ABSTRACT
Imported families restore the previous family in the new unit as if it were the original family. Imported families tend to be structurally simple stepfamilies, that is, families into which only one spouse brings a child from a previous marriage. The husband has frequently never been married before or was in a childless previous marriage. Even though they are less typical, imported families with more than one child and with children of both spouses do exist. While integrated families live in a combination of the past and the present and invented families live the present and eliminate the past, imported families live the past in the present. Unlike invented families that ignore the past, imported families “mask” it. In some imported families the taking over of roles by a stepparent is supported by the noncustodial natural parent. Many imported families continue to live in the residence of one of the spouses, often without total renovations.
