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* A similar example as above in ''Circumstances of an Unexpected Trio'' series by ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4838495/Musicangel913 Musicangel913]]'', though they are also raising Draco along with Harry, who was given to them by Narcissa after her husband was tortured into insanity and learning that she'll be killed soon as a liability for being more loyal to her family than to Voldemort. When Harry asks Sirius how come he and Lily never got together romantically, Sirius admits that both were still holding a torch for their [[TheLostLenore deceased partners]] (James for Lily and Marlene for Sirus), and their attempts to come together due to the stress of raising the two boys and the approaching dates of their dead lover's anniversary lead them to admit they were BetterAsFriends, which in the long run helped their family unit.
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* By the sequel to ''Film/ThreeMenAndaBaby'' the three men have formed a unit with Mary's mother Sylvia that sees all four of them raising her together as equal parents. Jack, Mary's biological father, also makes it clear that while he jokingly flirts with her a lot neither he nor Sylvia are interested in getting together.
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* By the sequel to ''Film/ThreeMenAndaBaby'' ''Film/ThreeMenAndABaby'' the three men have formed a unit with Mary's mother Sylvia that sees all four of them raising her together as equal parents. Jack, Mary's biological father, also makes it clear that while he jokingly flirts with her a lot neither he nor Sylvia are interested in getting together.
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* By the sequel to ''Film/ThreeMenAndaBaby'' the three men have formed a unit with Mary's mother Sylvia that sees all four of them raising her together as equal parents. Jack, Mary's biological father, also makes it clear that while he jokingly flirts with her a lot neither he nor Sylvia are interested in getting together.
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* In the American sitcom ''Kate & Allie'' Creator/JaneCurtin and Susan St. James played childhood friends who, after they both divorced their husbands, lived and raised their kids together.
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* In the American sitcom ''Kate & Allie'' ''Series/KateAndAllie'' Creator/JaneCurtin and Susan St. James played childhood friends who, after they both divorced their husbands, lived and raised their kids together.
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* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Bertuccio and his late brother's wife Assunta take a newborn Benedetto in and raise him as their son. While they tell Benedetto they're his parents, there is never any indication of a romance between them, and Bertuccio seems to think of Assunta as his own sister.
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Potholes are not allowed in quotes.
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'''Ted:''' And a broken home? Um, what's that? Our kids will never know. [[HeterosexualLifePartners Cause we're never gonna split up!]]
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'''Ted:''' And a broken home? Um, what's that? Our kids will never know. [[HeterosexualLifePartners Cause we're never gonna split up!]]up!
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* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Donald and Della are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della gets lost in space for ten years,]] Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. [[spoiler: When Della returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well.]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Donald and Della are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della gets lost in space for ten years,]] Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. [[spoiler: When Della returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well.]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': Drake and Launchpad are not romantically evolved and Drake even finds him annoying, but both can work together to raise Drake's adopted daughter, Gosalyn.
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* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': Drake and Launchpad are not romantically evolved involved and Drake even finds him annoying, but both can work together to raise Drake's adopted daughter, Gosalyn.
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* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': Kobayashi acts as a mother for Kanna while Tohru is something of a hybrid between a mother and an older sister. Despite Tohru's crush on Kobayashi, their relationship remains non-romantic.
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* In the first book of the ''Literature/EarthsChildren'' series, Ayla and Uba are raised by their mother Iza and uncle Creb, who live together after Iza's mate died (he was an abusive jerk, so they're all well shot of him). Creb is like a father to the girls, explicitly stating at one point that he thinks of Ayla as a daughter. Later in ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'', they all help Ayla raise her son, Durc (no man wants to mate Ayla because she's considered unattractive by Clan standards, while Durc's biological father [[spoiler: is the BigBad Broud, who unknowingly got Ayla pregnant after [[ChildByRape raping her]] and wants nothing to do with Durc)]].
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* Though Toriel remains the primary caregiver, many ''VideoGame/Undertale'' fanfics have most of the boss monsters (Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, etc) sharing the duty of parenting Frisk, mixing this trope with RaisedByTheSupernatural. Sometimes the trope goes UpToEleven with [[RaisedByTheCommunity the entire Monster Kingdom having shared custody of Frisk.]]
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* Though Toriel remains the primary caregiver, many ''VideoGame/Undertale'' ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' fanfics have most of the boss monsters (Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, etc) sharing the duty of parenting Frisk, mixing this trope with RaisedByTheSupernatural. Sometimes the trope goes UpToEleven with [[RaisedByTheCommunity the entire Monster Kingdom having shared custody of Frisk.]]
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* Though Toriel remains the primary caregiver, many ''VideoGame/Undertale'' fanfics have most of the boss monsters (Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, etc) sharing the duty of parenting Frisk, mixing this trope with RaisedByTheSupernatural. Sometimes the trope goes UpToEleven with [[RaisedByTheCommunity the entire Monster Kingdom having shared custody of Frisk.]]
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* ''Film/{{Dumplin}}'': Willowdean was raised by her mother and aunt, though she asserts that her aunt was the main parental figure in her life.
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* Mixed with {{Nephewism}} in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', where Tavi is raised by his Uncle Bernard and Aunt Isana, who are brother and sister rather than a married couple.
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Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, HasTwoMommies, and HappilyAdopted.
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Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, HasTwoMommies, and HappilyAdopted.
HappilyAdopted. May be a reason for HasTwoMommies if the same-sex parents aren't a couple. Also see AmicablyDivorced for when divorced parents are on good terms and co-parent their children.
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Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, and HappilyAdopted.
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Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, HasTwoMommies, and HappilyAdopted.
