Divorced & Blended Family

   Kela Price, the CEO and publisher of Today's Modern Family Blog, says, "Think of it as an important business project; you don't always love the person that you're working with, but you work together to get the project done.  Co-parents need to adopt this same business model when co-parenting their children."

   Brittany Herdt, a 21-year-old server at Uncle Julio's restaurant, is the daughter of divorced parents.  When Brittany was just three her parents, Stacey and Bruce, split up.  She has one brother, Zachary, who is 19-years-old.  Below is a picture of Brittany and Zachary.

   Brittany's mom is remarried to her stepfather, Kevin.  They have been married for 15 years.  They have two children together.  Faith is 13-years-old and Bryce is 9-years-old. 

   Brittany's dad is remarried to her stepmother, Monica.  They have been married for 10 years.  Monica has one son.  His name is Brennan and he is 17-years-old.

   Brittany lives on her own now, but she used to live primarily with her dad and stepmom.  Brittany says, "Growing up, my parents got along really well.  We always did stuff together as a whole family.  When Zachary and I got older though, my parents started to argue a lot about money.  Now they don't speak at all.  Zachary and I have always been really close growing up and we are still really close.  I am not as close to Brennan, Faith, and Bryce because they are a lot younger and I am not around as much."

Divorced Parents

   The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there are 2,077,000 marriages in the United States.  The marriage rate is 6.8 per 1,000 total population.  The divorce rate is 3.4 per 1,000 population.
   Brittany Skinner, a senior at George Mason University, is the daughter of divorced parents.  Brittany has one older sister and one younger sister.  Her parents, Alan and Carol, got divorced when Brittany was just 12-years-old.
   Brittany's older sister knew that the divorce was going to happen and had prepared herself for it.  Brittany was very upset when she found out and was very angry.  She really took it out on her mom because her dad had moved out.  Brittany's younger sister took it the hardest.  She wouldn't talk to her mom for a while.
   Brittany and her sisters eventually came around and began to work on their relationships with each other and their parents.  Brittany says, "My sisters and I had differing opinions about the divorce and we clashed a lot, but we tried to understand and respect each other.  My dad and I used to not get along very well, but after the divorce we got a lot closer.  I am close to my mom, but my dad and I have a very special relationship.  Now that I am older I understand why they divorced and I am grateful for the relationships that I have with both of my sisters and both of my parents."

Brittany with her sisters & dad

Brittany with her sisters & mom

Army Family

   According to www.goarmy.com, nothing matters more to the United States Army than providing the best education and experience possible for families.  Army benefits extend to all children in a family.
   When a family has to move to a new post, one of the biggest concerns is where the children are going to attend school.  There is usually a school liaison who is available to help parents and children adjust to the new school and their ways of doing things.  This is the army's way of ensuring that the move and transition go as smoothly as possible.
   Stephanie Quintero is the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Gary Quintero.  He entered the army when he was 22-years-old.  He met his future wife, Patrice, in Alaska.  They eventually began a family in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
   Stephanie started school in Canada, but transferred to a different school in Alabama for 2nd grade.  She then attended grades three through five in Georgia.  Stephanie attended 6th grade out in California and finally transferred in 7th grade to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she finally finished high school.
  Stephanie lives with both of her parents and her five siblings.  Stephanie says, "I liked moving around when I was little because it was really exciting, but I began to hate it when I got a bit older.  I started making friends and it became hard to leave and start over.  Now that I am much older and have been settled for a while, I actually appreciate being in an army family.  I got to see and experience so many different things that I otherwise never would have seen."
   Stephanie is really close to both of her parents and her five siblings.  Below is a picture of the Quintero family.

Quintero family December 2010

Traditional Family

   Marriage is one of the oldest institutions in history.  Nowadays divorce is so common and it is difficult to come across a traditional family.  According to Enrichment Journal, the divorce rate in America for first marriages is 41 percent.

   Julia DiFillippo, a senior at George Mason University, grew up in what most consider to be a traditional family.  Her parents, Phil and Connie, have been married for 34 years and have three daughters.  Marie is 26-years-old and a law student at Temple University.  Anna is 23-years-old and a recent graduate of St. Joe’s University.  Julia is 21-years-old and will be graduating in May of 2012.

   Julia is very close to both of her parents and both of her sisters.  She says, “My dad is a riot and my mom is so sweet, I really don’t know how they ended up together.  We’re not rich, but my parents always provided really well for us.  We had a fulfilling childhood.” 

   This past summer, the DiFillippo’s took a family trip to Rome, Italy, and Munich.  Julia says, “This trip is the first real trip we ever did as a family.  We all enjoyed it so much, especially my mom.  She really cherishes all of the memories we made together."  Below is a picture of the DiFillippo family in front of the Vatican on their family trip.  

LGBT

   Adoption is a beautiful thing.  Children all over the world need homes and there are plenty of adults who cannot have children of their own who would like to adopt.  Included in this category are members of the LGBT community.
   Adoptions Together has a proud history of building families with partnered couples.  The number of LGBT families working with Adoptions Together continues to grow each year.  They fully believe in adoption equality.
   A lot of people look down upon the idea of same-sex partners raising a child.  However, sometimes same-sex parents can provide a more loving and stable home than a man and a woman can.
   Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old male from the state of Iowa, speaks out about being raised by two lesbians.  In the video below, Zach addresses the Iowa House of Representatives.

   In this video, Zach says, "It comes from the love that binds us, that's what makes a family."  This is a powerful statement about what a family is.  He also says, "The sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character."  He speaks about his life experience being raised by same-sex parents and makes an irrefutable argument as to what family really is. 

   To add some humor, the following clip from Modern Family also demonstrates what it is like to be same-sex parents.  Cameron and Mitchell are repeatedly put down by Cameron's father, Jay.  In this clip, Jay finally makes a step toward accepting his son, his son's partner, and his new granddaughter. 

        

For more information on Adoptions Together, click here.