Help:Adoptions and Multiple Parents

Categories: WikiTree Help | Styles and Standards | Relationship Editing Help

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WikiTree only allows a person to have one mother and one father. This provides the basic structure for family trees. Therefore, with adoptions, step-children, etc., a choice needs to be made.

Choosing Parents

For private profiles with direct connections to living people, the family can choose which parents to include. Note that if the adoptive parents are used, they should be marked as Non-Biological. This will prevent incorrect DNA test connections.

For public profiles without connections to living people, genetic connections should prevail. This is a choice that our community has made: our tree should be genetic.

For example, if you were adopted you can choose to enter your adoptive or biological parents as your mother and father. If your great grandfather was adopted, you should use his biological parents, if or when they are known.

Including Other Parents

Although a profile can only have one mother and one father, you can and should include the person's full story in their biography (privacy considerations aside).

You can add links to other family members in the text like this:

Rex was adopted by [[McTester-95|Maddie McTester]].

And on the other side:

Maddie adopted [[Sample-4|Rex Sample]].

Some members use the Adopted Child Navigation Box to create the links to alternate parents.

Rare Exceptions for Living People

WikiTree's policies only allow one profile per person. Creating duplicates violates basic principles of WikiTree. See point I of our Honor Code on collaboration. Moreover, our Terms of Service only allow you to have one account.

However, we do allow exceptions for living adoptees and others with non-biological parents if they are considered temporary. See this member-managed page: Adoptees: How to Set Up Your Profile.

If you create a duplicate account for DNA test connections, this account must not be actively used. All editing and participation on WikiTree, including work on biological ancestors, must be done through your primary account.

Duplicate profiles and accounts are considered temporary. At some point in the future they should be merged.