The Modern Family | AD

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I’ve never seen myself as part of a modern family before. Growing up I had a Mum, a Step-Dad and two half brothers. One of my brothers saw his Dad on weekends and I only met my biological Dad for the first time when I was seventeen.

Back then, when I was growing up, it was still a bit of a taboo to be divorced, to remarry, to have anything except the traditional happily ever after with 2.4 children. But times have changed and now society is so diverse and families really do come in so many different shapes and sizes – one size really doesn’t fit all where families are concerned.

Now, in the UK, you can marry pretty much anyone regardless of gender. You can get married and get divorced if it isn’t working. You can remarry or never marry – and can happily live together, have children and still be a family without marriage – or lack of – being an issue.

I love how diverse we now are and I really like the fact that when you walk down the street everyone is different. Our children go to school with children who have single parents, who have same sex parents and who have parents that have been happily married for years. There’s no right or wrong, the children are all lovely, happy and well brought up regardless of their family make up.

This infographic from Slater Gordon Lawyers looks into the Modern Face of Marriage – how marriage has changed through the ages and how our attitudes have changed when it comes to marriage and divorce. It’s really interesting reading:

I was brought up in a family that wasn’t very typical back then but I had the idealistic view that I would one day get married, have children and live happily ever after. It was what had been ingrained into me from fairytales and movies for so long.

But, for our children, life is now so different. They can be whoever they want to be, have children – or not – and marry pretty much whoever they want to marry regardless of age, sex or gender if that’s what they want to do. The world and opportunities are vast for the future generations and I hope that as each year goes by society gets more and more accepting, understanding and open to change. I also hope that in time the rest of the world can see that there are options beyond the traditional nuclear family.