ABSTRACT
There was a time when everyone knew or at least thought they knew what a family was. A father, a mother, and a couple of children was the image that immediately leapt to mind and was strongly promoted on television and in the print media. The family arrangements discussed in this chapter are not oddities, curiosities, or problems. Nor are they particularly rare. These situations encompass millions of children, parents, and grandchildren. Even after being approved for adoption, the process can be nerve-wracking. In some cases, parents wait anxiously, fearful that the birth parents might renege and decide at the last minute to keep the child. In others, there is little advance notice when a child becomes available, and they become instant parents. Homosexuals frequently find it difficult to get their families to accept their lifestyle and their partners. In Jewish families, intermarriage has traditionally been every parent's worst nightmare.
