Am I the only one who things it’s rude or buggy to refer to siblings as “half siblings” just because they don’t share both parents?

Question

It drives me crazy when people called me and my brother “half siblings” because we had a different dad. And now I’m pregnant and my boyfriend has a daughter and his family calls them “half siblings” like no they’re just siblings why do you have to make it less than that!! 🙄

Answer

Some families do, some don't. I don't think either way is wrong. If you're not okay with it,  then you're absolutely allowed to state your preferences. My husband is "the half brother" in his family but was never called that, I think it would have made him feel excluded, so I get why it bugs you, but I also know families that use the term, even the kids themselves, and are perfectly comfortable with it, so I don't think it's rude either.

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I have 3 brothers and one sister. My brothers are half brothers however I’ve never considered them that. I’ve never called them my half brothers growing up and no one around me has either.

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It never bothered me. I have one brother that shares a mom and one brother that shares a dad, no full blooded siblings. It’s just a way to explain the family dynamic I suppose. I understand why it could bother some people though.

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My 8 year old step daughter recently came to us upset because at her mums house she is forced to refer to her baby sister as “only her half sister”. I had to try to explain to her that it may be a sensitive subject for her mum and ultimately it doesn’t matter because we love our family with our whole hearts regardless of whether they are step, half or full relations. 
We continue to refer to the girls as sister. We all know they are half. I have a half brother myself and have only ever referred to him as my brother. Something my step daughter also knows.
Whilst it’s irritating I don’t think it’s something you can get too bent out of shape for because ultimately it is true. Just like there are times when people will mistake me for my step daughters mother, sometimes she just lets it go, sometimes she feels the need to explain that I am in fact her step mother. 
If you don’t allow it to be seen as a problem then it cannot be used as a weapon to cause harm.

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While talking to people who don’t know your background? Not too weird, but still weird. 
Around family and people who are already aware they’re not full siblings? Pretty annoying.

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I have 12 siblings and only one full blooded sibling. Me and my sister who are half always joked when someone would say oh you’re half sisters? No we’re half unicorn actually. It’s the worst when they would tell our little sister that me and my little sister share a dad and me and my big sister share a mom but they treat each other like sisters and someone told my baby I sister that my big sister wasn’t “actually” her sister when she was only.6 she was so confused and mad.

Answer

It’s never bothered me I have a ton of siblings and I have only one sister who shares the same mother as I do the rest we just share the same dad. I’ve never had anyone refer to them as my half siblings not even people who know about the situation they’ve always been called my sisters or brother. My dad left when I was young my mother moved on the man I call dad is actually my step day however I never referred to him as such he’s just been dad he raised me and most people know no different I’ve been told I actually look like him and have his personality. He too had kids once they met we all call each other brother and sister never step brother or sister and my son knows them as his uncle and his TeeTee(aunts). One of those sisters we look exactly alike even though there’s no blood relations. Ie he people try to correct me when I call them sister or brother and I stop and say no my sister or brother blood doesn’t make a family love does and we all love each other as such.

Answer

My friend has two "full" siblings and 5 "half" siblings. We never refer to them as half anything when I chat with her. 
It's just "oh your brother in ... whatever place or oh your sister that's a hair dresser" 
I would never say half to anyone. 
My ex had a half little brother and would use it as a negative when annoyed with him. I felt it really rude of him because he was still his little brother no matter what. 
Also people often ask me because I'm one of 5 siblings that if any of them are half siblings. 
Like what? Does it matter if they were? Would that make them any less of a sibling of mine? (We are all of the same parent if you were in fact curious) 
So yes I totally get where you are coming from. I dont see the point why strangers or family need to differentiate between full, half or step siblings.

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I feel like when you're a kid, those distinctions are normal but it gets weird when it's an adult saying it.
 It would bother me if I heard someone refer to the baby in my uterus as our daughters' half sibling. The girls aren't biologically mine but they're still mine. They just have a Mommy, a Daddy, and a Beth, not just a divorced mom and dad.

Answer

And in all honesty maybe it just bugs me because when people said that to me about my brother it felt like they were making us less of siblings than we were for no reason. So maybe if you haven’t felt it it wouldn’t bug you. But I just really don’t get why people have to micro label things. Like they’re siblings, what does putting “half” in front of that do? Absolutely nothing except waste your breath 😬

Am I the only one who things it’s rude or buggy to refer to siblings as “half siblings” just because they don’t share both parents?

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