Wednesday's Child: 2 boys find their forever family in the same loving home
BOSTON - When Angel Maldonado and Leonard Norton met 21 years ago, they didn't think they would be able to give a child a forever home.
"When we came out way back when, it wasn't an option to get married it wasn't an option to have children," Norton told WBZ-TV.
That all changed in 2016 when the couple decided to start the process of becoming foster parents.
"We're like there are so many children that just need a little, even if it's temporary, a little bit of love," Norton said.
A year later, they met 6-year-old Jesse and both knew he was going to be their son.
"He was a mess and I go, that's my kid and we both almost said it at the same time. It was like that gut feeling," Norton said.
"Jesse is almost in a way like a copy of me. We have the same temperament and the same challenges when it comes to being outgoing. But he's also very sensitive, a very sweet kid," Maldonado said.
They were not done. A year after giving Jesse a home, they applied to be re-licensed foster parents and that's when they met Jaycob.
"I remember the first time we were actually hanging out with Jake, we were in line at a meet and greet and he told another kid that this is going to be my dad and that's going to be my brother and you just kind of know," Maldonado told WBZ.
"Jake and my personality tend to be a lot alike. Jake is very witty, he's very outgoing," Norton said.
Jesse and Jaycob are now brothers and this is the process of what starting a forever family looks like.
"Our goal was to know that these are the kids that we can help the best and that is how we went about picking the kids that we knew we had the resources to help them," Maldonado said.
They have a family wall in the living room with pictures of their new aunts and uncles.
"So all of these people here are not our biological family, they are people that we have chosen throughout our life that are important and we want to instill the values that they have into them and this is all their aunties and uncles," Norton told WBZ.
Now their house has the feel of two boys growing up together.
"They have embraced brotherhood and all the aspects of it, the good and the bad, and they really like seeking each other out," Maldonado said.
"The way I feel they are like brothers is when they fight and they bicker because having a brother and he has two brothers. You can't be more brotherly than when you are wrestling on the ground," said Norton.
Jesse and Jaycob love their dads and they're happy to have their forever home.
"I think personally that I have a home now. I won't be like, knowing that I have a family now and I have people that support me," 13-year-old Jesse told WBZ.
"I'm like okay, finally, I'm done with the process of going from home to home and I know there's people who finally I'm with for my youth," said 12-year-old Jaycob.
And there could be another sibling added in the future.
"Never say never," Maldonado told WBZ.
For more information on adoption, you can contact MARE: 617-964-MARE (6273) or visit www.mareinc.org.
Since its inception in 1981, Wednesday's Child has been a collaboration of the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE), the Department of Children & Families and WBZ-TV/CBS Boston. Hosted by Jack Williams for 34 years, this weekly series has given a face and voice to the children who wait the longest for families. Wednesday's Child has helped find homes for hundreds of waiting children and continues to raise awareness about adoption from foster care.
