Does a boy need a brother?

or is it more important that a girl have a sister? What are your thoughts?

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I don't know about boys because I've only ever had sister's - And now a little girl - But I do know that my sisters are the most important people in the world to me. I would love for my little girl to have a sister.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

Well I dont have a sister, and couldnt be happier that I dont...

I love being the only girl, and having my mom all to myself, I loved not sharing my clothes w/ anyone, or having someone steal my make up....

Maybe I woudld feel different had I had a sister....but Im not sad that I dont have one!


For me personally, its just important for my child to have sibling, I dont think it matters if that child is the same sex or not..

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

i can only speak for myself. my sister and i are the bestest friends in the universe, i can and do talk to her about everything. imo theres nothing like a sister, but then again, i never had a brother

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have a brother and one sister. I always LOVED having a sister and could not imagine not having one. My sister has 2 boys and 1 girl, and always says she'd have another one if she'd be guaranteed a sister for her daughter! My husband on the other hand has a brother and is not at all close with him. I guess it depends.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have a brother & a sister and I am very close to them both, I really dont think that it would make a huge difference either way.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

From my experience (3 sisters), I loved having sisters. I can't speak to the brother issue but I do think having siblings is important.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

as one of 6 sisters myself ...i cant imagine life without them they r my best friends! my sons fight now that they r younger but i hope the will grow to be great friends!

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

My parents had 2 girls and 2 boys. I'm the oldest (28) and I'm so happy I have a sister (24), we shared a room together so that made us very close, and it was just nice to have someone close in age to hang out with. My brothers (15 & 16) are 13 mths apart, and also are very close. They share a room and have a lot of the same friends.
I want Julia to have a sister or brother, or both because I came from a family with a lot of siblings and I enjoyed being with them when I was little , and now that we are older it continues, and I want the same for my daughter.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I grew up as one of 4, 2 girls, 2 boys. My sis and I are twins .
Although I feel that there is nothing like the bond of twins, I also feel that siblings in general are the most amazing thing in the world to have. I cant imagine life without my brothers or my sister. We understand eachother,are there for eachother, can talk to eachother about anything. ITs a loyalty and bond that you dont get with anyone else (well until you get married and have babies of your own ).

Having 2 boys, I think its great to see the dynamic with 2 brothers, pal-ing around, playing together, its precious. and I cant wait to see three little guys climbing the walls and playing together....

Seeing my nieces play together, of course theres something special about sisters too. My sister and I are eachothers other half (I know mommy twins might not like to hear that ) I always said if my heart skips a beat, hers picks up for it. We can understand eachother without saying a word.

I just cant see either side of it as more important than the other. I just think having siblings is important and something that unless you do have siblings, its hard to say (And the same goes for being an only child, I know many that Loved being an only child )

Message edited 4/6/2006 5:31:44 PM.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have a sister. Like some of the other posters said, she is my other half. When we talk on the phone, we pick up our conversations from hours or days before like it had only been seconds. We are 3 years apart but were always very close. My parents made sure of that. They didn't force it on us but they always reminded us that since they had each other, we needed each other too. It worked for our family!
My nephews are very close as well but not having any brothers, I don't really know how the dynamics work. DH only has a brother and although there is a 6 year different, they are very close. I think this is a "later in life' thing though, not their whole lives.
I would love 3 children, 2 and 1. I don't really care which is the 2 and which is the 1.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have 2 older sisters, 2 older brothers & 1 younger brother. I am closest to my brother who is 2 years older. But, I am close to all of my family.

My husband every now & then asks PAtrick if he wants a brother. Patrick usually replies "No, I want 10 sisters"

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

Lurking here, but felt I needed to chime in because no one's mentioned that they have just one brother.

