Maintaining Marriage Quality in Stepfamilies Remarried family numbers are growing. In a nationwide Pew research study released recently, forty-two percent of 2,700 adults polled said that they had at least one step-relative. Three in ten have step-siblings or half-siblings, eighteen percent have a living stepparent, and thirteen percent have at least one stepchild. More of these newly constituted families also come from single adults with children who had previous relationships but never married. About twenty percent of all American families are stepfamilies. “Of every ten couples who remarry, buoyed by love and renewed hope, six divorce yet again (Wisdom and Green 2). In the traditional marriage, much like the song says, “First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes the baby carriage,” well the exact opposite happens in the stepfamily marriage. Stepfamilies have been re-categorized into two types. One is simple stepfamilies which include children from one parent, and complex stepfamilies which include children from both parents. Research indicates that the more complex blended family structures are the more difficulties and challenges they face. To give yourself the best chance of success, it’s critical to start planning how a stepfamily will function before the marriage even takes place. Now that you and your partner have decided to take the next step to make a life together you will need to include the children from one or both of your previous relationships. In order to successfully blend two families there are a number of important matters that should be discussed. Once a couple decides to remarry they will need to agree where they will live, if they will share their finances or keep them separate. The new marriage may also resurrect old, unresolved feelings from the previous relationship that needs to be cleared up so that you both can