Making a contribution, one child at a time - Fall 2007 Wartburg Magazine - Wartburg College

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Making a contribution,
one child at a time

In the last 20 years, Nancy and Paul Magnall have been foster parents to more than 150 children.

More than 20 years ago, an evening newscast changed the lives of Paul and Nancy Magnall.

While watching KWWL-TV anchor Ron Steele’s “Iowa’s Child,” Nancy discovered a way to help the community and stay home with her two children.

Two decades later, she and Paul, associate professor of business, have offered a foster home to more than 150 children. Nancy is an adoption information specialist for the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association.

After becoming certified foster and adoptive parents, the Magnalls began welcoming kids, specifically medically fragile children.

Between taking the children to their various appointments and working, the Magnalls are quite busy. “Life can be pretty chaotic,” Nancy admitted with a smile. “You don’t have much of a social life. Wartburg has been flexible in (Paul’s) schedule. He has been able to take the children to appointments when I am out of town or with another child. We have an equal partnership.”

In addition to Nancy’s work, she has written several booklets on medication management and helping adopted children succeed in school.

Paul and Nancy hope their commitment to being foster and adoptive parents has helped their biological children, now grown, become better and more compassionate adults.

The Magnalls have learned a lot from their experiences. “I think we all come in with the idea that we need to rescue these children, but with help these parents become better parents— good parents,” Nancy said.

Some children have stayed with them as little as four hours, while others as long as three years. Some are weeks old, while others are nearing their 18th birthdays. “The last time we had a month without the placement of a new child was in the early 1990s,” said Paul.

In the past 20 years, the Magnalls have adopted one child, Andrew, who came to them as an infant. The majority of children returned to their original homes.

Emotions are mixed when a child leaves. “Each situation is different, and the feelings can range from a sense of relief if the child has been particularly difficult, to feelings of happiness for a child who has been waiting for an adoptive family, to satisfaction when we have successfully helped a child transition back to their birthparents,” said Nancy. “Of course, no matter what the situation, there are always some feelings of sadness and loss when you say goodbye to a child you have cared for and who has been part of your family.”

The Magnalls have stayed in contact with some of the children for whom they cared. “I think it is really neat to maintain the relationships (with the foster children). We’ve met for play dates … gone to weddings and graduations. We are ‘foster grandparents.’”

She recently received a call from an adult who was once in their care. “She told me that I taught her how to be a mom,” said Nancy. “Paul and I didn’t know if we had made a difference or not, but we did. Sometimes, regardless of how you feel, you make a bigger difference than you realize.”

Becker is an English major from Jesup, Iowa.