Children Adopted by Second Spouse

[bkthomas]

I have a number of families in my family tree where the mother had children by a first husband, then married a second husband who legally adopted the children and they took his last name. Is there a way to include the children in the family of the mother and first husband (their natural father) and indicate that they were adopted by the second husband? Which ancestral branch makes most sense to record/display? the nature or the nurture? I'm stumped.javascript:add("%20???")

[Howard Metcalfe]

May 11, 2008 0:27:54 GMT -5 bkthomas said:

I have a number of families in my family tree where the mother had children by a first husband, then married a second husband who legally adopted the children and they took his last name. Is there a way to include the children in the family of the mother and first husband (their natural father) and indicate that they were adopted by the second husband? Which ancestral branch makes most sense to record/display? the nature or the nurture? I'm stumped.javascript:add("%20???")

I would place the child under the natural father and record in the notes of the child that it was adopted by the second husband. I would use the natural father's surname.

PAWriter is limited to one set of parents in its linkage, as was the old Mac PAF. So one has to make a choice, and I generally choose nature over nurture.

There are cases where the natural parents are of no interest (and I really don't know who they were) and then I record the child under its adoptive parents and check the adopted box. In this case, if I know the natural father's surname, I use it, otherwise I use the adoptive father's surname.

Best,
Howard