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->'''Ted:''' It's genius! Instead of throwing away your life marrying some girl, you just go splitsies on a kid with your best bro!\\
'''Barney:''' I wouldn't have to choose between dating and having a family, hell, I could bring the kids on dates!\\
'''Ted:''' And a broken home? Um, what's that? Our kids will never know. [[HeterosexualLifePartners Cause we're never gonna split up!]]
-->-- ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS7E11TheReboundGirl The Rebound Girl]]"
'''Barney:''' I wouldn't have to choose between dating and having a family, hell, I could bring the kids on dates!\\
'''Ted:''' And a broken home? Um, what's that? Our kids will never know. [[HeterosexualLifePartners Cause we're never gonna split up!]]
-->-- ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS7E11TheReboundGirl The Rebound Girl]]"
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* ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': Before losing her memory, Carol acted as a second mother to her [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] Maria's daughter, Monica. Notably, they spent every holiday together, and when Carol was believed to be dead, her possessions were given to Maria. Monica's father is never mentioned.
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[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
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[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
TV]]
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* Ted and Barney seriously consider going this route in an episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', figuring that they might never find love, so why not settle down and adopt a child together? They eventually realize they're being crazy and decide not to do it, but not before we get some adorably (and hilariously) [[HomoeroticSubtext shippy]] conversations about it.
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* Ted and Barney in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' seriously consider going this route in an the episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', "The Rebound Girl", figuring that they might never find love, so why not settle down and adopt a child together? So Barney then turns up with a baby he claims to have adopted, but who later turns out to be his new niece he's simply babysitting for the day. They eventually realize they're being crazy and decide not they'd rather wait for the right person to do it, start a family with, but not before we get some adorably (and hilariously) [[HomoeroticSubtext shippy]] conversations about it.
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* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru. However, this arrangement is temporary, and at the end of the manga, the brothers go on separate ways to get married to their respective {{love interest}}s.
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* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his younger brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru. However, this arrangement is only temporary, and at the end of the manga, the brothers go on separate ways to get married to marry their respective {{love interest}}s.
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What other siblings does Donald have?
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* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Donald and [[spoiler: Della]] are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della]] gets lost in space for ten years, Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. When [[spoiler: Della]] returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well.
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* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Donald and [[spoiler: Della]] Della are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della]] Della gets lost in space for ten years, years,]] Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. When [[spoiler: Della]] When Della returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well. well.]]
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* After turning what used to be five human greedy corporate executives into cute, fluffy animals (ItMakesSenseInContext), the five [=YooHoos=] in ''WesternAnimation/YoohooAndFriends'' quite literally see Father Time and Mother Nature as their parents.
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* After turning what used to be five human greedy corporate executives into cute, fluffy animals (ItMakesSenseInContext), the five [=YooHoos=] in ''WesternAnimation/YoohooAndFriends'' quite lierally see Father Time and Mother Nature as their parents.
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* After turning what used to be five human greedy corporate executives into cute, fluffy animals (ItMakesSenseInContext), the five [=YooHoos=] in ''WesternAnimation/YoohooAndFriends'' quite lierally literally see Father Time and Mother Nature as their parents.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsUnlockTheMagic'', Tenderheart sees himself as a father figure to the main bears, and just as well the bears see Wish Bear as their mother. More literally, all the main bears (but especially Grumpy) see Dibble as their daughter of sorts, though it's all but spoken.
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* After turning what used to be five human greedy corporate executives into cute, fluffy animals (ItMakesSenseInContext), the five [=YooHoos=] in ''WesternAnimation/YoohooAndFriends'' quite lierally see Father Time and Mother Nature as their parents.
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* In many cultures, a child's uncles, aunts, grandparents, and sometimes older siblings are expected to help with their upbringing.
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* In many cultures, a child's uncles, aunts, grandparents, and sometimes [[PromotedToParent older siblings siblings]] are expected to help with their upbringing.
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* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': Miss Darcy's father died five years before the start of the story, leaving her an orphan. Mr. Darcy (her older brother) and Colonel Fitzwilliam (her cousin) [[PromotionToParent are her legal guardians]].
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* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego:'' The titular character was raised since her youth by the five main faculty members of [=V.I.L.E.=]: Coach Brunt, Dr. Bellum, Countess Cleo, Professor Maelstrom, and Shadowsan. Each one takes a different level of intimacy and love towards their ward with Coach Brunt pampering and spoiling the young girl to Shadowsan's standoffish behavior. The rest are somewhere in between. It is a genuinely happy relationship, which makes Carmen's recognition of how evil they could be and her betraying them all the more shocking to, as she puts it, the only family she's ever known.
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* Discussed in the epilogue of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' where the orphaned Sherry suggests that Leon and Claire adopt her, even after Leon [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend denies any romantic connection between him and Claire]].
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* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru.
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* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru. However, this arrangement is temporary, and at the end of the manga, the brothers go on separate ways to get married to their respective {{love interest}}s.
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-->'''Jen:''' We can be, like, a three-child mothering team.
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-->'''Jen:''' We can be, like, a three-child mothering team.\\
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-->'''Phil:''' They're two families!
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-->'''Phil:''' They're two families!families!\\
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru.
[[/folder]]
* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'': After his wife's death, newly single father Souichi invites his brother Kouji to move in to help him raise his daughter, Michiru.
[[/folder]]
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There are all kinds of families. Some characters have a mother and a father. Some may have a stepparent (with varying levels of [[GoodStepmother goodness]] and [[WickedStepmother wickedness]]) thrown in. Some were RaisedByGrandparents. Some have [[HasTwoMommies two mommies or two daddies]]. Some have a single parent.
