Family Matters
The family unit in Starborn varies from group to group and across the many boundaries: racial, cultural, generational. Most families have been redefined in the past several hundred years, rebounding after centuries of narrowing on the heels of cultural upheaval.After the long-lived trend that saw extended families stripped down to small nuclear units began to abate, the people of the worlds began to re-examine what was important. This self-examination came alongside the push towards rediscovering lost personal culture and heritage. For families this meant a shift in structure, the small units had to reborn into flexible groups that could change, grow, and move with time.
Return of the Extended
Families are prone to move, spreading wide to reach for the stars. In days of old the bonds of extended family were forgotten as men and women moved to mega-cities for work and growth. Space, in its bleakness, offered up a new challenge in that it pushed these same men and women further from their nuclear families. Family is a need not a want, mankind learned this lesson as early deep-space colonies introduced numerous new mental illnesses attributed to the void and the loneliness therein.In response extended family became important again with cousins several times removed suddenly a matter of chief importance when considering moves to colonies and worlds afar. Thankfully technological advances in communication and the advanced connectivity of the grid facilitated the easy maintenance of these bonds.