Dear Valued Users,
It's with a heavy heart that we announce the permanent closure of StepTalk.org on August 31st, 2025.
This decision wasn't an easy one. For over twenty years, StepTalk has been a source of support for stepparents around the world! However, over the years, the costs associated with maintaining and upgrading the site to remain secure, meet current standards and maintain availability have become unsustainable.
We are incredibly grateful for your support, contributions and the community you've helped us build. Your engagement has made StepTalk.org a special place and we cherish the memories and connections made here.
We would especially like to thank Aniki for volunteering to be a moderator and for caring so much.
Thank you for being a part of our journey and we wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Dawn and The StepTalk Team
Comments
Have you talked to the kid's
Have you talked to the kid's Bio parents yet? What does your DH think? What about BM? You could be setting yourself some serious legal heartache if you do something the BM finds abusive.
Also, see if this is addressed in the CO; it usually is not, but still, check anyway.
And always check the laws of your state; each state is different.
Generally speaking, you will
Generally speaking, you will have no medical rights at all. The school thing varies. I was able to call SD's school for DH and they were great, I know other people have not had that experience. Discipline, well... that really depends on your spouse.
Legally speaking, you don't have any rights unless you get paperwork to be a legal guardian. That includes everything covered under HIPPA, it means You can't make any filings around custody or child support, and depending on where you live, a judge may not even allow you to speak in court. It also means that if he comes to live with you and something happened to your partner, you have no legal claims to custody on the child. Basically in the eyes of the law, you're a babysitter with the rights of a babysitter. However you can sometimes be held to the same level of responsibility as a bio-parent.
Unfortunately, it's all relative and based very much on your situation with the parents, the state you live in, etc.
Agreed! But with the way it
Agreed!
But with the way it is now, it is almost guaranteed to hurt the relationship anyway, because I have not met or heard of a man who doesn't believe that the stepmom will just fall in love with his little darlings and do all the mothering.
You can tell them until you're blue in the face that if the SK moves in, you are not taking on a mothering role and it is JUST NOT HAPPENING but they don't believe you. And they don't take you seriously, but they will yell at you for being "mean" and "why would you say things like that?" but still expect you to be supermom.
LOL.
You have no rights....You can
You have no rights....You can take to doctors, but you can't make a decision. So why do it? As for discipline, don't even bother, you will be the bad guy and you will be too harsh no matter what you do. As for school, I volunteer only if SS asks, otherwise I do nothing and am not involved in homework unless asked and that is rare. He has a dad that does all of that with him.
I am SM to my SS and full time, BM has no visitation set. I have no rights on anything and honestly, I want to keep it that way...Too much hassle.