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Denae & Tom
Hi! We are Denae and Tom and we are excited to introduce ourselves.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us. We hope that after reading our book, you will have a pretty good idea of what our life is like and how much love and space we have in our hearts for your baby.
We understand you are making such a difficult and selfless decision, which already makes you a remarkable person in our eyes. Of course, saying that does not make your situation easier but we just want you to know that we have so much respect for you and for whatever decision you make. We are very grateful for this opportunity, and we pledge to do everything in our power to give your child the wonderful life they deserve.

It is important to us that you are comfortable, confident and excited about who you choose to raise your child. We are an open book (quite literally!) and would be happy to answer any questions you have about us. We hope we can have the chance to get to know each other one day soon.

With love,
Denae and Tom

Our Adoption Story

We both searched many years longing to find the right partner. A friend introduced us, and our love for our dogs brought our friendship to a loving relationship.

We come from very close-knit families and have wanted to start a family since the day we got married. Unfortunately, having biological children is not in the cards for us, but that has not stopped us from wanting to fulfill our dreams of having a family. It is the one thing missing from our life. We have a very deep connection to feeling loss, however through that loss came this great excitement to build our family through adoption. Although we are not walking in your shoes, we believe in a way, you might be facing the same challenge when it comes to the idea of feeling loss. But while you face this difficult decision, you are not alone. We are on the other side, very ready to open our hearts and love and nurture your little one.
Our Promise to You

We live vicariously through our siblings and treat our nieces and nephews as if they were our own. We spend as much time as possible with them and feel we have learned so much that will help us be better parents when we get the opportunity. We would feel so blessed.

Our promise is to provide a home filled with unconditional love, support, and choice. We want your child to live their best life, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they have every opportunity to do so. Coming from strong loving families, we long to raise a child that will be surrounded with love, attention, and the commitment to believe in themselves. We promise to nurture and guide your child on his/her path through life. Allowing your child the freedom to think and make choices as they grow will truly be our joy.

Not only would we strive each day to be the best parents to your baby but we would also do our best to honor you through this process. Your baby would always know how deeply you love him/her and how that love is never ending.

About Us

We both come from family first backgrounds and live that way today.

Tom grew up in Massachusetts and Denae grew up in New York, but we both attended college in New York. Tom moved to NYC shortly after his graduation and although we lived 2 blocks from each other for 5 years, we never crossed paths. One night, I (Denae) was out for dinner with a mutual friend, Jeff. Eventually I had to leave to take my dog for a walk, but Jeff stayed and met Tom shortly after.

Tom was busy showing him pictures of his dog, Reggie. Jeff soon texted to let me know that a very charming man had not stopped showing him pictures of his dog, and that I had to get back here! Of course, I did and pretty soon, Tom asked me on a dog walking date the next day.

And as corny as it sounds, the rest is history... within just a few months, Tom told me that I was the one for him and that he wanted to get married!

So, I guess it is pretty obvious by now that Tom and I love our dogs...

Actually, we love all animals. Along the way we rescued two dogs of our own, and even have a rescue pig we support at a local pet sanctuary. Our weekends consist of hanging out with the dogs, playing sports and seeing our family and friends. My mom has a beautiful backyard with a pool so we love to bring the dogs over them for a swim during the summer months.

Though Tom is really into golf, we love to play tennis together (more my sport!). We recently played in a couples tennis mixer and we literally could not stop laughing the entire time. Tom is such a natural athlete but I need lots of practice!! This doesn't stop us from having fun 🙂

We love hanging out together and are truly best friends... Well, us and the dogs!
Meet Denae
Through Tom's Eyes

Denae is a wonderful person. Point blank. She is selfless and caring and I know she will be the best mom. She lights up the room with her magical smile and her kindness makes her a friend to all. I love her with all of my heart.

