At 12, he was separated from his siblings and placed in foster care. He didn’t see his youngest brother again until he was 16. So when he found five siblings being split between three different homes — he said no. Not again.
Robert Carter, 29, a cosmetologist and wig shop owner from Cincinnati, Ohio, knew exactly what sibling separation felt like.
“I didn’t eat for a week. I didn’t know where my family was. I didn’t know if I would ever see them again. It was traumatizing.”
In 2019 he began fostering three brothers — Robert Jr., Giovanni, and Kiontae. Then he found out they had two sisters somewhere in the system. The five hadn’t seen each other in six months.
He arranged a reunion.
“Everybody was just crying and hugging and not wanting to let go. In that moment, I knew I had to adopt all five.”
He got a bigger house. He filed the paperwork.
His adoption case manager said she had never — in her entire career — seen a single father adopt five children at once.
On National Adoption Day, October 30, 2020, Robert Carter became the legal father of Marionna, 10, Makayla, 8, Robert Jr., 9, Giovanni, 5, and Kiontae, 4.
The oldest — Marionna — had been the mother figure of the group for longer than any 10-year-old should have to be. She took the longest to trust him.
One night she walked into his room.
“I just want to say thanks for taking us in and taking care of us when our real mom couldn’t.”
Robert said it touched him more than anything else in his life.
A GoFundMe raised over $130,000 for the family. His former partner still helps raise all five children, who call him their “Papa.”
“They give me purpose,” Robert said. “Making memories — to replace a lot of the bad ones.”