Bob, on the other hand, is raised by his mother Alice, and Charlie. No, Charlie isn't Bob's father, nor is he romantically involved with Alice. He might be her [[PlatonicLifePartners best friend]], or perhaps her brother. Either way, he's every bit as involved in Bob's upbringing as she is; he'll drive him to school, cook him dinner, punish him when he acts up, and come running if he needs help. It doesn't matter that Charlie and Alice aren't a romantic couple; Charlie is, for all intents and purposes, Bob's father.
Note that this doesn't need to involve two characters of the opposite sex, or even only two characters. Platonic Co-Parenting is simply about two or more people raising a child together, without romantic entanglements. It's quite common for this sort of family to also to be a blended family; Charlie helps Alice raise her son Bob, and she helps raise his daughter Danielle. It's also possible for ''none'' of the parties to be biologically related; perhaps Charlie and Alice found Bob abandoned when he was an infant, and decided to take him in. Either way, there's often a message about how a FamilyOfChoice is just as important and real as one dictated by blood, if not more so. (If Bob's biological DisappearedDad shows back up, expect him to [[CallingTheOldManOut call him out]], pointing out that Charlie did more for him than he ever did.)
Depending on the story, Alice and Charlie might undergo a RelationshipUpgrade... but even if they don't, if they're not related, it's a pretty safe bet that a good chunk of the fandom will [[FanPreferredCouple want them to]]. Odds of an official upgrade are actually pretty low; a LastMinuteHookup ''might'' occur, but most of these couples are relegated to JustFriends status, sometimes with the occasional ShipTease. (If Alice is Alan or Charlie is Charlotte in this particular scenario, or if there's more than two of them involved, the chances of an actual upgrade are even slimmer.) If the creator really wants to hammer in that the setup is strictly platonic, there might be an IncompatibleOrientation involved, or they might be sure to place emphasis on the "heterosexual" part of HeterosexualLifePartners. One or both parties might also be involved with someone else, often with the other as a ShipperOnDeck. Some works might have the characters actually consider dating, before concluding that they're BetterAsFriends. (Not that ''any'' of this ever stopped the shippers...)
Not to be confused with a pair of AmicableExes raising their children together. Alice and Charlie can't have been romantically involved (or if they once were, it needs to have been ''long'' over by the time the kids came into the mix).
With blended and non-nuclear families becoming more commonplace, this pops up in RealLife, too.
Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, and HappilyAdopted.
Contrast GlorifiedSpermDonor.
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:{{Advertising}}]]
* A series of Advertising/CompareTheMeerkat commercials has Aleksandr and Sergei raise a baby meerkat pup named Oleg together. They leave Oleg behind with other meerkats in Africa, but he returns to the duo in later adverts (along with a new sister) and joins in their everyday adventures.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', ComicBook/NicoMinoru casts a spell that somehow enables her and Chase Stein to be recognized as Molly Hayes' legal guardians, in order to protect Molly from being sent back to foster care after her grandmother is arrested.
* ''ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': Zelda and Hilda Spellmen, who are sisters, raise their teenage niece Sabrina in the absence of her parents.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:FanWorks]]
* Played with in ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/1397510/4007763#part_content Best Friend]]'', an alternate universe ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfic. Sirius and Lily raise Harry together after James is killed by Voldemort. However, they find themselves falling in love with each other, but Sirius refuses to act on it because he feels it would be a betrayal of James's memory, so he insists on staying Lily's friend. There is NoEnding, so we never find out how it got resolved.
* ''Fanfic/CucumberPlanesAdventuresInAnExtendedExistentialCrisis'': Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua are not attracted to each other, but spend all their time together after [[FakingTheDead faking their deaths.]] They take in the former StreetUrchin Wei Wuxian and raise him as their own.
* In ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/8911406 The Family Saga of the Gerards]]'', an ''Theatre/AndreaChenier'' fanfic, there is Charles and Idia's marriage. Everyone thinks they are a perfect couple, loving parents of two daughters Dorothee and Marie. In fact, they have always been LikeBrotherAndSister, Dorothee's father was Idia's first husband, an aristocrat (not good in revolutionary France), and Marie is a ChildByRape conceived in prison. The girls view Charles as their father and never suspect their parents' marriage is a ruse.
* ''Fanfic/MyMirrorSwordAndShield'', Lloyd and Cecile share a home and raise their adoptive son Suzaku together but their relationship is platonic. Cecile thinks Lloyd as her annoying friend while Lloyd sees her as his assistant.
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' starts off with this as its base premise, with Jiraiya and Tsunade moving in together to raise an infant Naruto. That said, the two of them do eventually become romantically involved and get married after a few years of living under the same roof.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsTheIslandPrincess'' begins with Sagi (a red panda) and Azul (a peacock) finding a human girl washed up on the shore of their island after a shipwreck. Despite Azul's initial protests, they end up helping her, and raising her as their own. At some point during the TimeSkip, they were joined by Tika, a baby elephant whose biological parents are never mentioned nor seen.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls'' sees [[spoiler:Eggs happily reunited with his biological father, but also not turning away from his adoptive father, Fish. The movie ends with the young boy now having two loving dads, who will continue to care for him together.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Timon and Pumbaa]] take in Simba and essentially raise him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheWilloughbys'' ends with [[spoiler:Nanny adopting the Willoughby children, and moving in with Commander Melanoff to help him raise his own adoptive daughter, Ruth. The end credits play over a series of pictures of the happy blended family together.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Film}}s - Live-Action]]
* ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': Before losing her memory, Carol acted as a second mother to her [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] Maria's daughter, Monica. Notably, they spent every holiday together, and when Carol was believed to be dead, her possessions were given to Maria. Monica's father is never mentioned.
* The main characters of ''Film/FriendsWithKids'' attempt this, deciding to conceive and raise a child together without that pesky relationship business. They both date other people while raising their young son, to the bafflement of their friends. [[spoiler:They wind up falling in love anyway.]]
