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BUCKHANNON – On any given day in French Creek, you might find Lynette Roby on the floor of her home, playing with her youngest children.

Now in her 50s, at an age when many people are contemplating retirement, Roby is embracing the ups and downs – and chaos and joy – of raising young children.

“I’m right there on the floor playing Legos with them,” Roby said. “Your age doesn’t really matter – you just have to have the heart and the desire to do it.”

That heart and desire led Roby to build an extraordinary extended family through birth, adoption and fostering. While balancing two jobs – managing a KFC part-time in Flatwoods and serving as a local coordinator for the nonprofit organization Foreign Links Around the Globe, or FLAG – she has fostered between 25 and 30 children over the years.

And she’s adopted twice: for the first time in 2008 and then again 16 years later in April of 2024. Her own difficult beginnings shaped her drive to become a mother to many.

“I didn’t have the best childhood,” she said. “So, I always said that when I was little or a teenager that, ‘When I get big, I’m going to open a home and be that adult that I never had.’”

Roby’s first foray into motherhood began with her first biological daughter, Keana, now 28.

After raising Keana alone for five years, she met her future husband, Mike Roby. When they faced fertility challenges, they began exploring fostering and adoption in 2007 and 2008.

“My husband Mike and I began taking fostering classes and getting licensed,” Roby said.

But the family’s story took an unexpected turn amid their first adoption journey.

“We started looking into foster care, and bam! We conceived,” she recalled.

What followed was a whirlwind of family building that would challenge even the most seasoned parent.

“We ended up having two little boys of our own, so between the two that we had, the two that we adopted, and a little nephew of mine I had adopted, I had five toddler boys,” Roby said. “They were ages 18 months to five years old, and it was amazing.”

Mike Roby loved fishing with his boys back then.

“When I would take them fishing, which we did a lot; they would all go with me,” he said. “We went fishing in the summertime and even through trout season in January and February, so we fished like crazy. We were all over the state fishing in every river we could think of.”

Since those days, Lynette Roby’s home has remained a haven for children who need both temporary and permanent homes.

Though her marriage to Mike eventually ended, the ex-couple’s commitment to co-parenting has remained unwavering. This proved especially important when, three years ago, Roby agreed to foster two young sisters in a dire situation in desperate need of a home.

The temporary arrangement became permanent on April 11, 2024, when she adopted the girls, then aged 3 and 5 – now 6 and 8. She had worked with local attorney Daya Wright back in 2008, and Roby said the choice was clear again in 2024 because of Wright’s kindness and competency.

“She is just such an amazingly kind lady and such an asset to this community,” Roby said.

Wright brings slap bracelets that read ‘Love Makes A Family’ to adoption court proceedings and typically has pop-its for kids to play with and photo backgrounds against which new families can capture the moment.

“I contend that kids are visually different when they walk in and out of an adoption hearing,” she said. “And if they’re old enough to realize it, there’s this sense of pride that ‘they’re going to love me forever, no matter what.’ You are linking souls in the universe that were meant to be linked but just hadn’t found each other yet.”

Roby emphasized that it takes a village, and the steadfast support of Mike, her siblings and family members has enabled her to provide for the two little girls she adopted in April, both financially and emotionally.

“Mike has been amazing to them and is their dad,” Roby said. “He takes them to school, and we share them together, as the girls spend as much time with him during the week and weekends. He has taken care of them every summer, snow days, and any time I need him for the last few years so that I can work.”

Mike Roby fully subscribes to the philosophy that ‘Love Makes a Family.’

“When our kids were growing up, we always made sure that our [biological children] blended right in with our foster kids,” he said. “They’re our kids, no matter – and that was something that was always important for me, to make sure that we treated everybody the same.”

“And our daughters now, I just love them,” he said. “I love them, and it’s great for me, being retired and raising them because they keep me busy. They’re six and eight, so they’re active; they have sports, they have Girl Scouts, they have things that they do, and between Lynn and I, we make sure it happens.”

And just when Roby had decided her family might be complete, she received an emergency call a couple of months ago about two young brothers – one of whom was 2 years old at the time – in need of immediate placement.

“They’re still with me now, and they’re just wonderful, wonderful little boys,” she said. “I’m single now, so my life is just these kids. I know I’m getting older, but it’s just about giving back because there’s so much local need – it’s hard to believe.”

Working to support her family, Roby sees her role as a foster parent as her way of giving back to the community when giving large financial donations isn’t possible.

“It’s a great way to give back to our community,” Roby said. “I know sometimes you’ll hear stories that aren’t as positive, but there are far more positive stories, and it’s amazing just giving back to our community in that way.”

Her own childhood has given her unique insight.

“I’ve kind of been through it, so I can relate to some of these [behavioral issues] in children,” she said. “Now that I’m older, it’s like, ‘I’ve done this – I’ve been there,’ and you learn from the earlier experiences – everyone has their own baggage. I try not to judge these kids – each has been through it in their own unique way, so I would say to anyone considering fostering and adopting, keep an open heart and an open mind.”

For anyone considering fostering or adoption, Roby emphasized there’s no single “right” type of parent.

“Single, married, retired – whatever,” she said. “Just give it a go; you never know until you try, and the positives outweigh the bad experiences.”

Rachel Kinder is the director of the Frameworks program, which operates under the umbrella of Mission WV to provide information and resources to help foster and/or adoptive parents attain certification. She agreed there are many misconceptions about swirling around.

“There are a lot of people who think you have to be married to adopt or foster, but it can really be just about any family composition – single, married, divorced, same-sex couples, cohabitating – all of those can become certified,” Kinder said. “Those are a lot of the misconceptions we clear up. You can work full-time and be a foster parent. You don’t have to own your own home; you can rent.”

Mission WV contracts with the Department of Human Services to assist families or individuals while they work to achieve certification through one of the 10 private adoption agencies – Roby utilizes NECCO – in the state, Kinder explained.

“We are the only neutral information and referral source in the state, so we don’t certify families, but we are an information hub for anyone who wants to be a foster or adoptive family,” she said.

Roby’s journey, while rewarding, hasn’t always been smooth sailing, so is she up to the challenge of adopting for a third time?

“Who knows what the future holds?” she said. “I love these boys unconditionally as my own, but if I could say one thing about fostering and adopting, it isn’t easy – that’s for sure – but it is so worth it when you start to see the children blossoming in your care.”