quite frankly there isn’t much we do not do together. Dietmar is so sweet, he even loves to go clothes shopping with me. Running errands, doing housework, paying the bills, we do it all together and share the responsibility. There isn’t anything he would not be willing to do and it makes me feel so lucky I have found a true partner in life. Our child will know that no matter what gender and circumstance, they can make choices about who they want to be and feel confident doing so.

Dietmar works in Finance for a German company where he is responsible for a large team across the continent. One of the qualities that impresses me about him is that he can do whatever he sets his mind to. His kindness and intelligence allows him to achieve anything he wants. He had always wanted to move the U.S. and made it happen, then successfully completed an Executive MBA while working and has had a successful career ever since.

Dietmar loves to spend time outside cultivating our yard so we can enjoy reading, playing games or barbecuing. Reading is probably one of his favorite past times and he has a constant thirst for knowledge. He is sharp, confident and curious about the world and will instill a positive can-do attitude in our child. I cannot imagine a better father than Dietmar. Building a life together with Dietmar has been the best part of my life.

Working away in the yard

Dietmar climbing the trees during one of our weekend camping trips. We always

look forward to those!

Since we are not able to have our own children, we have always hoped one day we would be able to pursue adoption and are thrilled we are finally at this point. We cannot wait to welcome a child into our family. It is important the child knows about his or her birth mother and the love you have for them. We are willing to pursue an open adoption, share information with you and want you to see how happy your baby is growing up. We are a happy, well-adjusted, grounded family and will do everything to make your baby’s life as perfect as possible!

Our ThoughtsON ADOPTION

Hiking Yellowstone Park with friends

W E C A N N OT WA I T

to welcome a child

A Glimpse into Our Lives...

We can’t wait to go back to Iceland

Spending time with family in Austria

Dietmar enjoying the Christmas market with Dad

Happy to have reached the top of the mountain

Our ThoughtsON PARENTING

The thought of becoming parents is very exciting to us and we can’t wait to provide our child with a life full of fun and ad-venture. Education, including reading and cultural experiences, is very important to us. But mostly, we think children need to have fun and play as much as they can before life gets too serious. We envision a lot of neighborhood friends and play in the yard. Our outlook on parenting is pretty simple. We plan to teach discipline and good manners and to love your next as much as you love yourself, don’t judge and be a nice, polite human being.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little better. We look forward to sharing more about ourselves, and most of all, we want you to know we will provide a loving and safe environment for your child and allow him or her to flourish in life.

If you would like to learn more about us or arrange an initial phone call, please call Cindy (anytime) at A Loving Alternative (800) 556-5635.

Sincerely,

Barbara & Dietmar