When Chelsea and Robert first met, they both had an important shared interest. Well before they saw engagement rings and marriage in their future, they each envisioned a life with a family built through the assistance of adoption. The call to adopt was a mutual feeling that only strengthened their relationship.
“I asked for a daughter,” Robert said, “and the Lord multiplied that by three.”
In April 2023 the Martinez family got the ball rolling. Together, they applied to adopt through Heartland for Children, LSF’s community-based care partner in Polk County. While their excitement was certainly there, they also felt fear for the journey ahead.
Since neither parent had prior children or parenting experience, they were instructed to complete the seven-week TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) training to prepare for the emotional and behavioral needs many children in foster care bring to the table. What they didn’t expect was a check-in on their own emotional and behavioral needs.
“At first, we felt discouraged,” Chelsea admitted. “We didn’t see people we knew doing that much prep or completing this training. But looking back, it was the best thing we did. It made us confront our own trauma, a lot of stuff that we thought was normal, and helped teach us how to not pass it on.”
After completing their TBRI training and their home study, the couple began receiving profiles for children available for adoption. One of the very first profiles they received were for three sisters – Carly, Caroline and Amanda.
“We had no kids,” Robert recalled. “So when they sent us three, I said, ‘You want us to go from zero to three?!’” Chelsea felt a tug at her heart from the sisters but agreed with Robert to continue searching.
After receiving countless additional profiles, and completing interviews, time passed, and no child was the right fit. While months moved on and the family began to feel dejected, Chelsea couldn’t stop thinking about the three sisters. “I couldn’t stop looking at their pictures,” Chelsea shared. “They were stuck in my head and on my heart.”
Fate has an interesting way of intervening. After what felt like an eternity of searching fruitlessly, the Martinez family attended an adoption picnic. Children available for adoption and perspective adoptive families attended, with the hopes of finding their match.
At the picnic, adults and children were separated and paired into groups randomly to play ice breaker games. Robert was paired with none other than the youngest sister, Amanda. When Chelsea rejoined his group, she recognized Amanda immediately as one of the little girls who was stuck in her heart.
“Amanda ran and grabbed her sisters. The oldest asked who were and Amanada said, ‘They’re going to take us to the park,’” Chelsea explained. “The caseworker laughed and said, ‘How about we ask if they want to take us to the park?”
The Martinez family spent three blissful, uninterrupted hours with the girls that day. When the day ended, fate had made it clear that their decision was easy.
“We went to our caseworker and asked – what do we have to do to get those girls?” Robert, originally terrified of three daughters, said.
Soon thereafter, the couple was interviewed by the girls’ care team. They were one of multiple families being considered. For five long weeks they waited. They prayed. They hoped. Finally, the call came. After rushing home from work, filled with trepidation and the acceptance that the likely answer might have been no, the Martinez family took the call.
“Congratulations,” the caseworker said. “You are the parents of three daughters.”
Robert was stunned. “The only words I could manage were thank you,” he shared.
While much of the difficult part of adoption had passed, many hurdles still existed. The silver lining was that the Martinez family would face these together, all five of them.
The girls had faced trauma so deep-seeded, most of us couldn’t imagine experiencing it as children. While living with their father, a drug user who had a roommate also struggling with addiction, the girls discovered the roommate had died from an overdose. This prompted their removal from the home.
“They were picked up and they were filthy and had lice,” Chelsea shared. “To know what they’ve been through and then see how open they are to giving and receiving love is shocking. They’re so strong and so resilient.”
In the months leading up to the official adoption in March of 2025, the girls continued to display this strength and resilience. With the help of their adopted parents, the family-built trust and stability together. They laughed. They cried. They learned what it meant to be a part of a real family.
“There are days they don’t call us Mom and Dad and then there are days where that’s all they call us,” Chelsea explained. “But every moment we spend with them shows us we’re doing the right thing.”
Amanda, the youngest of the sisters, was the first to call Chelsea “Mom.”
“I cried that night,” she said. “I laid in bed in tears thinking, ‘I’m somebody’s mom.’”
Today, the girls are thriving. The oldest plays volleyball. One wants to be a gymnast, the other a ballerina. These are dreams they now have the opportunity to realize, because of the Martinez family’s compassion and care.
The couple knows their daughters still carry the weight of what came before. Behavioral outbursts and dysregulation are bound to happen after witnessing the things they witnessed and experiencing the loss of their biological parents. Luckily, the Martinez family is willing to walk beside their daughters as they experience and move through these feelings.
Before the adoption was finalized, the couple made sure the girls felt confident as well.
“We asked, ‘Are you sure you want to stay with us?’ And they said ‘Yes, why are you even asking?’” Robert recalled. They were excited, but they also felt sad. “They told us ‘This means the door is closed on our biological parents.’ And we told them we understood. That feeling will always be with them, and that’s okay.”
The couple has promised their daughters that as adults, if they want to search for their biological family they will receive their full and complete support. Now, they also have an adoptive family that spans from aunts to cousins and everything in between. When you look at family photos, the Martinez girls look like they could be Chelsea and Robert’s biological children. This, however, is unimportant to all of them. The important part is that they feel like a complete family.
“We’re not here to replace their biological parents,” Chelsea shared. “We’re here to pick up where they couldn’t anymore.”
Chelsea and Robert are doing a beautiful job of picking up the pieces and giving the girls a new life, one rich in love, acceptance and compassion. They urge other families to consider adoption to follow through. “Even if you’re scared, take the first step,” Chelsea instructed. “Take the time to understand what you’re taking on and know that as much as you’ll give to an adopted child, you’ll get back from them.”
