A Legacy of Loss: Stories of Replacement Dynamics and the Subsequent Child

Abstract

This article, a qualitative exploration of the experiences of subsequent children, endeavors to clarify common issues and experiences of this population. Subsequent children, also known as subsequent siblings, are children born after the death of a brother or sister. For this study, 25 adult subsequent siblings participated in semi-structured interviews. Few researchers have written about this population, and much of what has been documented was researched from single case studies, or from very small samples. This study aims to explore the commonalities of the unique experience of being a subsequent child. Themes which emerged include various replacement child dynamics, impaired bonding with parents or altered parenting as a result of the loss, family grief and its repercussions, meaning making and spiritual questioning, fantasies about the lost sibling, disenfranchised and unresolved grief, taking on a caregiver role, and survivor guilt. The implications for clinical practice are presented.