H.D. Hale, a local area pastor, and his wife answered the ad and took Robison in, after which he became a born again Christian at one of Hale's church services at the age of 14. He has talked often about his childhood, about the strained relationship with his biological father, who was an alcoholic, and whom he would wind up confronting in a violent manner at the age of 15. Robison eventually met his wife, Betty Freeman, while a student at Pasadena High School, and they wed on February 23, 1963, when both were 19.