Denae is more concerned with others than herself. She volunteers at our church, local soup kitchens, and is extremely active in our local dog rescue. The truth is, she spends most of her free time caring for our three dogs and is always up for playing tennis.

Denae went to a performing arts high school and is an accomplished actress, singer and dancer (everything I am not!). After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting dreams, and although she enjoyed some success, she ultimately moved back to New York to be closer to her family. I am so thankful she moved back because this led to us meeting!

Once back in NY, Denae got into advertising but eventually decided to work as a real estate broker. This has given her so much flexibility with her schedule and will be an amazing gift to us once we are lucky enough to welcome a baby into our lives.
Meet Tom
Through Denae's Eyes

Tom is one of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met. He loves children so much - so much that he would rather hang out with our nieces and nephews on a Saturday night than go out with friends! He teaches them how to shoot a basketball, hit a golf ball and fish... it is so cute to watch. He loves to dance. I have seen Tom make up some interesting moves - HAH! However, it's very cute because I often join in on his solo dancing.

Oh, and we eat a lot as well, thanks to Tom! He cooks all the meals and he cooks VERY well. He has dinner made every night, regardless of his work schedule and makes me breakfast in bed on the weekends. One of our neighbors is bound to his wheelchair and Tom often cooks dinners for his family - helping others any way that he can comes naturally to Tom.

I cannot wait for Tom to be a father. I know he will not only love and support your child in all that he/she wants to do in life, but he will be their #1 fan. I dream about how special the bond will be between Tom as a father, and your child.

Our Home

We live in a town on Long Island, New York. We bought a house here because it is an amazing place to raise a family. Our neighborhood is known for its school system, and has great parks and outdoor spaces. The town really goes all out for the holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween. For Christmas, it feels like every inch of town is decorated and there are a bunch of events where they shut down the town square for carolers and Santa's big appearance (including gifts for the kids!). They even celebrate Christmas in July! Artificial snow comes out of the sky and Santa comes again with his carolers. It is really a special time for the children 🙂

We have a large 5 bedroom house with a huge fenced in backyard. Our favorite room is the great room which sits between our kitchen and backyard patio. We love to entertain and have family and friends over for weekend meals.

Our Furry Family!

Our dogs are what brought us together and they mean so much to us. We now have three dogs (Preston, Josie and Groober). Preston is a Morkie and although he is the smallest, he rules the roost. Josie and Groober are Boxers that we rescued from the shelter. They are inseparable.

They are all family dogs who love to play all day and cuddle at night. Whenever they are with our nieces and nephews, they are so playful and gentle. It is very sweet to see them all together.

Our Loved Ones

We are very close with our families and spend as much time with them as we can. Denae's entire extended family lives within 30 minutes from us, so we are able to get together often. We do a Sunday dinner every week and alternate which house it will be at. As you can tell, we love being together!

We adore our nieces and nephews - they put sunshine in our lives.

Denae's brother Drew has three kids. They are all very different and we love them very much. The eldest is Averi and she is following in Denae's footsteps as a dancer and singer. Ryan loves fishing and asks Tom to take him every time he sees him. Mason is Tom's godson and is obsessed with sports. Tom is helping him with his basketball skills, but his first love is hockey.

Tom's family is more spread out, but we get together every year for a family trip to Cape Cod and we also spend major holidays together like Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Tom's sister has three sons (AJ, Ben and Matthew) who are all basketball stars and love to play video games.

Tom's brother has two daughters who are tomboys and love hiking, camping, singing and dancing.

Our families are super supportive of our plans to have a family through adoption and we know your baby will be surrounded by tons of love from the very people who have taught us everything there is to know about unconditional love and parenting.
Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read our book. We hope it gave you a good idea of what we are like and how excited we are to become parents. We want you to be comfortable with us and would love the chance to get to know each other, if that is something that you want as well. We wish you the best as you make the best decision for you and your baby.

We would be overjoyed and honored, to begin to this journey with you.

With Love,
Denae & Tom
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