* Handling Cross Adopted Children

[rfj1001]

I'm looking for ideas in terms of how best to handle this complex relationship issue in FH.

John and Ann Smith adopted a baby boy at birth whose name was David Smith.

Arthur and Henrietta Jameson also adopted a baby boy at birth called Harold Jameson.

Ann Smith and Arthur Jameson both died. John Smith and Henrietta Jameson married and cross adopted each others sons.

So the family group was then John and Henrietta Jameson and sons David and Harold. That happened when the boys were 10 and remained that way.

I seem to be able to show either the initial parents, or the final ones. But showing just one set gives a misleading picture to anyone that doesn't know the full story.

Any thoughts?

ID:6308

[johnmorrisoniom]

Everyone has there own method.
I would tend to leave them just attached to there original adoptive parents.
If you select the new couple as as family, and choose a diagram, then both children will be shown, in their correct relationships

[tatewise]

There should be no problem creating the complex family structure.
Where are you running into problems?

Presumably you have no trouble creating the John & Ann and David Smith family, and the Arthur & Henrietta and Harold Jameson family.

John Smith will have two spouses Ann and Henrietta.
To add his 2nd spouse, in his Property Box click on the blank tab next to Ann, then click Add Spouse and choose Link to Existing Record to select Henrietta.

To this marriage add two children again by using Link to Existing Record to select David and Harold.

If you open Henrietta' Property Box then she will have two spouses Arthur and John, with both children in the 2nd marriage.

If you select both John and Henrietta and view the All Relatives Diagram, then you will see all three marriages, and the children relationships. This results in each child displayed twice, but linked by a 'proxy' ribbon to show they are the same individuals.

By selecting any one Individual (and choosing which parents to display if necessary), and viewing All Relatives or just Ancestors & Descendants then various family groups are displayed.

[rfj1001]

Thanks Tatewise,

That was the solution I was looking for

The proxy ribbon works fine with the unmarried son; with the married son, the proxy ribbon is also picking up the wife. But I can easily live with that.

Regards

[tatewise]

There are a few other techniques you could apply.

Firstly, for each Child either in the parent Property Box or the Focus Window you will see a Rel. relationship field.
Left click it in Property Box, or right click it in Focus Window and choose Relationship to Parents.
Select the a=adopted option to place a in the Rel. field.
This field could be used to condition the way Boxes are displayed in Diagrams to highlight the Adopted children.

Secondly, in the All Relatives Diagram the proxy ribbons can become distracting, especially with married Children and their descendants.
Click on the small circular Expansion Buttons on the connecting lines between parents and children to hide/show any descendant trees.
Right click on any Individual Box and select Hidden to hide that Individual.
Use File > Print Preview to see what a printed Diagram would look like.