Issues Within Remarriage

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Issues Within Remarriage

Initial stressing issues are a highly responsible for issues that appear in the future. Many times the biological parent is caught in the middle between the stepparent and her children. Introducing a stepparent can often be very strenuous to the biological parent. Remarriage sometimes involves a re-location to another town. The geographic move can cause stress in the children's school, the child's peer group, and many other places. This move may also make the issue of seeing the absent parent difficult. (Crosbie-Burnett, 1989)

The age that remarriage occur is also an issue in the success of the remarriage. Children under the age of five have shown positive effects from remarriage. School age children have shown to be more vulnerable to remarriage stressors than non school age children. School age children are much more aware of the stress of remarriage. (Crosbie-Burnett, 1989)

Initial family issues occur early in the process of forming a combined family unit. These issues might even form during the dating period of the partners. Initial issues don't start when the marriage certificate is signed, but when the children first learn of the relationship. Counselors can analyze the situation before the formalization of the relationship and plan an appropriate way to handle the issues they find.

In remarried families the role of the new parent is often unknown. Children are routinely placed in situations where they have to label the new members of their family. Counselors suggest that talking with the children and agreeing on a comfortable name for the new family members is a good idea. (Walsh, 1992)

Loyalty to the absent biological parent is an issue in remarriage. Many children feel a loyalty to the absent parent and are reluctant to show affection to the stepparent. Children often feel that the absent parent will get upset or be offended if they show affection or likeness towards the stepparent. Stepparents feel that the relationship with the biological parent will undermine the relationship they are trying to have with the child. (Walsh, 1992)

Loss of a biological parent can also cause issues of lack of closeness in the remarried family. Children are grief stricken and often angry after the loss of a parent. The issue of losing a parent needs to be resolved before any successful remarriage can occur.

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