Actually, when you think about it all of us are researching a family. We really have no total guarantee of bloodlines. When we find a family in the 1860 census and 3 children under the age of 10 have been added since the 1850 census we assume that they are children of that husband and wife. That may or may not be true. Friends and family died and often families took in children who had been orphaned and raised them as their own. I think that most genealogy programs were originally written to reflect traditional family arrangements - husband, wife, and children. That isn't really true any more and perhaps gradually various programs will move to allow more flexibility in family setups. But... until that happens we will need to work around it. I too have such situations in my family. It is not that unusual now for a single person to adopt a child. Nor is it unusual now for someone to have a child and not be married. I too tested the printouts and the word unknown doesn't show up in printed reports. So that won't be a concern. And then I place any desired explanation in the notes. Take care - Emma In a message dated 5/28/2005 12:11:25 AM Central Standard Time, etm1935@yahoo.com writes: Adoptions are frequent in my family. I am not researching a bloodline, I am documenting a family. My niece's two sons are members of my family. They are the children of a single parent and that's precisely the way I want to enter it in a genealogy program. She doesn't have an "unknown" husband. She never had a husband. She may or may not ever have a husband, if she does, I will enter him in the program. She is a single parent who applied, qualified under the rules, and adopted two children. Is that so difficult for a program to handle? Elaine