Hello! We are Valentine, Sara and Korben, and we want to say thank you!

Thank you for your time getting to know us, and for considering us to be the parents of your child. We can’t imagine anything you are thinking right now, so we simply want to tell you how much we will love your baby and how we will dedicate our lives to ensuring your child grows up happy, healthy, empowered and loved.

Sara was adopted many years ago, and has flourished and grown to adulthood surrounded by family who support and love her dearly. We want the same for your child.

We pledge to love and raise your child to the best of our abilities. The dream of adding to our family is what we think about every day, and once this dream is realized, we will continue to live life to the fullest with the baby, and give your child every opportunity in life we can offer.

Muchas gracias por tu regalo precioso. Estamos eternamente agradecidos.

Спасибо за этот прекрасный подарок! Мы вам будем бесконечно благодарны!

(Thank you for this precious gift. We are forever grateful.)

About Us

We met through some friends at a social gathering eight years ago. Valentine (or Val as family calls him) asked Sara out, and she accepted. We have been inseparable ever since.  Our relationship and marriage are based on a strong trust bond, high levels of mutual support and common interests, values and worldviews. We can still honestly say we are each other’s best friend, and the person we prefer to spend time with the most.

Shortly before a trip to Thailand to visit Val’s brother, Val proposed.  We decided Thailand would be a wonderful opportunity for a beach wedding. We returned as husband and wife, and have been focused ever since on also being Mom and Dad.  Part of our dream came true when we adopted our son, Korben.

What can we say about our little Korben?  Well, a lot!  At two and a half, he is an extremely social boy and we have been talking to him about adding to our family ever since he could understand.  He plays well with others, cares deeply for his infant cousin, and genuinely believes we should take all babies and animals home to “be in our family”.  Korben is super excited not only to have a sibling (of either gender), but also to have a friend, playmate and family member he can count on, and who can count on him, for the rest of his life.  We are committed to developing a positive and loving relationship between the two children.

We live in a single family home on a block with a lot of other families, and a wide variety of ages and ethnic backgrounds. We own our four bedroom, two bath home, which has a large, fenced in, back yard with plenty of room to play! We live here happily with our two dogs and cat, and spend most of our leisure time in the backyard gardens, or in our kitchen and offices. Val has a workspace to tinker in the basement and we love to cuddle in the kid’s room upstairs and watch movies or play games. The entire upstairs floor functions as a play area and sibling sleeping space. It is wonderfully lit, has its own temperature control, and large windows on all sides. It also has lots of room for playing, growing and exploring. We plan to keep this space for the children, changing the room’s function and design as they grow until one day they can decorate it for themselves!

We are so fortunate to live in a beautiful and active neighborhood. There are many areas to explore nearby- most within walking distance. We have a nature center, several parks, bikeways and walkways along beautiful waterways. The parks and playgrounds are all filled with fun equipment like slides, as well as splash-pads, pools, and in the winter - tubing hills! Any day is an adventure waiting to happen, and as we live in central Minnesota, the changing of the seasons only adds to the fun!

When we are at home, Sara is cooking, Val is tinkering, and Korben is exploring. Then after our meal together, we hang out and share about the day.  Many days, we get together with friends and family. One of our best friends lives across the street and we often take turns caring for each other’s children in the back yards while they play together.

Sara’s relatives all live close by and they are so excited to welcome the newest member of the family! Sara’s father knows what it is to be an adoptive parent of two children, and he often shares his advice and special perspective. He has been an awesome role model for us!  Val’s family is hard working and tight-knit. They emigrated from Russia when Val was small and since coming to America, they have worked hard and made a happy life here. Val’s family is extremely loving, supportive and generous. They all live within an hour of us, except for Val’s older brother, who is in Florida.  They love and support us, and they will be here to support and love our new baby as well.

In short, we love to celebrate life: trying new foods, traveling, and spending special occasions with friends and family, or just hanging out together. We plan to continue traveling with the kids; including them in all our adventures, exposing them to the beautiful places and people this world has to offer

About Sara by Valentine

Sara is highly social and expressive, and successfully manages the balance between work and play. She loves to host events in our home, especially Thanksgiving when she goes all out making everyone’s favorites, including mine!

My wife speaks Spanish, and loves to teach the language. In addition, Sara recently completed her doctorate in education and she hopes to open a community center for all ages and abilities.

