Labeling of step-relatives

Jonathan Baker PRO

10/31/2017 at 4:10 PM

My father's first wife, who died 4 years before my father married my mother, is listed on her profile screen as "Beverly Baker is your stepmother." My sister's aunt, who was Beverly's sister-in-law, objects to this on the grounds that Beverly was never my stepmother, inasmuch as I was born 5-1/2 years after she died; if she hadn't died, Dad wouldn't have married Mom and I wouldn't have existed. Can I change that with some flag in Beverly's profile, or should it be reported as a bug, that first spouses who died before the widow(er) remarried shouldn't be labeled "stepmother" to offspring of the second wife?

Alex Moes C

10/31/2017 at 9:47 PM

Hi Jonathan
This is a known issue which i think Geni will get around to fixing eventually but for the time being there is no work around that I know of

Private User

11/1/2017 at 4:40 PM

You can put a comment in the About, spelling out the reality. But that is about it.
Actually - I do not know officially what relationship she would be considered to you.

googled: stepmother definition and got several choices, including:

"a woman who is married to one's father after the divorce of one's parents or the death of one's mother." - per this one, she would not qualify

"the wife of one's father when distinct from one's natural or legal mother." - per this one, she would qualify

" the woman who is married to someone's father but who is not their real mother." - per this one, she would qualify

"the wife of one's father by a later marriage" - per this one, she would not qualify

--So - above - two definitions, she is stepmother, two definitions, not -- geni uses one of the ones where she qualifies
NOTE: even limiting to 'by a later marriage' would not satisfy those who do not see a marriage of their father long after they are adult as providing a "stepmother"

Alex Moes C

11/1/2017 at 5:04 PM

Lois the problem with definitions is that usually the only person they satisfy is the person who writes them :)

My personal feeling is that the current relationship displayed on Geni is capital W, capital R, capital O, capital N, capital G but it's not anywhere near the top of my list of wished for improvements.

Labeling of step-relatives

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