Define family

[BDBoop]

Are husband and wife family, or do they only become a family once they have a child.

 

[BDBoop]

Discussion started in final pages of this thread:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/relig...able-solution-to-the-gay-marriage-debate.html

 

[Sunni Man]

Before children; they are a couple.

Once they have children; they are a family.

 

[BDBoop]

Before they get married, they are a couple. After that, they are family.

 

[Sunni Man]

They are a couple both before and after marriage.

Having children makes them a family.

 

[BDBoop]

So if they can't have children, they can never be a family.

So why when I do insurance claims, does the Family Medical Leave Act cover one's spouse.

 

[WorldWatcher]

>

One of the effects of Civil Marriage is to establish a legal family relationship where no family relationship existed before. Civil Marriage is usually used by adults. Another legal method of establishing a family relationship where one didn't exist before is through adoption, usually used to establish the dependency status of an unrelated child.


>>>>

 

[Gremlin-USA]

I would say a Family is Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Nephews, Nieces, Cousins, Mother, Father, Children, etc.

.

 

[Zoom-boing]

According to the dictionary definition:

1. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.
b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
2. the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family.
3. the spouse and children of one person: We're taking the family on vacation next week.
4. any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins: to marry into a socially prominent family.
5. all those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.


Children are what turn a couple into a family.

 

[garyganu]

I would say a Family is Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Nephews, Nieces, Cousins, Mother, Father, Children, etc.

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I believe that most people would call that an extended family. A family unit usually consists of a mother, father and children.

 

[BDBoop]

And if they can't have children, then they're not a family. That is not a factual statement.

 

[BDBoop]

I would say a Family is Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Nephews, Nieces, Cousins, Mother, Father, Children, etc.

.

Generally known as the family-of-origin.

 

[Zoom-boing]

And if they can't have children, then they're not a family. That is not a factual statement.

Why does it matter? If they didn't have kids but called themselves a family no one is going to bat an eye.

 

[BDBoop]

And if they can't have children, then they're not a family. That is not a factual statement.

Why does it matter? If they didn't have kids but called themselves a family no one is going to bat an eye.

That's what GaryGanu is saying. Couples aren't family until they have kids. That's his contention.

 

[hjmick]

There is no single definition for what constitutes a family.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Zoom-boing]

And if they can't have children, then they're not a family. That is not a factual statement.

Why does it matter? If they didn't have kids but called themselves a family no one is going to bat an eye.

That's what GaryGanu is saying. Couples aren't family until they have kids. That's his contention.

I have no idea who GaryGanu is but obviously he needs a hobby.