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A stepfamily or blended family is a family where at least one parent has children, from a previous relationship, that are not genetically related to the other parent. Either one or both parents may have children from a previous relationship. Children from a stepfamily may live with one biological parent, or they may live with each biological parent for a period of time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Teen Health: Living with a Stepparent )〕 In addition, visitation rights mean that children in stepfamilies often have contact with both biological parents, even if they permanently live with only one. A child is referred to as the stepchild, stepdaughter or stepson of their biological parent's new spouse, and that person as the stepparent, stepfather or stepmother of the child. A stepfather is the husband of one's mother and not one's natural father.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=stepfather )〕 A stepmother is one's father’s wife and not one's natural mother.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Stepmother )〕 Similarly, a stepbrother is the son of a stepparent who one is not biologically related to. A stepsister is the daughter of a stepparent to whom one is not biologically related. A parent's spouse of the same sex could also count as a stepparent. Alternatively in Australia Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) a ‘stepparent’ in relation to a child, is interpreted as a person who is not a parent of the child; and is, or has been, married to or a de facto partner of, a parent of the child; and treats, or at any time while married to, or a de facto partner of, the parent treated, the child as a member of the family formed with the parent.〔(http://www.stepfamily.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Stepparents-Rights-and-Responsibilities-in-Australia2.pdf)〕 The traditional and strictest definition of a "stepfamily" is a married couple where one or both members of the couple have pre-existing children who live with them.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.adopting.org/uni/frame.php?url=http://www.shpm.com/articles/parenting/families.html )〕 More recently, the definition is often expanded to include all cohabiting couples, whether married or not.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=adopting.org )〕 Some people also apply the term to non-custodial relationships, where "stepparent" can refer to the partner of a parent with whom the child does not live.〔(National Stepfamily Resource Center ) 〕 The term is not generally used (but can be in individual cases) to refer to the relationship with an adult child who never lived in the home with the parent's new partner. A "simple" stepfamily is one in which only one member of the couple has a prior child or children and the couple has not yet had additional children. When both members of the couple have at least one pre-existing child, the new family is "complex" or "blended" from the start; if only one member has one or more prior children but the couple has another child together, the "complex"/"blended" designation replaces the "simple" designation upon the birth of the new child.〔See, ''e.g.'', http://www.bccf.ca/professionals/blog/2012-09/canadian-stepfamilies-composition-and-complexity (British Columbia Council for Families; source uses Canadian English).〕 If both members of the couple have prior children, those children are stepbrothers and stepsisters to one another. Any subsequent child born to the couple is a half-sibling of the respective members' prior children. If a stepparent legally adopts the partner's child or children, he or she becomes the child's legal parent. In such cases, the parents may stop using the terms "stepparent" and "stepchild" and instead refer to the child simply as their son or daughter; depending on the child's degree of affinity for the adoptive parent and/or approval of the legal proceedings culminating in the child's adoption, the child may likewise drop the "step-" designation from his/her description of the relationship. Even when all parties describe the relationship using the terms applied to biological and adoptive families, however, at least some of the emotional and psychological issues common to stepfamilies may persist. Conversely, many stepparents who do not adopt their children and many stepchildren who are not adopted bond with their stepfamily just as closely as most members of biological and adoptive families bond with each other. ==Statistics== Statistics in the United States are difficult to come by, because the U.S. Census Bureau has discontinued providing estimates of marriage, divorce, and remarriage except for those that are available from the 1990 and earlier censuses.〔 * The most common form of a blended family is a mother and stepfather arrangement, since mothers often maintain custody of the children.〔 * One-third of all children entering stepfamilies were born to an unmarried mother; the other two-thirds of cases involve divorce or the death of one parent.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=adopting.org, quoting the National Survey of Families and Households )〕 * Of the 60 million American children under the age of 13, half are currently living with one biological parent and that parent's current partner.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=stepfamily.org, quoting the U.S. Bureau of Census )〕 * The 1990 U.S. census estimated that by the year 2000 there would be more stepfamilies than original families.〔 * If only children residing in legally married stepfamilies are included, 23% of U.S. children would be designated as living in a stepfamily; when children are included who live with a cohabiting parent, the figure rises to 30%.〔National Stepfamily Resource Center, quoting Bumpass, Raley, and Sweet, 1995, (The changing character of stepfamilies: Implications of cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing ), Demography 32, 425–436. 〕 In the United States, it is estimated that in 1987, 60 million adults and 20 million children were in stepfamilies, almost 1/3 of the U.S. population. If this trend continues, people in stepfamilies may make up half of the population by the next century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stepfamily」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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