Sometimes family members turn out to be very different from who we thought they would be. These differences can create rifts that grow and expand over time, leading to an eventual estrangement. For example, parents’ reactions to a child’s need to transition to a different gender or to declare a gender identity not understood by the parent, a child’s choice of a romantic partner, same-sex or otherwise, the desire to maintain or abort a pregnancy, to vote for a political candidate or swear allegiance to a political party, to marry someone outside of their faith, to renounce their faith, to have
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