The major social changes having occurred in recent times, such as the possibility of divorce and multiple remarriages, the advent of stable unions or the existence of relationships which have no legal standing, such as those between homosexual couples; coupled with advances in biotechnology, have had a profound effect on and caused a major structural upheaval in the family. In the new family strong bons are formed between people who have no biological ties and who have no legally-recognised relationship. The notion that the law has had of the family - as being made up of one man and one woman, united by marriage or stable union, along with their children, whether these are their own or they have been adopted - is outdated and greater comprehension is required of these new relationships and ties, in order for the legislative and judicial system to be able to really serve the best interests of the child and adolescent - an internationallyadopted principle in matters involving minors. The question chosen for investigation was the psycho-social ties between persons who had neither blood ties nor legally-recognised relationships, and between whom there was a relation such as that during the childhood or the adolescence of one of them, the other had played the role of mother, father or brother. The aim of the study was to investigate the reality of these ties and the degree of importance and influence they have on the life and the formation of the child/adolescent´s subjective makeup, in order to facilitate the understanding of these relationships. Thirteen people were interviewed, divided into of seven pairs: two mother- and-child pairs, two father-and-child pairs, two sibling pairs and one homo- parent-child pair, members of families where one of them lived with the other since infancy, and with whom there were neither blood nor adoptive ties, but who nevertheless played the role of either the mother, father or brother to the other. Analysis of the interview material along with a reexamination of the literature supports the idea that neither genetics nor the law has much to do with family matters; that family ties go far beyond mere consanguinity and that the formation of such bonds is based on common life experiences and the role played with respect to the remaining family members.