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Kinship and Family Systems

Stepfamily

Family Structures

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A stepfamily, sometimes called a bonus family, is a family in which at least one parent has children who are not biologically related to their spouse, with either or both parents in the couple potentially bringing children from a previous relationship or marriage into the new household. Family scholars distinguish two main classifications: a simple stepfamily, in which only one member of the couple has a prior child or children and the couple has no children together, and a complex or blended stepfamily, in which both members of the couple bring at least one child from a previous relationship into the new family unit.

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The stepfamily reconstitutes a nuclear-family-like household structure around a remarried or repartnered parent and children from a prior relationship.

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