RETIRING from work? Then it might be time to think about raising a family. Some brave older adults are turning the idea of retirement on its head by choosing to adopt children — this when many of their peers are traveling, socializing, taking up intellectual or entrepreneurial pursuits, or just plain relaxing.

Some of these older parents are empty-nesters who apparently didn’t have their fill of child-rearing the first time around. Others are grandparents or older blood relatives of parents unable to care for their own children. Still others never had children, and finally have the time, desire and means to give it a go. In most cases, the children are older and have special needs; it is rare for an older adult to adopt an infant, according to national adoption groups.

“We’ve always thought that more retired people ought to adopt kids instead of play golf,” said Rebecca Gawboy, 60, who along with her husband, Jim, 76, is taking care of 12 adopted children ranging in age from 8 to 19. They live in a nine-bedroom house on a farm in Tower, Minn., in the northern part of the state.

This is the second marriage for both Ms. Gawboy, a retired community organizer, and Mr. Gawboy, a retired game warden. They each have three adult children (one of Ms. Gawboy’s adult children is adopted, too), and a total of 11 grandchildren. “I was the adored child of older parents,” Ms. Gawboy said. “My brother and I lived an idyllic childhood.” She eventually realized that her childhood had been “an astonishing gift” and knew she had to try to give back.