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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

NEED ADVICE ABOUT FAMILY TREE

My siblings and I need some advise about how to publish our family geneology in my Dad's family tree book, which has been traced back to the 1590s in Europe.

My mother's biological mother died when she was 7 months old of tuberculosis. My biological grandfather placed my Mom with the people I knew as Grandma and Grandpa as I was growing up. They were not any biological relation to Mom, but my "Grandpa's" family in Switzerland were friends with my biological father's family. In fact, my "Grandpa" came over with my biological grandfather's older brother. Mom's two brothers were placed in two different homes with biological uncles.

In my Dad's geneology book, we listed "Grandma and Grandpa" as Mom's parents, as at that time we did not have the complete information about our biological parents. My biological grandparents names' were known, but this topic was not discussed in great detail as we were growing up, and our "Grandma and Grandpa" loved us and we loved them.

However, this past summer, due to a snaffu in our search in my Dad's side of the family, we were able to glean A LOT of information about my mother's biological mother and father. We have also have made contact with biological cousins via telephone and e-mail.

Now, here is the quandry. My brother said we should correct my father's family geneology book to reflect the name of our biological grandmother and grandfather. My sister and I agree, but we also strongly feel that the people we knew and loved as "Grandma and Grandpa" should be listed, but what title should we give them? Foster parents (for my Mom) doesn't seem quite appropriate, as there was not a foster placement actually involved (no social service agency or no foster care payments were ever made or received) and my mother was never formally adopted by "Grandma and Grandpa".

What terminology would you suggest we use to identify the role of our "Grandma and Grandpa"? We have many "cousins" and an "aunt" on our Mom's side and we do not want to offend them, as they may see our father's geneology book some day (small town). Our "Grandma and Grandpa" and "aunts, uncles, and cousins" helped to form us into the people we are today and we do not want to dismiss the important role they played in our lives..

Thank you in advance for all your understanding and input.

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” St.Teresa of Calcutta