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How do people “redo” family after an estrangement from the family they grew up in?

This was the central question of a study by Rin Reczek of The Ohio State University. Estrangement can end more than relationships: It can disrupt holiday traditions, connections with extended family, and a person’s sense of belonging. With all of that taken together, there can be a strong need to create an alternative family.

To explore how people reestablish a family network, Reczek recruited participants through news articles mentioning the study and a post on a Reddit forum for estranged people. In the final tally, they interviewed 68 adults who were estranged from at least one member of their family of origin. Participants were, on average, 38 years old and had been estranged for 7.51 years. Reczek asked about their experiences of estrangement and how their ideas about family had changed,........

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