At the time, I'm sure I would've loved to have had a sister, and I know I could've given you a list a mile long about what exactly was wrong with my brother! But now, looking back, I think it was cool. I used to play with his cars with him and he used to play Barbies and dollhouse with me (although he would probably rather I not said that!). I also was exposed to lots of sports through him - I think having a brother made me a little bit of a tom-boy, or prevented me from being too girly anyway. And I think for him, it helped to make him a bit more sensitive and wiser in the "ways of women" - which I'm sure his girlfriends appreciated.



ETA: I think it always gets kind of complicated when there are "uneven teams" there's always the potential for the girls to gang up on the boys or viceversa...but I don't think a boy NEEDS to have a brother specifically.

Message edited 4/7/2006 6:25:54 AM.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

For a long time my family was:


my brother HATED everytime my mother would come home with a girl. Even though there is a big age difference when the youngest boy finally came along, my brothers have always been superclose. Both are vegans, they have movie night once a week, they go camping together. My first brother, Reilly would have had a huge void.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have two older brothers. I always wanted a sister, but I was very close with my mom and that was special to me. I think it was great that my brothers had each other -- and at 2 years apart they were very close friends.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have an older brother and sister. My brother is 8 years older and my sister is exactly 14 months older than me. My brother and never played together, but he stuck up for me and beat my sister up for me when she would beat up on me. I can't say my brother and I are close right now, I think years ago we were to a point. Now my sister and I ALWAYS hated each other growing up. We did nothing but fight constantly. It wasn't until the last few years that we became close. I still have issues with my sister and brother, mostly because of their personalities. We're all so different in that way. I would of had another brother after my older brother, but he was stillborn. To me, I can't say that I liked having a sister because we really hated each other. I think my brother would of liked to have a brother. Maybe it would of helped all the problems that he had gone through as a teen. He had a lot of problems. From my experience I don't think having the same sex sibling is a must. Having a sibling in general is great, but not necessarily the same sex.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. I am sandwiched in between the 3 boys and my 2 sister are 8 and 11 years younger than me.

While we all get along, I have a great relationship with my sisters even though we are not close in age. I am 10 month younger than my brother and we were in the same grade, but I wouldn't say we had a great relationship.

I don't think it matters if a boy has a brother and a girl has a sister, although those bonds sometimes are incredible, especially when they are close in age. I hope that Andrew grows to love his sister because chances are he will not have a brother. I think any sibling relationship can be strong.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

Thanks for everyone's responses. I have 2 girls and 1 boy and I really want him to have a brother, I see the bonds that my uncles have w/ each other and I just really want him to have what I see the boys in my own family have with each other. know my girls love him beyond words, but I also know that it is a truly special relationship between brothers.

Message edited 4/7/2006 2:36:37 PM.

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

Just chiming in as a girl with only a brother. My brother and I are close and one thing I can say for never having had a sister is that I have such close best friends that are like sisters to me. And as a weird coincidence we all have brothers, no sisters.

So maybe your son might not have a brother but he may develop friendships that are like "brothers"

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I have 1 sister and 3 brothers. I have to be honest the brothers are not particularly close with each other. My sister and I are close. One of my brothers is very close to my sister. We are all supportive of each other, care about each other and would try our best to help each other. But are we all "best friends" no..not by any stretch.

But I just don't think you can guarentee that any siblings will be close to each other as adults or even teens/children. I mean, there is sooo many factor to it.

I don't feel that I have to give Molly a sister..in fact we are adopting her a brother. I did question the decision for a few weeks..like I maybe owed Molly a sister. But then I realized that there is no way for me to know that she will be closer to a sister than brother.

I know a lot of friends who sibling relationships cause them heart ache. They are not friends, not close..in fact, there is tension and often a "forced" feeling between them.

So you should do what is right for your family. Of course you could have another girl...then your son would be outnumbered 3 to 1 LOL

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

WOW everyone here has big families.

I have one brother - ALthough we love each other we are not that close - never have been. I think it would have been nice to have a sister though too

Re: Does a boy need a brother?

I will let you know - I have a boy and a girl.