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': The adult members of the team -- Peter, Gamora, Rocket, and Drax -- are shown raising Baby Groot together. In the opening sequence, each of them gets brief moment showcasing their individual relationships to Baby Groot while fighting the monster.
* In ''Sympathy Seeker'', 29-year-old Anastasia searches for her DisappearedDad, knowing only his name and vague details of her parents' brief meeting. She ends up finding ''three'' lonely old men, each of whom potentially fits these details. They get on so well together that Anastasia asks all three to stay on as her dads, even hiding her mother's photo to prevent them from finding out which one is the real father. [[spoiler:Turns out, no one is, but they still ultimately decide to stay]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'': Siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to take a boy from an orphanage to help Matthew around the farm. They end up as foster parents of Anne.
* ''Literature/{{Forbidden}}'' subverts this. At first, Maya and Lochan do this, having been PromotedToParent a long time ago. Then it becomes obvious [[BrotherSisterIncest that the setup isn't really platonic]].
* In ''The Giant of Wilmington'' by Eleanor Farjeon, a foundling boy is adopted and raised by seven sisters.
* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': Clary was raised by her single mother Jocelyn and Jocelyn's best friend Luke. [[spoiler: Jocelyn and Luke eventually have a RelationshipUpgrade later in the book series]].
* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': In the book "The Vile Village," the Baudelaire orphans are adopted by an entire village at once, thanks to a program that takes the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" rather literally. This being Lemony Snicket, it doesn't work out very well.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Jon Snow and Val share responsibility for Val's orphaned nephew. Though they do have some ShipTease, it doesn't go anywhere due to Jon's VowOfCelibacy.
* In ''The Star of Kazan'' by Creator/EvaIbbotson, Annika is a foundling raised by HeterosexualLifePartners Ellie and Sigrid.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
* ''Series/AllAmerican'': The protagonist, Spencer, gets recruited to play football for Beverly Hills High School, but in order to attend, he has to live with the school coach's family. On the weekends, he returns to his old neighborhood to live with his single mother and younger brother. His mother is essentially co-parenting with his coach.
* In one plotline of ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'', Thomas (who, it must be noted, is batshit crazy) attempts to use his son Douglas as a means to get to Hope, since she has a soft spot for the kid, and Douglas' biological mother has died, causing him to see Hope as a ParentalSubstitute. Hope eventually realizes what's going on, but feels she can't abandon Douglas, so she tries to persuade Thomas to make her his son's legal mother without actually becoming romantically involved, intending to then sue for complete custody. This being a soap, Thomas being [[{{Yandere}} Thomas]] and Hope being [[TooDumbToLive Hope]], this leads to an ''extremely'' convoluted GambitPileup, with lots of IKnowYouKnowIKnow to go around.
* Discussed in ''Series/DeadToMe'', when Judy thinks she might be pregnant, and worries about whether or not she's honestly cut out for single motherhood. Her best friend Jen says she'd gladly raise the baby with her, pointing out that they already live together and Judy already helps out with Jen's own sons.
-->'''Jen:''' We can be, like, a three-child mothering team.
'''Judy:''' Mothering team? That's awesome.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': When Joan shares the fact that she wants to adopt a baby, Sherlock states that he'd be happy to help raise her child as an HonoraryUncle. This eventually happens in the series finale.
* The plot of ''Series/FullHouse'' is about a widower, his best friend, and his brother-in-law raising his children together.
* ''Series/{{Harlots}}'': Discussed. Kitty tries to convince her friend Fanny that they, along with Harriet, should leave the Wells brothel and start their own. One of the benefits would be that they could all raise their children together. Margaret had forced Kitty to sent daughter away and planned to do the same to Fanny once her baby was weaned. [[spoiler: Sadly, Kitty is murdered by the end of the episode, but Fanny is eventually allowed to keep her daughter]].
* Ted and Barney seriously consider going this route in an episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', figuring that they might never find love, so why not settle down and adopt a child together? They eventually realize they're being crazy and decide not to do it, but not before we get some adorably (and hilariously) [[HomoeroticSubtext shippy]] conversations about it.
* In the American sitcom ''Kate & Allie'' Creator/JaneCurtin and Susan St. James played childhood friends who, after they both divorced their husbands, lived and raised their kids together.
* The show ''Series/MyTwoDads'' is about a young girl who, following the death of her mother, is raised by two of her ex-boyfriends--''one'' of them is her father, but they don't know who. The two dads were friends who fell out some time ago, but resolve to put their differences aside for the kid's sake.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** In the first episode, Henry runs away to find his birth mother, Emma. This deeply upsets his adoptive mother Regina, who has a very antagonistic relationship with Emma for the first few seasons. Over time, however, Emma and Regina become FireForgedFriends and agree to share custody.
** Rumpelstiltskin was raised by a pair of spinster sisters after being abandoned by his biological parents.
** John and Michael Darling, who are brothers, planned to adopted [[spoiler: Henry]] together after [[spoiler: Regina]] wanted to back out of his adoption. However, she changed her mind and adopted him after all.
** After Robin Hood and Maid Marian both die, their orphaned son Roland is raised by the Merry Men.
** Zelena, Regina's half-sister, gets pregnant by pulling a BedTrick on Regina's boyfriend. After he dies, the sisters patch up their relationship and Regina helps Zelena take care of the baby.
** Lucy is raised by her single mother Jacinda and her mother's best friend Sabina, who Lucy refers to as her [[HonoraryUncle aunt]].
* ''Series/OrphanBlack'':
** Sarah raises her daughter Kira primarily with help from her mother and brother. Kira's biological father gets involved in season 2, but doesn't play as large a role in her upbringing.
** By the end of the series, Alison and her husband Donnie are helping [[spoiler: Alison's sister Helena]] raise her twin sons.
