Sibling

Two Sisters by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

One's sibling is one's brother or sister, respectively meaning a male or female with whom one shares at least one parent. This is usually taken to mean that the two people are genetically very close, though it is not always necessarily the case, i.e. an adoption.

In most societies throughout the world, siblings will usually grow up together. This closeness is marked with the development of strong emotional associations between them (e.g., love, enmity).

Types of siblings

Full sibling

A full sibling (full brother or full sister), is a sibling that shares both biological parents. In law, the terms brother German and sister German are used.

Half sibling

A half sibling (half brother or half sister) is a sibling with one shared biological parent. A half sibling that shares the same mother (but different fathers) is known as a uterine sibling, whereas one that shares the same father is known as an agnate sibling. In law the term consanguine is used in place of agnate. Half siblings can have a wide variety of interpersonal relationships, from a bond as close as any full siblings, to total strangers.

Any half sibling of a person was traditionally treated just the same as a regular sibling for all purposes. At law (and especially Inheritance law), however, half siblings were often accorded unequal treatment. Old English Common Law at one time incorporated such inequalities into the laws of intestate succession, with half siblings taking only half as much property. Unequal treatment of this type has been almost wholly abolished in England and throughout much of the United States. A very small minority of states in the US, on the other hand, have retained some of these distinctions in their inheritance law. In Oklahoma, for example, "half blood" siblings are not permitted to inherit property through intestate succession which descends from the family whose "blood" (family line) they do not share. In Texas, similarly, "half blood relatives can only inherit half as much property through intestate succession as relatives who are wholly related to the person who dies.". For example, suppose there are three people with a common father but two different mothers. The father's intestate inheritance would be split equally between all three; the two mothers' intestate inheritances would each be shared only by her blood children; if one of the two full siblings dies intestate, the half-sibling receives half the share of the surviving full sibling.

Stepsibling

A stepsibling (stepbrother or stepsister) is a sibling with whom an individual bears no blood relation, and is related by the marriage or relationship of one parent of the individual to one parent of the sibling; see stepfamily.

Siblings through breast feeding

In Islam those who are breastfed by a woman other than their biological mother become siblings to the biological children of that woman provided that they are less than 2 years old and have been breastfed five times or more by that woman. According to the shariah these siblings are not allowed to marry each other.

Regressive behavior at the birth of a new sibling

The arrival of a new baby is especially stressful for firstborns and for siblings between 3 and 5 years old. Regressive behavior and aggressive behavior, such as handling the baby roughly, can also occur. All of these symptoms are considered to be typical and developmentally appropriate for children between the ages of 3-5. While some can be prevented, the remainder can be improved within a few months. Regressive behavior may include demand for a bottle, thumb sucking, requests to wear diapers (even if toilet-trained), or requests to carry a security blanket.

Regressive behaviors are the child’s way of demanding the parents’ love and attention. Parents can deal with these behaviors by explaining to the older child their new sibling role, making this role sound exciting, answering questions about the baby and the process of birth (as appropriate), or reserving time each day just for the parent and older child.

The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics [1]) suggests that instead of protesting or telling children to act their age, parents should simply grant their requests without becoming upset. The affected children will soon return to their normal routine when they realize that they now have just as important a place in the family as the new sibling. Most of the behaviors can be improved within a few months.

The University of Michigan Health System [2] advises that most occurrences of regressive behavior are mild and to be expected; however, it recommends parents to contact a pediatrician or child psychologist if the older child tries to hurt the baby, if regressive behavior does not improve within 2 or 3 months, or if the parents have other questions or concerns.

Sibling relationship issues

80% of people in Western countries have at least one sibling, and siblings generally spend more time together during childhood than they do with parents. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and people and experiences outside the family. Sibling rivalry is common in childhood and in some cases may carry over into adulthood. Sibling relationships can change dramatically over the years; events such as a parent’s illness may bring siblings closer together, whereas other events such as marriage may pull them apart.

Anthropologist Edvard Westermarck found that children who are brought up together as siblings are desensitized to form sexual attraction later in life. This is known as the Westermarck Effect. It can be seen in biological and adoptive families, but also in other situations where children are brought up in close contact, such as the Israeli kibbutz system and the Chinese Shim-pua marriage.

See also

• Sibling rivalry
• Birth order
• Father
• Mother
• Family
• Cousin