Stepfamilies - A Reading List

Collection Development: Stepfamily Ties - 4/1/2009 - Library Journal

Yet a Brady Bunch nation we are not for two reasons: 1) most stepfamilies don't have the luxury of a live-in cleaning lady like Alice, and 2) stepfamily configurations go beyond the classic two adults who are legally married (or cohabitating) to share in parenting children from earlier relationships (and/or share children together). Things get complex with noncustodial stepfamilies, i.e., those with children from multiple relationships, gay and lesbian parents, situations where adults "step" in after the death of a parent (the origin of the term stepparent), and adult stepfamilies (those comprised of people who remarry after their children are grown).

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This article focuses on resources for building successful stepfamilies and parenting children in stepfamily scenarios. While remarriage after divorce is the basis of most stepfamilies, divorced parenting differs from stepfamily parenting and is covered only peripherally here. (For more in-depth information on parenting and divorce, see Lord's "The Binuclear Family Boom," Collection Development, LJ 9/1/05; for a nuanced treatment of gay parenting, see Lynne Maxwell's "Building Rainbow Families," LJ 4/1/08.)

After drafting this post, I ran across Survival Guide for Step Parents: Five Secrets to Enjoying Your Stepchildren from The Ohio Family Law blog. I think the five points made there are very godo - and I am speaking also as a step-parent.