A creative person with a big heart, and a teacher by trade, Sara has dedicated her life to helping others succeed in finding their gifts and talents.  She is everyone’s cheerleader, and encourages me to follow my own passions, which has made me a better man and a happier person. Sara lights up in her role as mother.  She is patient, nurturing, and loving, and it shows every time she interacts with our son.  It makes me so proud how she encourages Korben’s interests as well – taking him to swimming or the playground, and helping him discover his own abilities and talents.

She loves to travel, act, and sing. In fact, one of my favorite moments is to hear Sara sing to Korben when he needs to rest.   She sings, “Why do Fools Fall in Love” and he goes down, every time.

Sara also enjoys

• Jazz Music 
• Karaoke
• Musicals
• Adventure movies
• Reality shows like Top Chef
• Crew /team dance competitions
• The mountains
• Autumn
• Celebrating holidays and birthdays
• Classic literature

About Val by Sara

Val is an extremely trustworthy and loyal person who comes from a close family. He is technically/mechanically savvy, and has a love for adventure.  I fell in love with him because I knew he loved me just the way I am.   He is very non-judgmental, and the first man I truly wanted to parent with me.  I now know my gut was right, as Val has proven to be a wonderful father; patient and kind, demonstrating everyday to our son how to communicate and interact with others and the world around him.

Val values new experiences, education, spontaneity, and has deep love and loyalty for his family.  For example, Val personally arranged to have an ill family member in another state transported back to Minnesota, even traveling with him so he could come home to be with family.  It makes me so proud as his wife to see such empathy.

With a charming wit about him that people adore, Val loves to laugh!  Although he works as a systems analyst, he also likes to work with his hands; to figure out how things work or can be made more efficiently. He loves to share his hobbies and interests with others, especially our son.

Val also enjoys

• Robotics
• Sustainable landscaping
• Hiking
• Going for road trips in sporty cars or on motorcycles
• Backpacks and messenger bags
• Teaching himself new technology
• Building things and DYI
• Tools
• Sci fi movies/shows like Dr. Who

Val is a loving and doting father, and is a natural caretaker to Korben, who adores him back. Those two spend hours together tinkering on the car, where Korben is so proud when Papa lets him “help fix” it.

What we hope to offer a child

We are fortunate in our lives to offer this child a home with a loving family, an involved extended family, supportive friends, and a wonderfully diverse neighborhood with good schools.  Equally as important, we can offer this child financial stability, and will create a college fund for them, to help them in the future.  We will raise this child to be honorable, smart with money, respectful, hardworking, generous, and empathetic to people from all walks of life and the creatures of the earth as well.

Additionally we will honor your child’s culture and background, and expose them to many others, so they will always feel a connection to their history, and also to this world.

We are truly excited to watch the newest member of our family grow and find their own joys and passions. We will support them in their learning and adventures as strongly and steadily as we have with Korben.  We pledge to help our new child grow into a strong, independent, and happy individual.

Thoughts on adoption

Simply said, we both want to be parents in order to share all the love and experiences of our lives with a child who will be nurtured through them. However, we know our journey to parenthood was not simple. There were many bumps on this road, but regardless, we are the type of people who focus on the positive and the future. We have always wanted to adopt another child, and have envisioned adoption as an incredible means in which to build our family.

Sara was adopted and has been so grateful for the upbringing and opportunities she received. She has always wanted to adopt children as well as a way to experience adoption as both a child and an adoptive parent. She brings a unique perspective, which is beneficial to children brought into our lives.

Val has seen what a wonderful thing adoption has been in Sara and Korben’s life, and his great natural tendency to protect, support, teach, and guide make him a wonderful father for our next child. He will dedicate his life to this little one, and his great loyalty and trustworthiness will make him a terrific dad of two. He is looking forward to it!

Adding a new member to the family will make it comprised of three members joined via adoption and this creates a unique bond of shared experience, which will be discussed regularly.  We have open communication with Korben’s birth mother (we were at prenatal visits and in the delivery room as well), and consider ourselves lucky to know her!  We exchange pictures and messages and plan to have visits in the future.

Please, if you would like to learn more about us or arrange an initial phone call, call Cindy (anytime) at A Loving Alternative (800) 556-5635. We would love to talk with you! We also want to make sure you are getting the support you need. Please know that our relationship with you is very important, as well as your physical, mental and emotional health. We will be here and as involved as you wish us to be.  We would consider it an honor to get to know you and to be involved in your life.

Thank you for your time in reading this profile and in getting to know us...we look forward to getting to know you, and we look forward to the day this special child may join our family. Again, thank you for your consideration.

Warmly,

Val, Sara, and Korben