to get cross about the whole half thing

[Socknickingpixie]

if you live in the same house and have since birth and you concider yourself to be proper brothers and sisters then why would anybody challenge that.

i have a brother and sister they are mine and i love them very much, my brothers dad died befor he was born so apparently according to some people that invalidates our relationship as apparently we are only half brother and sister. i didnt even know we wernt concidered as such untill i was a grown up and would have been very hurt if it had ever been said to me,hes my big brother and thats that as far as we are both concerned.
equally as such all my children have been brought up as siblings since they were born but because one of them has a different dad people think thats ok to single one of them out as only a half sibling.
its usually formal paperwork or people who are putting a negative slant on what they are saying that do this and it really bugs me.things like 'he's only his half brother' usually said with in hearing of the kids.

its different if the child decides when there old enough to understand that they wish to use these terms.but why on earth do people think its ok to provide this family sepperation as a point of principal. i can understand it if they live in different houses or havent been treated as brother and sister and yes some brothers and sisters have different dads or mums but to my way of thinking that shouldnt impact on there ability to not only have a full and loving relationship with each other but that relationship should be able to have just as much validity to it as brothers and sisters with the exact same parents.

rant over now, so is this reasonable or not

I have a brother and also a step brother. My step mother came into my life at 17 as did her then 24 year old son. Roll on 10 years, he is my brother and she may as well be my mother. I have a much better relationship with her than I do my own mum and although I see my own mum a lot the relationship is different. My step mum and I are so alike you would honestly think I was hers. My step brother is as much of an annoyance as my full brother . Infact I often recount things such as holidays as if he knows about it until he says "before my time sis" it feels like he has always been here with us and I count him as my brother just as much as my full brother.

I told my BIL recently that I was going to start calling him my brother. I've known him 32 years and think of him like my brother. I know he's not really but that's how I feel. Family ties and love are not created in courts and legalese. YANBU

I have a friend (use the word not quite in the truest way he's a bit of a dick at times) he has 2 children from his first marrige 3 from his second his first wife has the same 2 plus 2 from her second. He refers to all HIS children as brothers and sisters but the exw's 2 other children as half brothers.clearly if he were just being factual his youngest 3 would also be half's. He will actually go out of his way to correct his eldest kids when they talk about there mums younger kids placing much emphasis on half but if they called his younger ones half's he would correct that. Incidently he is now divorced from 2nd wife and all the kids live with there respective mothers

I am much closer to my half sister than my full brother. Not that i ever think of them like that. My sister is older and has been there my whole life. My brother is younger and has much less in common.

If people think that half siblings can't be as close as full siblings then they're idiots.

But I know I would make note of the fact that people are half siblings, even though I wouldn't necessarily say something. It is the physical reality, and can have quite a few other consequences.

Someone's new DH who is to all intents and purposes a father to children who aren't genetically his, could have parents who favour only those grandchildren who are biologically theirs. The biological father could have access every second weekend so whole of family activities have to be timed for when the family is together, or, (as has happened in my family) there is a genetic predisposition to a condition/illness which clearly would not impact on those not genetically connected.

In my family I have the whole mix. I have an aunt who is actually my dad's cousin - but felt like a big sister to us, (and in our case we were able to track a medical condition as it has shown itself in her daughters so we KNOW which genetic line of the family the condition has come through.) I have a DSis whose DC have step sisters and a half sister, but are closer to the step sisters as they live together and barely see the half sister. Another DSis whose DC have half brothers who are finally developing a closer relationship (in both cases the biological father to the half siblings is a complete idiot and has nothing to do with any of them!), and an adopted niece who is of a different race so is visibly not biological related.

YADNBU
My 'half' brother and I are closer than most 'full' siblings. Anyone who would wish to challenge that would be invited to bite me.
I love my bro.

I have 3 DC's, the eldest 2 have the same father (my Exh) and my youngest is my DP's, they have all grown up together and refere to each other as brothers, the word half is never mentioned. They get quite arsey when people say that they are "half" brothers.

They are incredibly close and have a good relationship with each other, my younger 2 have a better relationship than my eldest and middle son who are techically "full" brothers.

I have one sister with the same parents. I also have 2 sisters and a brother with one same parent and one different parent. I have never lived with or see my sisters often. But they're my sisters. My brother I have lived with from when he was born till when he was 5. He is my brother.

My son has no brothers or sisters. But has a best friend who stays here a lot. They think of each other as brothers and who are we to tell them otherwise?

My boyfriend has 3 kids. One from when he was young and 2 from A later marriage. They are all brothers and sisters. Not only that, but both mothers are friends now and are friends with my bf still. The mother of the first child has 2 other children from a later marriage. All the kids class themselves as brothers and sisters linked by the oldest child iyswim.... Bit complicated to explain haha.

If you think of someone as your brother or sister and someone says 'they're just your half sister' just say 'no that's my sister'

End of conversation