The Winnipeg Free Press Online Edition

IT has been estimated that one in three Canadian children live in a blended family.

And many of these kids will experience divorce more than once, because the divorce rate for second marriages is even higher than for first marriages. In the U.S., it’s estimated 10 per cent of children go through three or more family breakups.

“There are a lot of challenges in having your first family,” says parent educator Lori Chrol, who will be leading a workshop on issues and help for blended families at the South Winnipeg Family Information Centre in May. “Add in a divorce and a new parent and those challenges multiply.”

The promise of a better family life isn’t quite delivered for many blended families due to the number of unique stresses that can outweigh the advantages of remarriage, particularly if both partners have children from other unions.

Read more Add family members and blend until smooth

Blended spaces

Stepchildren, stepparents and pseudo-siblings force families to creatively stretch their living spaces

When Rebecca and Robert Blanche married nine years ago they lived in a narrow three-bedroom house in Baton Rouge. There was plenty of space for the two of them and his four children from a previous marriage, who visited every other week.
But when his children started to live there most of the time, and the Blanches had a baby in 2000, things got a little crowded.

Read full story Blended spaces

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