Blended Family Genogram Example ​

When a family has divorces, remarriages, step-parents, and kids from different relationships, a standard family tree can’t hold it. A blended family genogram can; it shows who’s biologically connected, who lives where, and how the households relate to each other.

Example 1 - Blended Step-Family with Shared Child: The Porter Family ​

Blended Step-Family with Shared Child: The Porter Family

Use this genogram

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The family:

• James Porter is divorced from his first wife, Claire (double slashes, 2015), and they have two children together: Liam, 14, and Sophie, 11.
• Claire has not remarried; Liam and Sophie live with her during the week. (Co-parents with James).
• James remarried in 2021; his current wife is Sandra, divorced from her first husband, Tom (double slashes, 2019), with whom she has a daughter: Priya, 8.
• James remarried Sandra (in 2020), and they now have a son together: Eli, 2.

What you can now see:

• Eli is the only child with both James and Sandra as biological parents.
• On the diagram, that makes him the structural center; he connects to every sibling in the household through at least one shared parent.
• Liam and Sophie share a father with Eli, but not a mother. (Half siblings).
• Priya shares a mother with Eli but not a father. (Half-siblings).
• Liam and Sophie have no biological connection to Priya; they are step-siblings.
• Distant line between Sandra and Liam/Sophie (still adjusting to step-parent role).
• Indifferent line between James and Priya (same reason).
• Close line between Liam and Sophie (full siblings, natural alliance).

So there are four kids and three sets of sibling relationships, but they aren’t the same type. The genogram makes this visible in one read:

• Liam and Sophie spend the weekends with James, Sandra, Eli, and Priya, but they have a home they go back to, which is Claire’s.
• Priya lives with Tom during the week and goes to Sandra’s on weekends.
• Eli’s primary household (with his mother and father) is the only one he knows.

Before even thinking about how this family feels, it’s important to know how different each child’s baseline is.

A child with another home to retreat to experiences this family differently from the one who doesn’t.

Example 2 - Multi-Divorce Blended Family: The Walsh Family ​

Multi-Divorce Blended Family: The Walsh Family

Use this genogram

Drag to explore genogram
Ctrl+Scroll to zoom

PNG↓PDF↓

The family:

• Mark Walsh has been married three times.
• First marriage to Natalie (divorced 2008), with one daughter: Emma, 19.
• Second marriage to Karen (divorced 2016), with two children: Jake, 13, and Jade, 10.
• Current marriage to Laura (married 2019), with one son: Owen, 6.
• Emma lives fully with Natalie; Jake and Jade split time between Mark and Karen; Owen lives with Mark and Laura fully.
• Conflict line between Natalie and Mark (documented co-parenting tension).
• Cutoff line between Emma and Mark.
• Conflict between Owen and Jake.

What you can now see:

• Emma, Jake, Jade, and Owen all have Mark as a father, but only Jake and Jade share a mother.
• Jake and Jade have a different co-parenting arrangement from Emma. Mark is still involved in their weekend schedule, while Emma’s role in Mark’s current family system is pretty much cut off.
• Owen has never known a version of this family that included Emma.

What’s really driving things in this situation are the areas of conflict.

• Natalie and Mark are at odds with each other, and Emma is the daughter most in the middle of it all.
• This explains why she’s emotionally removed from the family as it is now.
• Also, the issues between Owen and Jake suggest that Mark’s new family life might not be stable.

These are two sources of trouble, on two separate issues. On paper, all four are Mark’s children, but the genogram shows they don’t share a family, only a father. Which means any intervention that treats them as a single unit is starting from the wrong place, because they are three different families blended into one with the man in common.

What a Blended Family Genogram Tracks ​

At a minimum, a complete blended family genogram shows:

• Prior marriages and divorces, with dates.
• Which children belong to which relationship.
• Who the step-parent is, and to which children.
• Half-sibling and step-sibling connections.
• Which household each child lives in, and where they visit.
• Emotional relationship quality, where relevant.
• Co-parenting arrangements across households, between multiple ex-partners.

In blended family situations, those last three often tell a different story from the biological structure alone.

A child might have multiple adults in their life who all technically co-parent, but the genogram shows which of those relationships are functional and which are strained.

When to Use Blended Genograms ​

A blended family genogram tends to come up in these situations:

• Family therapy intake: mapping the full cast before sessions start, especially when children are the presenting concern.
• Custody-related assessments: social workers and evaluators documenting household membership and relationship quality across households.
• Academic assignments: counseling programs commonly assign genograms using students’ own family structures; blended families are harder to draw without a clear example.
• Estate planning and legal contexts: identifying biological vs. step-relationships, household composition, and dependency arrangements.
• Personal documentation: families recording their own structure for medical history, school records, or family archives.

When Not to Use ​

• When the family structure is simple: when the family has no divorces, remarriages, or step-relationships, a standard genogram is enough because the blended format adds nothing.
• When you only need one generation: if the question is just about who lives in the household right now, a simple household diagram is faster.
• When the person isn't ready: mapping a blended family requires cooperation from someone who may still be processing a divorce or separation. Timing matters.

How to Draw a Blended Family Genogram ​

You can edit any of the examples above in EasyGenogram or start from scratch.

1. Map the original families first: Draw each prior marriage separately; left partner, right partner, children underneath. Add appropriate divorce slashes and the year.
2. Add the new marriage: Draw the remarriage line between the two partners. Add the year.
3. Add any shared children: Draw solid lines from both partners in the new marriage to any children they have together.
4. Mark household boundaries: Use a dashed box to show who lives in each household full-time. Children who split time or visit can be shown with a note or a partial boundary.
5. Add emotional relationship lines: Where relevant (close, distant, or conflictual), draw these between the individuals. Keep it to relationships that are clinically or practically significant.
6. Export your genogram: Download as PDF or PNG; ready for an assignment, case file, a supervision meeting, or a court report.

Related ​

Genogram for Social Work Assessment Example

Genogram with Conflict Example

3-Generation Genogram Example