16 Stepparents Who Proved They Can Be Real Parents to Their Stepchildren

Being a stepfather or stepmother is like opening a safe without knowing the code. But the heroes of these stories prove that patience and love help to find even the most difficult password to a child's heart.

• All my life, I dreamed of having a twin sister. When I was 14, my parents divorced and my father married a woman with a daughter my age. My stepmother bought me and her daughter the same clothes. The funny thing is that we also had the same names.
  One day we went to the beauty parlor with her and the stylist asked, "Are they twins? What's their names?" The stepmother says our name. The stylist, "Why do they have the same name?" And my stepmother calmly says, "So we don't get confused." © Overheard / Ideer
• A friend of mine is from a wealthy family. A guy twice her age, a widower with children, started courting her. She laughed, calling him a penniless old man. But one day he came to her with his 3 little children. She saw the little ones and something clicked in her heart.
  Because of those children, she agreed to marry him. And she gave birth to 3 more. She supported her husband, he started his own business, became successful. She raised those kids as her own, they adore her. And her husband adores her. © Overheard / Ideer
• In 8th grade, I dreamed of being a straight-A student, but I couldn't understand math. I often cried, and my mum reassured me, "Don't worry, we'll think of something. You'll be a straight-A student." The most interesting thing is how this problem was solved: my mother married my math teacher.
  My stepfather gave me math lessons every evening and always explained the subject in such a way that I understood everything. Well, I became a straight-A student, graduated from school with honors. That's how my mum solved my math problems. © Not everyone will understand / VK

• I'm a stepdad to 4 grown-up kids who see me making their mum happy. We've grown close, but their dad is around too, he's a great guy. By the way, 2 of my wife's daughters already have daughters of their own. My kids aren't little anymore either, so we have a pretty big crowd, and we love them all. © Matelot67 / Reddit
• People don't necessarily become family by blood. I got a stepdad when I was 17, and I also have a brother and a sister. I'm 32 now, and we've been through so much in the last 15 years that it's clear that the man has put his soul into us. We love him very much. © Overheard / Ideer
• My mum split up with my dad and got together with her high school sweetheart when I turned 4. I remember my early childhood well! A few months into our life together, I suddenly turned to my stepfather and said, "Dad, can you give me this?" I couldn't reach something.
  My stepdad said afterwards that he cried, because no one had asked me to call him Dad. And I just decided that he was my dad now. And he has been ever since! I don't even think about my biological father.
  My new dad went to my school events, showed me off to his family, bragged about me, taught me about life and helped me stay on track, and now he's teaching me how to drive. I cry when I think about the fact that he was 25 years old and liked to party, and then there was my mum and me. He turned his life around for us! He found a stable job, a house, started his own company, became a huge success. Many men wouldn't give up their lifestyle for a woman with a child. © OhSoInfinitesimal / Reddit
• I'm not asking for my stepfather's love, because I'm not related to him, I have a biological father. But he treated me very well, often put me as an example. That's enough for me.
  Now I've become a stepmother myself, I treat my husband's son very well, but I won't replace his mother. I will just support him, if necessary, give him some advice, help him. I care for what will happen to him in life. © Elena Smirnova / VK

• My parents divorced when I was 4 years old. Dad left the family and married another woman. But I didn't grow up with psychological trauma. My dad spent a lot of time with me, my stepmother was cool, she loved me very much, she invented all sorts of entertainments just for the 2 of us with my dad.
  I love both my brother and sister from that side very much. I grew up in a healthy atmosphere of love and coziness, and this is the most important thing! © Overheard / Ideer
• When I was 8 years old, my mom got married for the second time. I was very hostile toward my stepfather. He was a nice man, but the very thought of him taking Dad's place drove me crazy. Mom was torn between us.
  It wasn't until I was 10 when everything changed. It happened when he came to school to defend me from the teacher. I started ignoring him less often, agreed to go for walks together a couple of times.
  That same year, on his birthday, I made him a present for the first time: I gave him an envelope with a card where I wrote, "Will you adopt me?" It was the first time I saw a grown man crying while tucked into the shoulder of a little girl. A month later, he became my dad, and after that my daddy. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• I never got along with my stepmother. I was 13 when my dad met her. I didn't accept her and pushed her away.
  When I was 19, I began to paint. On my 20th birthday, she arranged a surprise: she gathered all my friends, relatives and acquaintances and organized an exhibition of my works in her gallery! I was delighted, and my heart began to melt. © Chamber 6 / VK

