Half Siblings

My brother is a half-sibling on my mums side and I have 4 half-sisters on my dads side.

I never really think of my brother as a half-sibling though as we grew up together and I love him unconditionally. We also had a crappy time of it when I was a teen and I pretty much raised him for some time so I feel closer to him than some of my friends do with their siblings.

I always knew about 3 of my half-sisters growing up (1 is quite a bit younger so my mum didn't know she had been born) but now that I've met two of them I don't feel that close to them at all. I didn't meet them until I was 19 and they were 25 & 27 so maybe that played a part in my feelings towards them. I don't think I will ever be as close to them as I am to my brother though.

I do.

I have an older half brother (same Dad) who I have never met, so obvs not close.

I have an older sister (same Mum) who I was brought up with (my Dad brought her up from 6 weeks old), and we were close growing up, until she became a phsycho biatch. I don't have anything to do with her.

I have a younger half brother and sister (same dad) who I have zero relationship with. My Dads ex gf didn't want them to have anything to do with my Dads other kids.

So, I was closer to my older sis, as she was always there, and we never thought of each other as half siblings.

I'm an only child so don't know what it's like but I find it odd that oh has a half brother out there somewhere that he's never met.

My Sisters are half sisters and I never think of them as such. I always knew that there Dad had died before I was born but my Dad always introduced us as "his three girls"

I have nothing to compare it too as I dont have any "full" siblings, I was a twin so its funny to think there should be two of me out there had everything gone to plan.

I havnt really answered your question have I?!

My biological 'father' has two daughters with another woman as well as me, my sister and my brother.

My Mum has had 6 children (+1 on way). The first 3 (I am the eldest) share the same parents. Number 4 has a different Dad. Numbers 5+6 share a Dad. Number 7 has a different Dad.

I have only met the eldest half sister once when I met my dad for the first time in 14 years. She was about 3 at the time. Obviously I'm not close to her or the other sister at all, nor am I close to my dad as he's basically not a dad to me and never has been. It is very strange for me knowing I have siblings out there in another country that I don't have a bond with.

I am very close to my sister and brother of whom I share both parents with. I treat child 4 differently and I hate myself for it but he is so much like his dad and his dad was terribly abusive towards us older 3 and I think that is why I can't bond with him.

Children 5+6 are a lot younger than me so rather than a sibling bond it is a maternal bond. I do their homework and pick them up from school etc. Baby number 7 will definitely come into the world with me acting like a mum rather than a big sister as there is an even bigger age gap there!

Omg my life is complicated.

I have a half brother (mum's child) and half sister (dads child), both were before I was born. The half brother was adopted at birth and I have no idea who/where he is. I often think about trying to find him but I feel it isn't my place to. As far as I have gathered growing up my mum was 'forced' to give him up and it would be very painful for her to have to confront everything (to my shock she has never been offered counselling despite being very young at the time).

I have met my half sister a few times, she has very little to do with my dad as her mother stopped him from seeing her until she was 19. I found it extremely difficult to form a relationship with her. We are very very different and I found it particularly strange to go from being the eldest to finding out my dad had another daughter. I haven't spoken to her in at least 5 years although we are friends on FB.

I would like to have more of a relationship with my half siblings but it is the family politics that stops me.

On my Mum's side, I have a half-brother who is a lot older than me. We are as close as we can be with such a huge age gap.

Now, my father's side.....

There is a girl - she is older than me and was adopted (as far as I know) by her step dad. I know her first name but nothing else about her.

Then there is a younger sister who I knew nothing about until I got a random email out of the blue asking if I was her sister. I was 19 at the time and it really upset me. I replied, but I made it clear that I didn't want a relationship. I think I was too immature to deal with the situation to be honest and sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I had got to know her.

Then, there are the others.... No one is entirely sure how many. My biological father is well travelled and he couldn't keep it in his pants, not even when he was married. I could have half-siblings anywhere and everywhere. For all I know, I could be one of 20. I don't think I could ever find them all.

If one of them contacted me now, I would probably act differently to how I did all those years ago. As it stands though, when anyone asks me if I have any siblings, I only tell them about my brother and I never mention that he is a half brother. As far as I am concerned, he is the best brother ever (even though he winds me up all the time and his jokes usually have me in sad tears not laughing ones!)

x

Mini, that's a really lovely story, and something new I have learnt about you.

I have a half brother who is older than me but l have never met him. I think about him from time to time and wonder what he is like.

My best friend and her half brother are close. They are quite similar in some ways. You wouldn't know they weren't full siblings and they never mention being half brother / sister

I don't have both, but I do have a paternal half brother, but I never see him as anything other than my brother. He is awesome, and he's just as much my sibling as my sister (who has both the same parents as me) as far as I'm concerned. I'm technically closer to my sister as there's a 15 yr age gap between me and my brother and a year between me and my sister but I still have the same feelings for both of them. It's hard to say without having one but as I love him and my 'full' sister equally, I imagine I would feel equal love for a maternal half sibling as him even though I was brought up by mum. I've never lived with my brother and he doesn't even live in the same country as me anymore but I love him to bits and he is very important to me.

❤️

I think this is pretty much what I wanted to hear and you have made me well up!! Thanks xxx

Thanks to everyone else for sharing too. It's really interesting to hear all of these family dynamics. I grew up in a house with mum, dad & brother. My parents have been together since they were teenagers so have no kids from previous relationships. I have no experience of stepfamilies as all of my friends are in the same situation as me with parents still together and only full siblings. Because of this, I have no idea how my step-kids might feel towards my daughter. Here is the family dynamic:

H Married No1 and had two children. They split up and No1 remarried and had 4 more kids with new husband who has an older son.

H then married No2, had one child and then split up soon after. No2 then had a daughter with P who has an older daughter.

H married me and we have a daughter (i have no other kids). As you can see, there are loads of half and step siblings to deal with there and I would be gutted to think that any of the kids thought of my daughter differently than their maternal half siblings.

I think if they're brought up together and get to see each other quite often they should be closer than I am to my half-sisters.

OH's nieces (K&S) for instance are maternal half-sisters and the eldest (K) has a paternal half-sister (C). K sees C as just as much of a sister as she does S because K is with C every weekend at their dads house.

My parents married young and had my 'full' brother and then 4 1/2 years later me. They split before my first birthday. Both my mum and dad remarried. My mum had one daughter and my dad had two. I got a new baby sister every year for three years! My maternal 'half sister' and my brother are really close despite the 10 years between my older brother and younger sister. My other two sisters I love unconditionally but I wouldn't say we are as close only due to the fact that we were not brought up in the same way. I would only see them one day in a fortnight as my dad wasn't hugely involved in my life.

All three of my sisters were bridesmaids and all get on well. In fact my maternal sister is currently studying at university and is advising my paternal sisters on choosing universities. Despite the fact that they have no biological connection whatsoever. It's a shame I have no relationship with my step-mum otherwise I would think my family set up was perfect!!

Glad it helped, weirdly it made me feel a bit emotional writing it too! I think if they're in each others lives and they get on well, then that's all that matters, that's the case for me anyway.