Are you ready to personalize and embody your role as a queer step-parent and expand the possibilities of family?
Building Blended Bonds: A modern, collaborative approach to step-parenting* in queer families
A 6 week coaching program and community building for those who don’t have children and are in a partnership with someone who does.
*you may not identify as a step-parent but are in a “bonus adult” role and you are welcome here!
As a queer step-parent or ‘bonus adult’ in a child’s life, you might be navigating isolation, frustration, communication challenges, and uncertainty about what family and belonging mean for you.
Feeling powerless around decision-making or boundary setting in your family system
Repressing your feelings or venting to your partner in ways that lead to tension, anger, or arguments
Looking for support and not finding resources that reflect your queer identity, family structure, or lived experience
Carrying guilt or isolation about how you show up in your partnership or within your family
Fearing that there may not be a way forward that honors both your queerness and your role in the family
Maybe that includes:
Envision yourself in community with other queer step-parents—sharing the struggles, the tenderness, and the possibilities of expanding what family can mean in this role. Less isolation. More connection, understanding, and relational tools.
What if you could reimagine family roles in a way that honors your queerness and liberates you to show up as your full, authentic self within your blended or chosen family?
This program will help you to:
Expand your skills for grounded, respectful leadership with kids and teens — rooted in authenticity rather than authority
Develop queer-affirming strategies for building connection in your blended or chosen family and communicating with your partner in ways that deepen trust
Recognize and tend to your own wounds as they surface in family dynamics, so you can respond with compassion instead of reactivity
Reimagine what family means for you as a queer person — expanding your vision of belonging and the role you play within it
Meet Lauren & Kyrie
We are a Queer couple and mother and step-parent to one wild 8 year old! As Lauren stepped into a step-parenting role and Kyrie navigated new realms of co-parenting, we struggled to find voices that spoke to our experiences and hopes of what family could mean for us. This journey has presented both external and internal joys and challenges, and we long to be more communal, expansive, and liberated in what family could be.
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Hi, I’m Lauren (she/her), a trauma specialist and step-parent (“bonus adult”) to one deeply feeling child. I found myself feeling isolated and powerless in the bonus adult role without resources to speak into my experience from a Queer or liberatory lens. I could barely find the language that felt authentic to my role and expansive around the ideas of family and community. With all the work I’ve done helping people heal, I should know how to do this, right?? I couldn’t find the resources that spoke to me in my position and challenges in my new role and I don’t think we have to do this alone. I’ve created this program in hopes that we can live into step-parenting with more support, joy, and freedom.
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Kyrie (she/her) combines a decade of experience in design, communications, and storytelling with lived insight as a co-parent to her biological 8 year old daughter. She’s driven by a belief in children’s agency, adult wellbeing, and the power of systems to create deep healing by providing clarity, connection, and care. Her work in this space will be to provide support to others navigating modern family roles, blending strategy and empathy to build inclusive, authentic family structures.
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We can’t wait to connect with you! Each month, we’ll share stories, helpful tips and strategies, podcast picks, and more—all designed to support and empower you on your journey as an authentic and confident step-parent.
And by we, we mean mostly Lauren but a little bit Kyrie too.
Here’s more about our program
Week 1
Building Communityasdfadsfasdff
We begin by setting intentions and building connection as we explore the intertwined histories of family and queerness. Together, we’ll reflect on how these collective stories live in our bodies and relationships today—shaping both the beauty and the ache of how we love and belong.
Week 2
Respectful Leadership+ Parenting of Kids & Teens
We will begin to cover strategies for age-appropriate communication with children about family, roles, expectations, and transitions in their lives. We will also discuss techniques around challenges with raising children such as boundary-setting, rupture and repair, and playfulness.
Week 3
Communicating with Your Partner
We will consider how to discuss expectations and values with our partners and what obstacles might be inhibiting effective communication, including how our lived experiences of queerness—such as navigating invisibility, identity negotiation, or chosen family dynamics—shape the ways we show up, listen, and express ourselves in relationships.
Week 4
Understanding our Inner Landscape
We all get activated in our relationships — moments when old stories, fears, or unmet needs come to the surface. In this session, we’ll explore what happens inside you when you’re triggered, learning to recognize the sensations, emotions, and protective parts that arise. You’ll practice strategies to ground yourself in the moment, understand what your reactions are trying to communicate, and begin transforming reactivity into awareness and choice.
