Do you know of anyone who has adopted a young adult?

Not quite. My grandfather met my grandmother when she was only 14, and was orphaned. He wanted to adopt her, but the delays took 5 years, so he married her. They were married for the rest of their lives, and had 5 boys.

Woody Allen.

^^ Rim shot!

This story happened a long time ago, when I was a little kid (it had nothing to do with me though :p). There was an orphan girl who was hired by a couple of restaurant owners as a cheap worker. But the couple was also cruel and sadistic people. They could find faults in anything the girl did, however absurb it was, and punished her in the most horrible way imaginable. I have a feeling that the couple weren’t lpoking for a worker, but someone to satisfy their sadistic desire. She was raped, huminated, beaten, physically and emotionally abused… everyday for more than 15 years. The neighbors saw everything but the couple was a bunch of crooks and no one dared to help the girl. Eventually the story was published on the newspaper, maybe a journalist happened to discover the whole thing or someone finally had the gut to contact the authorities. The story became nationally famous. The police got to work and apprehended the evil couple and kept the girl in a safe place. The girl had now grown into a young woman, with full of scars and fear and no knowledge of the outside world. By this time everyone was already enraged by the couple and sympathetic for the woman. One person contacted the press to request to adopt her. That was the last thing I have heard about the story. I don’t know what happened next, but I do hope the woman is now leading a safe and happy life with whoever adopted her.

I know of an older man (in his forties) who adopted his young (early twenties) lover, because they could not be married. But by adopting him, they had mutual access for medical decisions and for inheritance and for joint property.

Liberace.

@Kardamom Pacific rim shot.

My ex had a sister adopted from Korea as a baby. She grew up to have emotional issues their mother could not cope with. They ended up putting her in the foster system here and she kept her two biological children. They were all close in age.
She went from place to place but was finally placed with an older, single guy that she now calls dad. He adopted her formally as a young adult and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve met here. She’s a respected nurse with two smart, happy sons.