近距离内射合集

When Nicki Starr met her wife, she was adamant: no kids.

But years later, they celebrated Mother's Day alongside 10 kids, five adopted and five fosters. Since they began fostering 12 years ago, the couple has helped raise more than 100 foster children.

鈥淪he always had the maternal burn,鈥� Nicki Starr said of her wife, Marcy Starr. 鈥淪he always wanted to be a mom. Me? No, that's the last thing I wanted to be, a parent. And so I acquiesced to, 鈥業 don't want a baby. I don't want to adopt. But I will foster teenagers.鈥欌��

Whether it鈥檚 sitcom-sized families like the Starrs or single parents, the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department is always looking for people to step up and become foster parents.

鈥淐YFD is actively recruiting new foster families to 鈥榖e the village鈥� in a child's life,鈥� said CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson in a statement Friday. 鈥淏ecoming foster parents offers an opportunity to open your hearts and homes to a young person facing some of their most difficult moments and to make a transformative impact in their lives.鈥�

As of Friday, there were 2,164 children in CYFD custody and 1,774 licensed foster families, which include relatives and non-relative couples like the Starrs.

Marcy and Nicki Starr originally planned to foster LGBTQ teens, who are significantly overrepresented in the foster care system and among the population of homeless youth.

鈥淲e鈥檙e lesbians 鈥� if you couldn鈥檛 tell 鈥� so we felt like we had something to offer that community of kids,鈥� Nicki Starr said.

However, the plan to steer clear of diaper changing and potty training didn鈥檛 last long.

Twelve years ago, when a family friend came to the couple distraught that the infant they were fostering would be transferred to a group home in Farmington, Nicki Starr folded again.

Harmony Starr was a 1-year-old, bright-eyed baby girl. Because of the Indian Child Welfare Act 鈥� a federal law governing Native American children in the foster care system 鈥� she was going to be moved from her white foster family to a group home in Farmington.

The law was enacted after decades of forced family separation at boarding schools, a practice that continued in the foster care system even after the schools closed. It ensures that Native children are placed in Native American homes whenever possible, whether through extended family or group homes on or near reservations.

Because Harmony Starr had no family to care for her, officials scrambling to comply with the law decided a group home in Farmington would have to do. After hearing the news, the family friends came to Marcy Starr, a member of the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation, for help.

Despite Nicki Starr鈥檚 hesitancy, the couple said yes. Soon after being placed in their home, Marcy left for a business trip, leaving Nicki Starr and the baby she was originally so opposed to alone together for a week.

鈥淎ll you can do with a 1-year-old really is stare at each other,鈥� Nicki Starr said. 鈥淚t was just her and me and I can't tell you what happened. I don't know why it happened, but it was like a light switch and I became her mom. And from that day forward, I have stepped up and I鈥檓 a parent and I adore my kids.

鈥淚鈥檇 do anything for them 鈥� anything for them. And Ashley knows how I feel.鈥�

Ashley Rousseau, the biological mother of one of the couple鈥檚 five foster children nodded her head and tapped her bubblegum pink manicured fingers together in quiet applause.

Rousseau and the Starrs make an unusual pairing. Standing beside Marcy in her beaded coral necklace and cat-eye glasses and Nicki Starr in her sharp button-down, Rousseau, with her curly blonde slickback bun and butterfly neck tattoo, looks like the fun baby sitter or auntie.

Typically, foster parents and biological parents never see each other outside mandated visits and doctors' appointments, if at all, for safety reasons. In fact, in the Starrs鈥� 12 years of fostering, Rousseau is the only biological parent they鈥檝e trusted to visit their home. Nicki Starr cautioned other foster parents against forging such a relationship, calling theirs an exceedingly rare circumstance.

Despite initial misgivings, Rousseau quickly earned the couple鈥檚 trust, never missing a doctor鈥檚 appointment or visit. It was clear, the couple said, Rousseau was willing to do the work. This could be a success story.

Still, "hot mess" is Marcy Starr鈥檚 nickname for Rousseau, which she says lovingly but with a twinge of Southern snark.

鈥淚'm not an angel, I'm not perfect, but I love her way too much not to get it together,鈥� Rousseau said.

Her daughter, Haven Rousseau, a mousy-haired and ecstatic 8-year-old ran around the front yard clutching a heart-shaped rock Rousseau had found and gifted her. Marcy Starr called her 鈥渢wice exceptional,鈥� well-spoken and bursting with energy. Haven fit right in among the rowdy family.

But just seven months ago, Rousseau and her daughter lived a very different life. Rousseau had struggled with drug addiction for 14 years at that point, fentanyl and methamphetamine, a bad habit that started young.

鈥淲hen they took her from me, 12:30 in the morning, right off the couch, I went and got help, and then I used again and I鈥檓 like, 'What are you doing?鈥欌�� Rousseau said. 鈥淚鈥檓 throwing my child away, I鈥檓 throwing my love away for something I found more appeasing in the moment.鈥�

Rousseau hasn't used since.

Currently she works as a social worker, helping people turn their lives around the way she did, though she鈥檚 the first to admit that it鈥檚 still a work in progress. Rousseau helps people get signed up for government services, like Medicaid, but her most important certification isn鈥檛 on paper, it鈥檚 her lived experience.

She hopes to go on to secondary education, get her degree and become a counselor or correctional officer. Her ultimate goal: treat people better than she was treated and all without judgment.

鈥淚 wish I would鈥檝e had people around me that cared enough about me to be like, 鈥楬ey, I'm not judging you. Go get help,鈥欌�� Rousseau said.

Rousseau watched anxiously as the children raced back and forth in the yard and clambered in the limbs of a pine tree. As the sun set, Rousseau waited beneath a bough as the Starrs鈥� 17-year-old son lifted her daughter from a high branch.

鈥淒on鈥檛 you drop my baby,鈥� Rousseau said.

Nicki Starr looked on. The once staunch anti-parent couldn鈥檛 imagine her life any other way.

Gillian Barkhurst is a general assignment reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.