The stepmother-stepdaughter combination is the most difficult one that results from two families joining households. So can you imagine being the mother and stepmom of a total of five young women ranging in age from 14 to 21? That is precisely the position Margorie Engel, at the time a practicing Boston attorney, found herself in after marrying her second husband. Not all of the girls lived with Engel, but she has come to know them well and 15 years later she says, "I love all the kids. Engel has managed to maintain a friendly relationship with each of these young women, but she is not oblivious to the unique problems that challenge stepfamilies. Consequently, she became an advocate and spokesperson for stepfamilies, developed an expertise in legal issues that affect stepfamilies, authored two books on related topics, and currently serves as president of the Stepfamily Association of America. Whether or not a step-mom is able to carve out a successful relationship with her stepdaughter is sometimes beyond her control, particularly if a biological mom is not supportive of the friendship.

For any child whose parents get divorced, it's a rough life. But it gets even more difficult when their parents remarry. The negative stigma of the stepmother is what we've seen in Disney movies, but not all stepmothers are evil. But when a stepmother becomes a new mother to a daughter they've never had before, the relationship can get off to a rocky start.

A step family , blended family , bonus family , or instafamily is a family where at least one parent has children that are not biologically or adoptive related to the other spouse or partner. Either parent, or all, may have children from previous relationships. Children in a stepfamily may live with one biological or adoptive parent, or they may live with each biological or adoptive parent for a period of time. A child is referred to as the stepdaughter or stepson of their biological or adoptive parent's new spouse, and that person as the stepparent, father or mother of the child. A stepparent is the spouse of someone's parent, and not their biological or adoptive parent, being stepfather the male spouse [2] and stepmother the female spouse.