User:Yogi chick/Cofamilies

A cofamily is a term to describe the family unit of coparents and the children they are raising together. The most common usage refers to a former nuclear family where divorce or separation has occurred and the parents are now coparenting. Where coparenting refers to the parents working together to raise the children, a cofamily is the umbrella term for the family as a unit and includes the children being raised by those coparents.

This is different from a step-family or blended family in that a portion of the cofamily may also be part of a step-family or blended family unit. A cofamily has a family system stemming from the former nuclear family unit, and contributes to the creation of a another family system that develops as part of a new step-family or blended family.

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Example of a cofamily:
 * Tom and Sue are married and have two children, Jill and Mikey.
 * Tom and Sue divorce.
 * Now Tom and Sue are coparenting Jill and Mikey, and Tom, Sue, Jill and Mikey are a cofamily.

Now...
 * Tom marries Jen, who has one child - Timmy.
 * Tom, Sue, Jill and Mikey are still a cofamily and Tom, Jill and Mikey are also now part of the Tom, Jen, Jill, Mikey and Timmy step-family.
 * Sue, Carl (Susan's former partner) and Timmy are a cofamily and Sue and Timmy are now also part of the Tom, Sue, Jill, Mikey and Timmy step-family.