Daughter - Mary Kate (17)

Mother - Amber (40)

Daughter- Grace- (20)

StepMother - Holly (45)

Columbus, Ohio

Mom’s Modern Family

Mary Kate and Amber's close relationship started at birth. Amber had two young girls, Grace and Mary Kate, when her husband left her and she became a single mother. Amber says that Mary Kate has always been her "rock" and their bond has always been something that brings her comfort. The two are incredibly and inseparably close. Mary Kate was so attached to Amber that she had to start taking medication when she was a child to deal with the separation anxiety when she had to leave for school. Unfortunately, Amber’s relationship with Grace couldn’t be more opposite or drastic.

Amber believes her relationship with Grace is strained because they are so alike that they repel one another. Grace is hard-headed and difficult, just like Amber. When it comes to Mary Kate, Amber feels as though it’s always been effortless to have a relationship with her because Mary Kate genuinely enjoys having a close relationship and is easy going. Though having a relationship with Grace takes a lot of effort for Amber, she says she will never give up on trying to work on their relationship.

Amber and Mary Kate don't have any boundaries in their relationship. They shower together, sleep in the same bed and tell each other everything. It’s nothing for them to spend hours together cuddled up on the couch watching romantic comedies. Mary Kate is 17 years old and has started to venture out with friends and finds herself texting and FaceTiming Amber the entire time she is gone. If Amber can't reach Mary Kate, she’ll enter a downward spiral and start calling all of her daughter's friends until she can confirm that her daughter is safe. Mary Kate doesn’t mind the attention and loves her mom unconditionally. She especially loves that mom still picks out her outfit every day for school. Amber is even trying to setup Mary Kate with a cute boy that MK goes to school with.

About a year and a half ago, Amber (with the help of Mary Kate!) decided to put her single-self back out on the market. Amber didn’t know anything about dating apps but knew that at the time that Grace had a Tindr profile. So, like the sleuth mother that she is, she made it her mission to find Grace’s online dating profile to see what this online dating thing was all about. While scrolling through Tindr, one very unique profile caught her eye and she decided to message this very special online lover. When the beautiful, voluptuous blonde Holly wrote back, Amber was scared, shocked, excited, but internally thrilled.

Amber never guessed in a million years that she would fall in love with a woman. But when she saw Holly’s profile, something simply felt right!Amber had only been with men until she met Holly. After Amber and Holly met, the two were swept up into a whirlwind romance and were married four months later in a ceremony in Cancun, Mexico. Holly was born "Jeffrey" and up until 8 years ago, Holly lived her life as a man. She did all of the things that she was "expected" to as a man. She got married and had a child with her wife, Nancy. After divorcing Nancy, Holly made the full transition to living as a woman. Amber’s family had a very difficult time understanding her relationship with a woman, especially once they found out Holly is transgender. Even Amber still grapples with defining her own sexual orientation, but regardless she knows that she is madly in love with Holly. Mary Kate was quick to support her mother’s new relationship, which only made Amber and Mary Kate's bond closer. 

Now that Amber and Holly are together Mary-Kate has TWO moms and twice the sMothering! Mary Kate’s relationship with each of her mother’s is very different. Holly tends to be "the cool mom" whereas Amber is stricter, more overbearing and protective.  Though Holly has a son, John (21), she sees her relationship with Mary Kate as an opportunity to do it all over again. She enjoys being able to be "herself" as a woman and bond with her daughter over their shared love of makeup, fashion and shopping. Although MK loves them both equally, and has incredibly close relationships with each, the relationships are different. Holly is the first to allow Mary-Kate to play hooky, sneak into a movie, splurge on a girl’s day at the spa and go shopping. Essentially they get to do all the things that Amber will frown on, which are coincidentally all the things that Holly has never been able to do as a mother to a daughter. Mary-Kate and Amber’s relationship will always be the original mother daughter that began at birth, but the closer MK gets to Holly, the more jealous Amber seems to become.

Amber is having to learn how to "share" her daughter with Holly and the two moms are not always on the same page. Holly thinks that Amber is too protective and overbearing, believing that Amber isn’t allowing her daughter to make mistakes, live life on her own terms and grow on her own. Holly thinks that Amber needs to allow MK to be a regular teenager! Amber sees Holly’s influence as subversive to her parenting and views the two together as rebellious. Amber only wants what is best for her daughter and is navigating a tricky road between being the responsible parent and sharing her daughter with her new wife.

Grace recently moved back in with Amber, Holly, and Mary Kate. Grace has moved out in the past because of how, annoyed she gets with her mom and sister's relationship. Only time will tell if Amber will be able to balance the "favoritism" she shows Mary Kate and make Grace feel like she is welcome in their home. Since Holly came into the picture, the bond that Amber, Holly and Mary Kate share has resulted in Grace feeling even more "left out" of her family. Mary Kate loves to host "themed dinners" where the dishes of the menu are named after the theme and everyone dresses up in an assigned character. Her recent "Tiger King"  themed dinner was a huge hit!

Amber works with a disabled family and recently elected to bring Grace into work with her because she wanted to find common ground for them to have together in hope that it would be a springboard to improve their bond. They’re still fighting like cats and dogs, every day, but they’re doing their best to be better together.

Amber and Holly have a huge decision to make in regards to having a child together. Amber is 40 years old and the window of opportunity to have another child is closing. Amber and Holly have discussed what would be involved in order to conceive. Holly would need to go off of her hormones to boost their chances of being able to conceive naturally. The couple has begun their search for a doctor that would be able to assist them in being able to have a child together. Mary Kate is not crazy about the idea of Amber having another baby. Mary Kate fears that if her mom has a baby, then their close-knit relationship would suffer as a result. Mary Kate likes being the center of attention in Amber and Holly's lives and she knows that a baby would turn their world upside down. 

Mary Kate is a senior in high school and she is excited about the prospect of going off to college in the fall of 2021. In the next year, Amber, Holly and Mary Kate plan to tour campuses together. Mary Kate will be looking at schools in the Columbus, Ohio area and as well as universities that are out of state. Amber is already considering moving to wherever Mary Kate goes to college so she doesn't have to be away from her daughter. Holly isn't thrilled about the idea of uprooting their lives to follow Mary Kate, but she is willing to try and keep an open mind about the changes ahead of them. Holly does think that Mary Kate needs to start spending time away from Amber and make more friends who are her own age. With the potential for a new baby and a move on the horizon, it will be interesting to see what's in store for these unconventional mothers and daughters!