BELEN, N.M. — From a baby box in Belen to the NICU to a loving home, baby Mikel Martinez has been at the center of two battles over the last two years without knowing it.

His parents, Chris and Janae Martinez, have been fighting in court and at the New Mexico Legislature.

Last February, someone placed Mikel in the Belen Fire Department’s baby box. Chris Martinez is a lieutenant and was one of the first firefighters to help him.

“He was pretty blue, and he wasn’t looking too good. So I put oxygen on him, and we put hot packs on him, got him warmed up,” Chris said.

At that point, Mikel was just “Baby Boy Doe.” He spent weeks in the NICU and the Martinez couple stayed by his side.

“We just had to learn how to be parents, like overnight,” said Chris.

The couple always knew they wanted to be parents. They tried for years for a child of their own.

“I just remember the feeling of not knowing if we’ll ever become parents, or not knowing if I would ever become a mom, because that’s all you dream about, is just being parents and being a mom,” Janae said.

Instead, they became foster parents for the State of New Mexico.

“I feel like it was meant to be, because maybe there was a bigger plan for us at the time. And I think just the timing of it all was just, it was meant to be,” said Janae.

They went through months of court hearings with uncertainty hanging over them about whether his birth parents would come forward.

“It was scary every day to wake up and just not knowing if he was gonna be placed somewhere else or what could happen,” Janae said.

Now, that fear is in the past. They adopted Mikel on Monday.

“I’m a real mom. And to me, that’s just the most incredible feeling to finally be a mom and fight, and for me, for us to, like, finally be a family. That’s what we’ve always wanted. So it’s just feels so good,” Janae said.