Cabral began her family while still in college, causing her to delay her education by several years. She had her first child, Raquel, by the age of 20 with the remainder coming in the following five years. When she returned to school and to work, Cabral brought some of her children along. She recalls that while on Capitol Hill, her kids would fish for loose change at the vending machines: "They'd routinely come up with $20 or $30." At Harvard, her son Victor—then three years old—would ask her professor questions despite her best efforts to quiet him.