* ''Series/{{Pose}}'': This applies to Blanca (a trans woman) and Pray Tell (a gay man) with regards to their FamilyOfChoice. Blanca is the [[TeamMom mother]] of the House of Evangelista and though Pray Tell is not an official member, he acts as a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] to Blanca's children.
* ''Series/QueenSugar'': Siblings Ernest and Violet Bordelon raised Ernest's grandson Blue for a few years because Blue's father Ralph Angel and mother Darla were in prison and dealing with a drug addiction, respectively. Once Ralph Angel and Darla start getting their lives together, they gradually take over parenting responsibilities.
* ''Series/RaisingDion'': After Nicole's husband dies, his best friend Pat steps up to help her raise their son, Dion. [[spoiler: When Pat admits to having feelings for Nicole, she rejects him]].
* In ''Series/RavensHome'', a SequelSeries to ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', Raven and Chelsea have both married, become mothers, and gotten divorced during the interval between the two shows. They then move in together in one apartment, both acting as mothers to their kids. (The father of Raven's children is also involved, and he and Rae have managed to be AmicableExes. Chelsea and her ex-husband have ''not'', and he's in prison on top of that.) This is even lampshaded when their landlord tries to boot them out for having two families under the same roof, which is against the building's rules. His mother steps in and vouches for Raven and Chelsea.
-->'''Phil:''' They're two families!
'''Myrna:''' I only see one.
* Siblings Fiona and Lip raise their younger siblings in ''Series/ShamelessUS'', because [[PromotionToParent their parents are useless at best]].
* ''Series/SisterSister'', about a pair of twins who were SeparatedAtBirth and find each other again, has the girls' respective adoptive parents Lisa and Ray move in with each other so the sisters can stay together. Although Lisa and Ray initially clash, they later develop a strong friendship. Although they date for a little while, they are non-romantically co-parenting the twins for much of the show and don't end up together.
* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'': Reginald platonically raises his seven adopted kids with a [[RaisedByRobots realistic android mother]] named Grace and his [[UpliftedAnimal talking chimpanzee butler]] Pogo.
* The revival of ''Series/WillAndGrace'' ends with the titular duo buying a house in the 'burbs together, so they can move there and raise Grace's son and Will's daughter under one roof. They know others might think it's weird, but it's the best, most stable life they can provide.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Theatre}}]]
* The ending of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' has [[spoiler:the Baker agreeing to adopt the recently-orphaned Jack and Red, raising them alongside his infant son. Cinderella offers to move in with them, so she can help out with taking care of the kids and house. Unsurprisingly, the Baker and Cinderella are the FanPreferredCouple.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:VideoGames]]
* Despite what shippers say, and the massive amount of HomoeroticSubtext, by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', Otacon and Snake platonically live together as her two dads, raising Olga's daughter, Sunny.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WebAnimation]]
* The ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions'' telling of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the myth of Perseus]] shows baby Perseus and his mother being taken in by a kindly fisherman and his wife, resulting in him growing up in an unusually stable household by Greek mythology standards. Red's depiction of the family makes it equally possible to interpret them as either this trope, or a [[{{Polyamory}} polyamorous triad]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': Drake and Launchpad are not romantically evolved and Drake even finds him annoying, but both can work together to raise Drake's adopted daughter, Gosalyn.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Donald and [[spoiler: Della]] are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della]] gets lost in space for ten years, Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. When [[spoiler: Della]] returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': Following Avocato's [[spoiler: death]] midway through the first season Gary Goodspeed takes to looking after his son Little Cato, even officially adopting him in season two. Towards the end of the same season, following [[spoiler: Avacato's return due to a temporal loophole]] the two settle into this sort of relationship, Little Cato even takes to calling them both his dad.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Potty-Training Spike", the babies, who are all platonic friends with Phil and Lil being twins, all decide to temporarily become Spike's adoptive family while they try to toilet train him (the reason they think he needs to be toilet trained is because Didi said that [[NatureTinkling peeing outside]] was not allowed, and they assumed it applied to dogs too). Tommy and Chuckie decide to be Spike's dads, while the twins take on the role of his "Uncle Bill and Aunt Harriet".
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': After the death of his mother Rose, Steven is raised by his father Greg and Rose's war compatriots the Crystal Gems. Neither of them date Greg, though at one point the Gems FusionDance into a single being to pretend to be his wife. Luckily, the parents they feared would judge them for their unorthodox family actually don't mind as long as Steven is raised responsibly.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Rock-A-Bye Bivalve" has Spongebob and Patrick raise a baby scallop (the equivalent of a baby bird) as if it were an infant. Spongebob takes the maternal role while Patrick plays a (very unhelpful) dad.
* Baloo and Rebecca Cunningham from ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' are not a married couple and on many occasions are at each other's throats, especially when running Hire for Hire, with Rebecca being bossy and Baloo being lazy. Nonetheless, they both act as parental figures to Baloo's adopted son, Kit, and Rebecca's biological daughter, Molly.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:RealLife]]
* In many cultures, a child's uncles, aunts, grandparents, and sometimes older siblings are expected to help with their upbringing.
* In 2017, the Canadian government began allowing people to share legal custody of children without requiring them to be romantic partners. This is thanks to two best friends, [[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/multimedia/raising-elaan-profoundly-disabled-boy-s-co-mommas-make-legal-history-1.3988464 Natasha Bakht and Lynda Collins]], who fought for two years to have Natasha be legally recognized as the second mother of Lynda's son, Elaan.
[[/folder]]
Bob, on the other hand, is raised by his mother Alice, and Charlie. No, Charlie isn't Bob's father, nor is he romantically involved with Alice. He might be her [[PlatonicLifePartners best friend]], or perhaps her brother. Either way, he's every bit as involved in Bob's upbringing as she is; he'll drive him to school, cook him dinner, punish him when he acts up, and come running if he needs help. It doesn't matter that Charlie and Alice aren't a romantic couple; Charlie is, for all intents and purposes, Bob's father.
