BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org



Thousands of baby boomers aging alone are looking for families to “adopt” them.



“Elder orphans,” or unbefriended adults, are seniors without children, partners or close relatives. Now there’s a new Facebook group with more than 5,000 members to help them find support as they age.



Although many members value their independence, most will eventually need care or assistance with basic needs — help that most seniors depend upon family members to provide.



Carol Marak, editor of the website SeniorCare.com, started this new social media initiative.



“How many families are maybe without an older individual, or maybe they have lost their parents or they have lost their grandmother? Of course, it requires a lot of forethought, and even some help with legal matters, but I think adopting is an option,” Marak told WBUR’s Here and Now.



As the massive baby boomer population ages, similar support groups for seniors will likely become more common.



About 20 percent of U.S. women reach their 50s without having children, up from ten percent in the 1970s, according to a troubling report on caregiving from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

One-third of middle-age adults are single as they approach their retirement years, after never marrying, divorce or widowhood.



The Elder Orphans group is restricted to individuals 55 and older who live without a spouse or children.



“Most of the members are very grateful to have found us, and realize that there are so many more like them,” Marack said. “We all share the same grievances, the same hardships and challenges.”