Future Families explores the variety of family forms which characterize our contemporary culture, while addressing the implications of these increasingly diverse family units on child development. * Reveals the diversity of new family forms based on the most current research on fathers, same-gender parents, new reproductive technologies, and immigrant families * Illustrates that children and adults can thrive in a variety of non-traditional family forms * Shows the interrelatedness of new trends in family organization through the common themes of embedded families and caregiving in community and cultural contexts * Features an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from works in areas that include child development, family studies, sociology, cross-cultural scholarship, ethnic studies, biology, neuroscience, anthropology and even architecture * Sets an agenda for future research in the area of families by identifying important gaps in our knowledge about families and parenting