Note that this doesn't need to involve two characters of the opposite sex, or even only two characters. Platonic Co-Parenting is simply about two or more people raising a child together, without romantic entanglements. It's quite common for this sort of family to also to be a blended family; Charlie helps Alice raise her son Bob, and she helps raise his daughter Danielle. It's also possible for ''none'' of the parties to be biologically related; perhaps Charlie and Alice found Bob abandoned when he was an infant, and decided to take him in. Either way, there's often a message about how a FamilyOfChoice is just as important and real as one dictated by blood, if not more so. (If Bob's biological DisappearedDad shows back up, expect him to [[CallingTheOldManOut call him out]], pointing out that Charlie did more for him than he ever did.)
Depending on the story, Alice and Charlie might undergo a RelationshipUpgrade... but even if they don't, if they're not related, it's a pretty safe bet that a good chunk of the fandom will [[FanPreferredCouple want them to]]. Odds of an official upgrade are actually pretty low; a LastMinuteHookup ''might'' occur, but most of these couples are relegated to JustFriends status, sometimes with the occasional ShipTease. (If Alice is Alan or Charlie is Charlotte in this particular scenario, or if there's more than two of them involved, the chances of an actual upgrade are even slimmer.) If the creator really wants to hammer in that the setup is strictly platonic, there might be an IncompatibleOrientation involved, or they might be sure to place emphasis on the "heterosexual" part of HeterosexualLifePartners. One or both parties might also be involved with someone else, often with the other as a ShipperOnDeck. Some works might have the characters actually consider dating, before concluding that they're BetterAsFriends. (Not that ''any'' of this ever stopped the shippers...)
Not to be confused with a pair of AmicableExes raising their children together. Alice and Charlie can't have been romantically involved (or if they once were, it needs to have been ''long'' over by the time the kids came into the mix).
With blended and non-nuclear families becoming more commonplace, this pops up in RealLife, too.
Compare LikeASonToMe, ParentalSubstitute, FamilyOfChoice, HonoraryUncle, and HappilyAdopted.
Contrast GlorifiedSpermDonor.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:{{Advertising}}]]
* A series of Advertising/CompareTheMeerkat commercials has Aleksandr and Sergei raise a baby meerkat pup named Oleg together. They leave Oleg behind with other meerkats in Africa, but he returns to the duo in later adverts (along with a new sister) and joins in their everyday adventures.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', ComicBook/NicoMinoru casts a spell that somehow enables her and Chase Stein to be recognized as Molly Hayes' legal guardians, in order to protect Molly from being sent back to foster care after her grandmother is arrested.
* ''ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': Zelda and Hilda Spellmen, who are sisters, raise their teenage niece Sabrina in the absence of her parents.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:FanWorks]]
* Played with in ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/1397510/4007763#part_content Best Friend]]'', an alternate universe ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfic. Sirius and Lily raise Harry together after James is killed by Voldemort. However, they find themselves falling in love with each other, but Sirius refuses to act on it because he feels it would be a betrayal of James's memory, so he insists on staying Lily's friend. There is NoEnding, so we never find out how it got resolved.
* ''Fanfic/CucumberPlanesAdventuresInAnExtendedExistentialCrisis'': Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua are not attracted to each other, but spend all their time together after [[FakingTheDead faking their deaths.]] They take in the former StreetUrchin Wei Wuxian and raise him as their own.
* In ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/8911406 The Family Saga of the Gerards]]'', an ''Theatre/AndreaChenier'' fanfic, there is Charles and Idia's marriage. Everyone thinks they are a perfect couple, loving parents of two daughters Dorothee and Marie. In fact, they have always been LikeBrotherAndSister, Dorothee's father was Idia's first husband, an aristocrat (not good in revolutionary France), and Marie is a ChildByRape conceived in prison. The girls view Charles as their father and never suspect their parents' marriage is a ruse.
* ''Fanfic/MyMirrorSwordAndShield'', Lloyd and Cecile share a home and raise their adoptive son Suzaku together but their relationship is platonic. Cecile thinks Lloyd as her annoying friend while Lloyd sees her as his assistant.
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' starts off with this as its base premise, with Jiraiya and Tsunade moving in together to raise an infant Naruto. That said, the two of them do eventually become romantically involved and get married after a few years of living under the same roof.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsTheIslandPrincess'' begins with Sagi (a red panda) and Azul (a peacock) finding a human girl washed up on the shore of their island after a shipwreck. Despite Azul's initial protests, they end up helping her, and raising her as their own. At some point during the TimeSkip, they were joined by Tika, a baby elephant whose biological parents are never mentioned nor seen.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls'' sees [[spoiler:Eggs happily reunited with his biological father, but also not turning away from his adoptive father, Fish. The movie ends with the young boy now having two loving dads, who will continue to care for him together.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Timon and Pumbaa]] take in Simba and essentially raise him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheWilloughbys'' ends with [[spoiler:Nanny adopting the Willoughby children, and moving in with Commander Melanoff to help him raise his own adoptive daughter, Ruth. The end credits play over a series of pictures of the happy blended family together.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Film}}s - Live-Action]]
* ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': Before losing her memory, Carol acted as a second mother to her [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] Maria's daughter, Monica. Notably, they spent every holiday together, and when Carol was believed to be dead, her possessions were given to Maria. Monica's father is never mentioned.
* The main characters of ''Film/FriendsWithKids'' attempt this, deciding to conceive and raise a child together without that pesky relationship business. They both date other people while raising their young son, to the bafflement of their friends. [[spoiler:They wind up falling in love anyway.]]
