PR Fact Sheet

Hope and Healing Offered to Families of Senior Newlyweds

Death, divorce and remarriage of aging parents create unique challenges for families. An estimated 250,000 older marriages occur every year in the U.S. affecting millions of adult children. Yet these adult stepchildren have been largely ignored by researchers. Few resources exist to help them navigate through previously uncharted waters of stepfamily relationships.

Challenges with loyalty, communication, role definition, and finances among others often tear families apart. Problems occur at all stages of the relationship from courtship to after marriage. Problems left unresolved can destroy relationships. What can this neglected group of adult stepchildren do? Where can they turn for help in resolving their problems?

The book When Your Parent Remarries Late in Life by Terri P. Smith and Dr. James M. Harper discusses challenges confronting senior newlywed families. They share solutions to work through or to avoid problems plaguing mature stepfamilies—solutions that help heal emotional pain and encourage loving acceptance of a new family member.

Smith knows first hand of the challenges and emotional pain having experienced the remarriage of her father seven months after her mother died. She said, “At times I felt betrayed, alone, angry, and a whirl of other emotions.” Through conversations with friends she learned that others shared similar experiences and feelings.

Determined to find a way to heal the hurt she felt, Smith interviewed friends, family and strangers to learn how they handled the challenges and relieved the pain. When Your Parent Remarries Late in Life includes anecdotes and specific actions individuals can take as they triumph over their challenges creating loving bonds.
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FACT SHEET
·         Today more than 80 million Americans are over 50. (adjusted 2000 U.S.
Census Bureau statistics)

·         Approximately 40 percent of Americans over 55 are widowed.

·         As the baby boom generation matures, every year thousands of Americans
join the ranks of over 50. Many experience the death of their spouse.
Others divorce.

·         Approximately half a million Americans (an estimated 250,000 marriages)
over 50 remarry every year.

·         Senior remarriage represents millions of adult stepchildren, and the
number is growing annually. (British psychologist Sarah Corrie calls adult
stepchildren the “neglected client group”.)