Said about a person, a stepbrother is the child of his or her stepfather or stepmother.
Said regarding an individual, a stepbrother is the child of his stepmother or stepfather . Suppose Leonardo has a stepmother named Irma . This woman , in turn, has a son: Esteban . This means that Leonardo and Esteban are stepbrothers of each other.
In the same way, if Matías is Lautaro 's stepson, and Lautaro has two children named Santiago and Claudia , the definition of the concept indicates that Matías , Santiago and Claudia are stepbrothers.
half brother
The Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) recognizes another meaning of stepbrother, as detailed in its dictionary. In this case, stepbrother is synonymous with half-brother : the subject who, with another individual, has his father or mother in common, but not both.
Let's look at another example . Ricardo married twice: first he married Lara and then, after divorcing, María . With Lara , Ricardo had a son whom he baptized Lionel , while with María he had another son, named Sergio . These data allow us to know that Lionel and Sergio are step-siblings or half-siblings: they both have Ricardo as their father, but they do not share a mother ( Lara is Lionel 's mother, while María is Sergio 's mother).
It is common for stepbrothers to consider themselves simply brothers.
Stepbrothers and brothers
It is important to mention that, beyond the specific definitions of each dictionary, colloquial language often simply speaks of brother , without specifying whether they are stepbrothers, half-brothers, etc. When there is a close and emotional relationship between stepsiblings, it is common for them to consider each other siblings, leaving any differentiation aside.
In fact, the use of this term usually takes place especially in the legal field, to carry out certain procedures or in the context of a trial, for example, where emotional ties have no validity but rather each individual is an entity of the society.
Different types of ties
In an ideal world, there would be no denominations that could hurt people by reminding them of situations such as separations, illegitimate pregnancies or the death of loved ones. What is the benefit of calling someone “widower” or “stepson”? Why talk about "my stepmother" or "my stepsister"? Wouldn't it be better to adapt to our circle and, in any case, find our family in those who love us regardless of biological or legal issues?
In fiction, we often find the figure of the stepbrother as a point of sexual tension between two people who feel physically attracted despite belonging to the same family group. This gives rise to different dynamics, some more difficult to digest than others for the most sensitive audience, since the characters involved in this type of incestuous romance are not always aware of the bond that unites them with their other half.
Feelings between stepsiblings and other family members
Given the increase and normalization of divorce, which also makes the decision to try to rebuild one's love life after a failure less traumatic, it is increasingly common to find families made up of members from different origins. This is not negative at all, despite what prejudiced observers point out: on the contrary, it is admirable that someone can emerge from a romantic breakup and find the energy to form a new core in which to love and be loved.
For all this, outside of the courts we should not stop to think about the family tree of others, but focus only on their emotional ties, on the different family configurations that we encounter every day, accepting them as much as we want them to accept ours. and remembering that love is something invaluable and impossible to classify, a feeling that does not understand divorces or stepmothers or stepbrothers.