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': The adult members of the team -- Peter, Gamora, Rocket, and Drax -- are shown raising Baby Groot together. In the opening sequence, each of them gets brief moment showcasing their individual relationships to Baby Groot while fighting the monster.
* In ''Sympathy Seeker'', 29-year-old Anastasia searches for her DisappearedDad, knowing only his name and vague details of her parents' brief meeting. She ends up finding ''three'' lonely old men, each of whom potentially fits these details. They get on so well together that Anastasia asks all three to stay on as her dads, even hiding her mother's photo to prevent them from finding out which one is the real father. [[spoiler:Turns out, no one is, but they still ultimately decide to stay]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'': Siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to take a boy from an orphanage to help Matthew around the farm. They end up as foster parents of Anne.
* ''Literature/{{Forbidden}}'' subverts this. At first, Maya and Lochan do this, having been PromotedToParent a long time ago. Then it becomes obvious [[BrotherSisterIncest that the setup isn't really platonic]].
* In ''The Giant of Wilmington'' by Eleanor Farjeon, a foundling boy is adopted and raised by seven sisters.
* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': Clary was raised by her single mother Jocelyn and Jocelyn's best friend Luke. [[spoiler: Jocelyn and Luke eventually have a RelationshipUpgrade later in the book series]].
* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': In the book "The Vile Village," the Baudelaire orphans are adopted by an entire village at once, thanks to a program that takes the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" rather literally. This being Lemony Snicket, it doesn't work out very well.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Jon Snow and Val share responsibility for Val's orphaned nephew. Though they do have some ShipTease, it doesn't go anywhere due to Jon's VowOfCelibacy.
* In ''The Star of Kazan'' by Creator/EvaIbbotson, Annika is a foundling raised by HeterosexualLifePartners Ellie and Sigrid.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
* ''Series/AllAmerican'': The protagonist, Spencer, gets recruited to play football for Beverly Hills High School, but in order to attend, he has to live with the school coach's family. On the weekends, he returns to his old neighborhood to live with his single mother and younger brother. His mother is essentially co-parenting with his coach.
* In one plotline of ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'', Thomas (who, it must be noted, is batshit crazy) attempts to use his son Douglas as a means to get to Hope, since she has a soft spot for the kid, and Douglas' biological mother has died, causing him to see Hope as a ParentalSubstitute. Hope eventually realizes what's going on, but feels she can't abandon Douglas, so she tries to persuade Thomas to make her his son's legal mother without actually becoming romantically involved, intending to then sue for complete custody. This being a soap, Thomas being [[{{Yandere}} Thomas]] and Hope being [[TooDumbToLive Hope]], this leads to an ''extremely'' convoluted GambitPileup, with lots of IKnowYouKnowIKnow to go around.
* Discussed in ''Series/DeadToMe'', when Judy thinks she might be pregnant, and worries about whether or not she's honestly cut out for single motherhood. Her best friend Jen says she'd gladly raise the baby with her, pointing out that they already live together and Judy already helps out with Jen's own sons.
-->'''Jen:''' We can be, like, a three-child mothering team.
'''Judy:''' Mothering team? That's awesome.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': When Joan shares the fact that she wants to adopt a baby, Sherlock states that he'd be happy to help raise her child as an HonoraryUncle. This eventually happens in the series finale.
* The plot of ''Series/FullHouse'' is about a widower, his best friend, and his brother-in-law raising his children together.
* ''Series/{{Harlots}}'': Discussed. Kitty tries to convince her friend Fanny that they, along with Harriet, should leave the Wells brothel and start their own. One of the benefits would be that they could all raise their children together. Margaret had forced Kitty to sent daughter away and planned to do the same to Fanny once her baby was weaned. [[spoiler: Sadly, Kitty is murdered by the end of the episode, but Fanny is eventually allowed to keep her daughter]].
* Ted and Barney seriously consider going this route in an episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', figuring that they might never find love, so why not settle down and adopt a child together? They eventually realize they're being crazy and decide not to do it, but not before we get some adorably (and hilariously) [[HomoeroticSubtext shippy]] conversations about it.
* In the American sitcom ''Kate & Allie'' Creator/JaneCurtin and Susan St. James played childhood friends who, after they both divorced their husbands, lived and raised their kids together.
* The show ''Series/MyTwoDads'' is about a young girl who, following the death of her mother, is raised by two of her ex-boyfriends--''one'' of them is her father, but they don't know who. The two dads were friends who fell out some time ago, but resolve to put their differences aside for the kid's sake.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** In the first episode, Henry runs away to find his birth mother, Emma. This deeply upsets his adoptive mother Regina, who has a very antagonistic relationship with Emma for the first few seasons. Over time, however, Emma and Regina become FireForgedFriends and agree to share custody.
** Rumpelstiltskin was raised by a pair of spinster sisters after being abandoned by his biological parents.
** John and Michael Darling, who are brothers, planned to adopted [[spoiler: Henry]] together after [[spoiler: Regina]] wanted to back out of his adoption. However, she changed her mind and adopted him after all.
** After Robin Hood and Maid Marian both die, their orphaned son Roland is raised by the Merry Men.
** Zelena, Regina's half-sister, gets pregnant by pulling a BedTrick on Regina's boyfriend. After he dies, the sisters patch up their relationship and Regina helps Zelena take care of the baby.
** Lucy is raised by her single mother Jacinda and her mother's best friend Sabina, who Lucy refers to as her [[HonoraryUncle aunt]].
* ''Series/OrphanBlack'':
** Sarah raises her daughter Kira primarily with help from her mother and brother. Kira's biological father gets involved in season 2, but doesn't play as large a role in her upbringing.
