How to Add a Child Relationship in FamilySearch
By Dale E. Lee
2020.03.20
Summary:
– Get the FamilySearch ID of the person to be added to a parent to child relationship
– Get the FamilySearch IDs of the parents you wish to add the child to
– Verify that the child should be added to the parents involved
– Scroll down to and view the Family Members section and look for Parents and Siblings
– Click on Add Parent
– In the Add Parents screen click on By ID Number
– Enter the FamilySearch ID Number in the ID Number box and click next
– Review the Add Parents box to see that both parents are appearing and correct
– Click Add Match
– If both parents were recorded as married in FamilySearch click Select Couple,
if not click Person
– The person should now show under the new Parents (as well as other parents if they existed before)
– Click on the Edit icon (it looks like a pencil) to the right of the child under the
correct new parents
– Click on Add Relationship Type of one of the new parents
– Click on the scroll-down list and select the correct Relationship Type (Biological, Step, etc.)
– Click Save
– Do the same for the other parent if there is one.
Detail:
There are a several reasons why you would want to add a child to more than one parent to child relationship. You may have recorded them with their adoptive parents and later found the biological parents. You may have originally recorded them under their biological parents and then discovered that they were adopted and now need to add them to the adoptive parents. You may also have found that the child was incorrectly placed under a set of parents where they did not belong because the child had a very similar name and now you’ve found the right one and want to put this child under a new set of parents.
Whatever the reason, you will want to be sure that you are making the correct determination on what set of parents or duplicate parents they should be under. If they are to be under two sets of parents or more, you’ll want to designate the Relationship Type for that particular parent relationship, whether adoptive, biological, foster, step, etc. This will show the difference between this relationship and the other parent to child relationship.
The cleanest way to modify data in FamilySearch is to review the relationships and find all of the FamilySearch Ids for all of the people involved. Doing anything else leaves it up to the computer to make the decision and the computer may not have all the information you do.
Assuming that the child in question has already been created, but is on the wrong set of parents or needs to be added to another set of parents, click into one of the existing parents, then scroll down to the child in question and click into that child. Make sure you are in the child’s entry before continuing, not their parent’s entry.
Now scroll down to the Family Members section and the existing parents in the Parents and Siblings section to the right. Click on the Add Parent link ABOVE the existing parents, then click on By ID Number and add the FamilySearch ID number of one of the NEW PARENTS in the ID Number box and click on Next. In the Add Parents screen, click on Add Match. If both parents showing are correct and this is the marriage you wanted click Select Couple, if not click Person.
You’re now almost there, but still need to record the relationship type for this relationship. You should see the child under both the existing parents and the new parents. Click on the edit icon (pencil) to the right of the child in the new relationship. Then click on Add Relationship Type under one of the parents. Then click on the scroll-down list and select the correct Relationship Type (Biological, Step, etc.) and click Save.
You’re done! Or at least if you’re just adding the child to another set of parents. If you added the child to a new set of parents with the intent of removing it from a wrong set of parents you’ll need to continue on to the removal task. You may want to refer to “How to Remove a Child Relationship in FamilySearch”, also on this website.
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