ABSTRACT
Most of the literature investigates relationships that include at least one of the adults in the stepfamily. The families interviewed are clearly atypical in the high degree of post-divorce paternal involvement. Children’s ease or difficulty in accommodating to the birth of a mutual child and the ensuing quality of the halfsibling relationship is associated with the stage of the remarriage at the time of the birth, using Papernow’s model of stepfamily development. Some age differences emerge as clearly more propitious than others for halfsibling relationships. The pleasures of taking care of infants and the feelings of pride in changed status can occur independent of the stage of the remarriage. The age of a stepchild when a mutual child is born is inextricably linked to when in her developmental history other important family transitions occurred. The psychological warfare of the older child can be harder for parents to witness.
