Waiting Family Profiles

Home Location: Twin Cities Metro

Family Status: Couple without children

Children in Home: None

Child Ethnicity: African American, Asian, Caucasian, East Indian, Hispanic/Latino, Native American

For You, the Birth Parent 

We want you to know that we see you and the love and thought that go into making a decision like this. We know adoption can be complicated, and we will always respect that your child’s story begins with you and their birth family. If you choose us, we want to build a relationship with you that feels comfortable and genuine for everyone. We are very open to an open adoption and would love to stay connected in whatever way feels right to you. Whether that means letters, pictures, visits, phone calls, or something that grows and changes over time, we are happy to have those conversations and follow your comfort level. Most importantly, we want your child to grow up knowing where they came from and knowing that they were loved from the very beginning.

We hope to give your child a home where they can always be themselves and know they are loved for exactly who they are. We are excited about all the little things that come with being parents, from bedtime stories and family traditions to the ordinary moments that somehow become the ones you remember forever. They will also have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and three dogs ready to love them. It would be an incredible privilege to be trusted with your child, and we hope that as you get to know us, you will feel the same warmth and excitement about the possibility of our families becoming part of each other’s lives.

We Believe 

• Our job is to give our child the freedom to discover who they are. We’ll follow their curiosities and open doors for them to explore, whether that leads to ballet, science, or even sitting in a freezing hockey rink at 9:00 p.m.
• Adoption expands a child’s circle of love. It does not erase the family they came from.
• Travel teaches you things you cannot learn from a textbook. We want our child to be curious about the world and excited to experience cultures that are different from their own and meaningful to their own identity.
• Being different can be a gift. Our own experiences have taught us what it feels like to figure out who you are, and we want our child to know there is nothing about them they will ever need to hide from us.
• Being bilingual or multilingual opens more doors to connection.
• How we treat those who depend on us says a lot about who we are. We want our child to grow up with compassion for animals and the world we share with them.
• It is okay to wrestle with faith. Our beliefs have grown and changed, and we will give our child the same freedom to question and explore what they believe for themselves.
• A child deserves room to fail, try again, get a little messy, and figure things out for themselves. We will be there to help when they need us, but we do not plan on being helicopter parents.
• The opening scene of Bring It On is one of the greatest movie scenes in history.
• Sometimes the best parenting response is simply, “I don’t know. Let’s figure it out together.”

 

Meet Grant

Grant grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, where he was heavily involved in musical theatre and playing tuba in various music groups. Grant has always been very passionate about the arts and how it fosters connection and conversation. He is now a critical care nurse in a large ICU in Minneapolis where he loves helping people, challenging his critical thinking skills, and making complicated things feel a little less scary. He also teaches group fitness, runs, loves musical theater, and is always happy to try a new coffee shop. Grant has a calm presence that people tend to gravitate toward, and he genuinely enjoys connecting with others and helping them feel cared for.

As a dad, Grant will bring that same calm and caring nature home. He wants to be someone his child can count on, whether they need help figuring out a scraped knee, a difficult homework problem, or one of life’s much bigger questions. He hopes to encourage their interests, even if that means learning an instrument he knows absolutely nothing about or sitting through the same musical for the hundredth time. Most of all, Grant wants fatherhood to be full of connection, laughter, and the freedom to discover who his child is.

Meet Tyler

Tyler grew up a country kid in rural Minnesota, where summers meant swimming in the lake and playing hide and seek in the cornfield, while winters meant snowmobiles and plenty of time at the basketball gym cheering on his sisters. He has always been a bit of a people person and was the kid who somehow ended up befriending the people who did not quite have a group yet. He loved school, theater, running, and pretty much any opportunity to be involved, which eventually led him to become a teacher.

After teaching in rural Minnesota, Minneapolis, and even Mexico, Tyler now teaches kindergarten and is excited to be back in an elementary classroom. He loves speaking Spanish, completing house projects, traveling, running, spin classes, and game nights with family and friends. As a dad, Tyler hopes to bring curiosity, warmth, and sense of fun to everyday life. He wants to be the dad who gets down on the floor to play, says yes to the adventure, asks questions alongside his child, and makes room for both the silly moments and life’s biggest questions.

Hobbies & Interests

• Live entertainment (concerts, musicals, comedy shows, etc.)
• Traveling…especially to Mexico
• Running and Tuesday evening cycle classes
• Game nights
• Lake days surrounded by family
• Trying out new vegan recipes
• Walks around the neighborhood with our 3 dogs

 

Our Home

We live in a cozy home in Golden Valley, MN with our two miniature dachshunds, Holly and Mac, and our adopted greyhound, Millie. We intentionally chose to build our family in the Twin Cities because of the diversity and opportunities around us. From our home, we have easy access to Minneapolis and the greater metro, giving our child opportunities to experience diversity and culturally meaningful opportunities. We enjoy being outside in our fenced in backyard, running around with our dogs, and tackling home projects to help cultivate a warm, inviting space.

Contact US

Instagram: @MartinsAdopt

Email: [email protected]

Children’s Home Case Worker: [email protected]

 

Grant turned Tyler into a runner!
/ Grant convirtió a Tyler en corredor!

 

Hiking the trails with our nephew and nieces
/ Caminando por los senderos con nuestro sobrino y sobrinas

 

Tyler met incredible families as a school administrator in Minneapolis and even became a godfather!
/ Tyler conoció familias increíbles como administrador escolar en Minneapolis y hasta se convirtió en padrino.

 

Some of our closest friends on our snowy wedding day
/ Algunos de nuestros amigos más cercanos en nuestro día de boda nevado

 

Millie, Holly, and Mac. We love our dogs dearly!
/ Millie, Holly y Mac. Adoramos a nuestros perros!

 

Tyler showing Grant some of his favorite spots
in Mexico City
/ Tyler mostrándole a Grant algunos de sus lugares favoritos en Ciudad de México