• I remember the exact moment when I got to love my stepmother. It was the second week of our living together, she was pouring tea and asked me to bring the homemade cake. I, being a sweet tooth, tried to bring it to the kitchen as fast as possible and dropped it with the frosting down in the hall.
  My stepmother came out to the noise, looked at this, and went back into the kitchen. I cringed.
  But she came back with 2 cups of tea, we were sitting right on the floor and eating this delicious cake.
  My own mother used to berate me for any tiny mistake. My father's new wife raised me like her own daughter, always surrounded me with care, love and warmth. © Overheard / Ideer
• Junior year of high school, my dad got remarried to the woman he'd cheated on my mom with several years prior. As an angsty teenager, I was none too thrilled with his new marriage and was honestly pretty cold towards her whenever we saw each other.
  A year later, my dad was taking me to the airport on my way to college, and my stepmom took off work to meet us there and send me off with a care package. She hugged me and told me that she was proud of me, and when she stepped back, I saw that she had tears in her eyes.
  It was at that moment that I realized that she wasn't a bad a person, even if she (and my dad) had done some bad things in the past. Our relationship improved dramatically after that, and now she's like a second mother to me. © OldSaintNickCage / Reddit
• I am a stepmother, and the child turns only to me with all his personal problems. It's sad. I'm teaching his dad to talk to him too.
  On the other hand, I understand that it's easier for me: I can see the situation from the outside, and have less responsibility, so it's easier to find a common language when you are not responsible for the child 24/7. But it's still sad. © Overheard / Ideer

• My father was a very influential man. He was strict not only at work, but also with his family and loved ones. When I was 3 years old, my mom decided to leave him. So my father said he would never give me to her. Mom accepted this and left.
  She called me once a week, sent me presents. But after that I only saw her when I was 18, when she came to "meet" me. That's when I learned the story. My mom expected me to feel sorry for her, but I couldn't.
  Because I already had a mom. Or rather, a stepmother. She too, after a couple of years of marriage, wanted to leave my father. And my dad strictly forbade her to even come near me if she left. She had no rights over me, but she decided to stay for me.
  My stepmother became the most affectionate, kind, gentle mom in the world. We communicated a lot, went out and played together. She always tried to protect me, to take any blame. But I knew that she and my father even slept in different rooms.
  When I turned 18, she divorced my dad, and we moved into her one-bedroom flat together. And we are happy. So I can't feel sorry for my biological mother, who chose her own life over mine. © Chamber 6 / VK
• My family is not like the others. I have 2 moms and 2 dads. The thing is that my parents divorced when I was 13 years old. They separated peacefully, they just realized that they didn't love each other anymore and didn't want to suffer.
  After the divorce, each of them met their significant other. The second marriage worked out well for both parents. At the same time, the stepmother and stepfather treat me with love and care, as well as my parents.
  And I know for a fact that I can turn with my problems to each of my "parents." Now I am a mother myself, and I am very grateful that they created such a warm family atmosphere despite all the difficulties. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• My parents divorced when I was 14, but they remained friends, no drama. I was old enough to understand everything, and together we decided who I would live with. Mom moved in with another man after a while. I stayed with my dad, now we live together with my stepmom.
  I like everything, my stepmom is a great woman. We communicate well with my mom, she comes often, helps me with money, buys me clothes. Her man's not bad either.
  It's so annoying when other people start saying about my mom, "What kind of mother is she? How could she leave her own kid?" And I have a wonderful life, I have a good relationship with my parents. But other people, of course, know better. © Chamber 6 / VK

But sometimes it's easier to raise a child alone than together with a husband. Here's a woman explains why.