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Love makes a family.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Mar 17, 2023
Families come in all different forms. Whether the ties are biological or not, a family can be defined as a group of people who live together or separately, yet above all, care for one another.
While some families are just two people in a relationship with each other, other families are formed by having children. The rise in blended families highlights the different ways families can be created.
One man became a father later in life when he married his wife, who has a daughter from a previous relationship.
The dad felt ‘over the moon’ that his stepdaughter asked him to adopt her ‘legally and lovingly.’
He wrote into the r/Parenting subreddit to share the story of how he became a parent.
He explained that he and his stepdaughter “got on amazingly.” He acted as a supportive adult in her life by setting up a college fund for her and supporting her through therapy, as her biological dad had been imprisoned due to abuse.
On the day that he and his wife got married, his stepdaughter asked if they could all talk privately. His stepdaughter “explained how happy she was for both of us, but there was something else nagging her.” The teen told him, “you and mum are together now legally and lovingly and I also want to be part of that.”
“She went to her backpack and pulled out adoption forms that she found online,” the man explained. “She started bawling and stuttering, ‘I know you’re not my dad and all but I want you to be.’”
His stepdaughter exclaimed, ‘I love you both and I want it to be official.’
The man reported, “I was crying by this point. I told her of course I would.”
“I’m honestly over the moon,” he said. “I have an amazing wife and an amazing daughter and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.”
According to a 2015 Pew Research Center report titled “The American Family Today,” there’s been a steady decline in the number of two-parent households as divorce, remarriage, and cohabitation between unmarried partners rise in prevalence.
The report stated that “there is no longer one dominant family form in the US,” and that the definition of family was becoming more fluid to reflect societal changes. At the time of the study, it was reported that 62% of children in the US lived with two married parents. 15% of children were living with parents who had remarried. According to the report, 16% of children in the US lived in “blended families,” which was defined as a household with a stepparent, stepsibling, or half-sibling.”
This data shows that family structures in the United States are shifting, and will continue to change form.
Families aren’t necessarily dependent on marital status. Above all, a family is composed of people who love each other, and that’s what matters in this world.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.