Starting a step family (full time or part time) comes with many differing expectations and emotions, which will be confronting and new to you. It is important that clear boundaries are set from the start so that both adults and children know and understand their roles. These rules and boundaries help everybody feel more secure, and will help children to settle into the new or changing living arrangements.

Stepfamilies vary greatly.

• One or both adults can have a child or children from previous relationships;
• Children or young people of different ages when joining a stepfamily;
• One adult in the stepfamily might not have been a parent previously;
• and the new couple might have an additional child or children together.

It is unsurprising that in comparison to a ‘nuclear family’ there are other emotional and practical problems for both adults and children in a stepfamily to deal with.

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