family connection By Susan Grandpre  

As Laura and Reymundo Maciel tried to digest the information that Laura’s doctor delivered, they realized that life was not going to be what they expected. The doctor had informed them that in all likelihood, Laura would not physically be able to conceive any children.
       Ever since Laura was a little girl, she had dreamed of being a mother. As she wrestled with this devastating news, she had to wonder why she could not be a mother.
       At this point, a friend of Laura’s suggested that they consider becoming foster parents. As they researched foster parenting, the Maciels discovered that foster parenting was something they should pursue.
       The first children the Maciels fostered were two little boys who called Laura “Mama” within three days of arriving at their home. This was a moving moment for Laura, and she was hooked.
       This was many years ago, and from this first foray into foster parenting, Laura and Reymundo have gone on to foster many children and adopted five of their own. They have never looked back. Laura states, “It has never crossed my mind not to have these kids. They were made for us.”
       Deante was the first child the Maciels adopted. He came to them when he was two months old and is now a 7-year-old. Another son, Antoine (“Andy”, 8), came to them because a child they were fostering cried for a boy with whom he had shared a previous foster home. Laura had a strong feeling that she should find this boy, and before long, Andy became their second son.
       Soon Laura and Reymundo discovered that Andy had biological siblings living in foster care. One of these siblings, David, came to live with them. Ten-year-old David is their oldest son.
       Three sons can be a handful, but the Maciels had not completed their family yet. A little girl named Reyanna Apple entered their lives. Like Andy, Reyanna Apple, 5, had biological sisters in foster care and her 2-year-old sister, Magdalena, is now the youngest member of the Maciel family. 
       The Richmond Department of Social Services recognized the Maciels on National Adoption Day in November by giving them the first-ever Hill-Carter Award.
       The Hill-Carter Award is given to an individual or family that has made an exceptional contribution to the children of Richmond. It is named for renowned civil rights leader Oliver White Hill and for Martha and Charles Carter, who were foster parents in Richmond for over 40 years, fostering more than 360 children in that time.
       Despite the accolades, the Maciels say they do not feel that they are doing anything extraordinary; they simply “feel blessed to have these children.”

Susan Grandpre earned a B.A. in English from James Madison University and has been a freelance writer for nine years. She lives in Richmond with her husband and three children.

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