Week 5
Cultivating Self-Compassion and Meeting Needs
Building on what surfaced in Week 4, we’ll go deeper into tending to the parts of ourselves that get activated in step-parenting. Together, we’ll explore how self-compassion, curiosity, and needs-based communication can soften protective responses and create more safety and connection — both internally and with our partners or families. Through reflection and practice, you’ll begin to understand what your triggers are asking for and how to respond to them with care rather than criticism.
Week 6
Integration, Celebration, and Moving Forward
In our final session, we’ll take time to celebrate the growth, insights, and connections that have emerged throughout our time together. We’ll reflect on what has shifted in you, and consider what integration might look like in your daily life and relationships. This is a space to honor what’s been uncovered — the tenderness, the resilience, and the new possibilities that have taken root. Together, we’ll name intentions for how to continue nurturing connection, authenticity, and belonging as you move forward beyond the group.
6 Sessions- one 90 minute session per week for 6 weeks
What you need to participate: a stable internet connection, use of zoom and online community platform
Logistics:
January 21, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
January 28, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
February 4, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
February 11, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
February 18, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
February 25, 2026 7-8:30pm EST
Dates & Times
Investment
Supported Access
For those with currently limited financial resources who will benefit from access supplemented by the community.
$350
Fair
Access
For those with sufficient financial resources and who can pay fair value for the experience.
$500
Rebalancing Access
For those with more than enough financial resources and a desire to support access for others to help rebalance systemic inequity.
$650
*credit: Reverend angel Kyodo Williams for pricing language and structure
You’re a queer step-parent or “bonus adult” feeling alone, unseen, or stuck in your role—and open to connecting with others who get it
You value expansiveness, fluidity, and possibility in how relationships and family roles can look and feel
You have a supportive partner and want to strengthen your shared approach to family and care
You’re curious about how your own relational and queer history shapes the way you show up now
You’ve struggled to find resources that reflect your identity and lived experience
This is for you if…
This is not for you if…
You are looking for a therapy group
You are trying to save your relationship*
You don’t value people of different race, gender or sexual orientation, religious background, etc
You are looking for ways to change other people in your family
**if you are in an abusive relationship, this is not the program for you and there are resources available:
FAQs
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Deep allies are welcome to join; however, please note that this space does center the queer experience. You might be finding yourself in a different chosen family experience that there is space for here! If you have further questions about whether you are a good fit for the program, please reach out to us at hello@buildingblendedbonds.com.
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Each live call is 90 mins long. There may be optional assignments between sessions to deepen your work, but it is not required. You can engage in the online community as much or as little as you like, though this is where people feel they can deepen their communal experience.
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If you have to miss a call, you will be missing a large portion of the program, but you can still participate. If you miss session 4, session 5 will be difficult to get the full experience, as it builds off the previous week.
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Nope. Both those co-habitating and living apart are welcome.
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This program is specifically designed for the person in the “bonus adult” role in their partnership who does not have children of their own.
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It might be! This program addresses the experiences for those that arise in a partnership with a parent and the relationship with their child(ren). This certainly does not exclude those practicing non-monogamy; however, the program does not address the specific questions and experiences pertaining to a network of non-monogamous relationships. If you need more in-depth resources specific to parenting and partnering in non-monogamy, I may have some resources to recommend you to! Email hello@buildingblendedbonds.com for more information.
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Due to the nature of the program—including live coaching, group interaction, and access to proprietary materials—we do not offer full refunds once the program has begun. However, we understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, so we’ve outlined the following refund terms:
Before the Program Starts
If you request a refund at least 7 days before the program start date, you will receive a 100% refund, minus any processing fees.
If you request a refund within 7 days of the start date, you may be eligible for a 50% refund, as your spot has already been reserved.
After the Program Begins
No refunds will be issued once the program has officially started, regardless of attendance or participation.
In certain emergency cases (e.g., serious illness or family emergency), we may offer a credit toward a future program, at our discretion.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at hello@buildingblendedbonds.com.
Have more questions?
Please email us at hello@buildingblendedbonds.com and we will get back to you.