** By the end of the series, Alison and her husband Donnie are helping [[spoiler: Alison's sister Helena]] raise her twin sons.
* ''Series/{{Pose}}'': This applies to Blanca (a trans woman) and Pray Tell (a gay man) with regards to their FamilyOfChoice. Blanca is the [[TeamMom mother]] of the House of Evangelista and though Pray Tell is not an official member, he acts as a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] to Blanca's children.
* ''Series/QueenSugar'': Siblings Ernest and Violet Bordelon raised Ernest's grandson Blue for a few years because Blue's father Ralph Angel and mother Darla were in prison and dealing with a drug addiction, respectively. Once Ralph Angel and Darla start getting their lives together, they gradually take over parenting responsibilities.
* ''Series/RaisingDion'': After Nicole's husband dies, his best friend Pat steps up to help her raise their son, Dion. [[spoiler: When Pat admits to having feelings for Nicole, she rejects him]].
* In ''Series/RavensHome'', a SequelSeries to ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', Raven and Chelsea have both married, become mothers, and gotten divorced during the interval between the two shows. They then move in together in one apartment, both acting as mothers to their kids. (The father of Raven's children is also involved, and he and Rae have managed to be AmicableExes. Chelsea and her ex-husband have ''not'', and he's in prison on top of that.) This is even lampshaded when their landlord tries to boot them out for having two families under the same roof, which is against the building's rules. His mother steps in and vouches for Raven and Chelsea.
-->'''Phil:''' They're two families!
'''Myrna:''' I only see one.
* Siblings Fiona and Lip raise their younger siblings in ''Series/ShamelessUS'', because [[PromotionToParent their parents are useless at best]].
* ''Series/SisterSister'', about a pair of twins who were SeparatedAtBirth and find each other again, has the girls' respective adoptive parents Lisa and Ray move in with each other so the sisters can stay together. Although Lisa and Ray initially clash, they later develop a strong friendship. Although they date for a little while, they are non-romantically co-parenting the twins for much of the show and don't end up together.
* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'': Reginald platonically raises his seven adopted kids with a [[RaisedByRobots realistic android mother]] named Grace and his [[UpliftedAnimal talking chimpanzee butler]] Pogo.
* The revival of ''Series/WillAndGrace'' ends with the titular duo buying a house in the 'burbs together, so they can move there and raise Grace's son and Will's daughter under one roof. They know others might think it's weird, but it's the best, most stable life they can provide.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Theatre}}]]
* The ending of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' has [[spoiler:the Baker agreeing to adopt the recently-orphaned Jack and Red, raising them alongside his infant son. Cinderella offers to move in with them, so she can help out with taking care of the kids and house. Unsurprisingly, the Baker and Cinderella are the FanPreferredCouple.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:VideoGames]]
* Despite what shippers say, and the massive amount of HomoeroticSubtext, by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', Otacon and Snake platonically live together as her two dads, raising Olga's daughter, Sunny.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WebAnimation]]
* The ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions'' telling of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the myth of Perseus]] shows baby Perseus and his mother being taken in by a kindly fisherman and his wife, resulting in him growing up in an unusually stable household by Greek mythology standards. Red's depiction of the family makes it equally possible to interpret them as either this trope, or a [[{{Polyamory}} polyamorous triad]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': Drake and Launchpad are not romantically evolved and Drake even finds him annoying, but both can work together to raise Drake's adopted daughter, Gosalyn.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Donald and [[spoiler: Della]] are siblings. However, when [[spoiler: Della]] gets lost in space for ten years, Donald raises her kids as if they were his own. When [[spoiler: Della]] returns, she begins to take an active role in raising her sons, but Donald continues to treat them as his own as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': Following Avocato's [[spoiler: death]] midway through the first season Gary Goodspeed takes to looking after his son Little Cato, even officially adopting him in season two. Towards the end of the same season, following [[spoiler: Avacato's return due to a temporal loophole]] the two settle into this sort of relationship, Little Cato even takes to calling them both his dad.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Potty-Training Spike", the babies, who are all platonic friends with Phil and Lil being twins, all decide to temporarily become Spike's adoptive family while they try to toilet train him (the reason they think he needs to be toilet trained is because Didi said that [[NatureTinkling peeing outside]] was not allowed, and they assumed it applied to dogs too). Tommy and Chuckie decide to be Spike's dads, while the twins take on the role of his "Uncle Bill and Aunt Harriet".
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': After the death of his mother Rose, Steven is raised by his father Greg and Rose's war compatriots the Crystal Gems. Neither of them date Greg, though at one point the Gems FusionDance into a single being to pretend to be his wife. Luckily, the parents they feared would judge them for their unorthodox family actually don't mind as long as Steven is raised responsibly.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Rock-A-Bye Bivalve" has Spongebob and Patrick raise a baby scallop (the equivalent of a baby bird) as if it were an infant. Spongebob takes the maternal role while Patrick plays a (very unhelpful) dad.
* Baloo and Rebecca Cunningham from ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' are not a married couple and on many occasions are at each other's throats, especially when running Hire for Hire, with Rebecca being bossy and Baloo being lazy. Nonetheless, they both act as parental figures to Baloo's adopted son, Kit, and Rebecca's biological daughter, Molly.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:RealLife]]
* In many cultures, a child's uncles, aunts, grandparents, and sometimes older siblings are expected to help with their upbringing.
* In 2017, the Canadian government began allowing people to share legal custody of children without requiring them to be romantic partners. This is thanks to two best friends, [[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/multimedia/raising-elaan-profoundly-disabled-boy-s-co-mommas-make-legal-history-1.3988464 Natasha Bakht and Lynda Collins]], who fought for two years to have Natasha be legally recognized as the second mother of Lynda's son, Elaan.
[[/folder]]
