What’s it like to be SISTERS with a 24-year age gap?
Second marriages and the rise of IVF means the age difference between siblings has never been greater. And, as these stories reveal, it can lead to hilarity ... and confusion
WHAT do you see when you look at these photographs: loving smiles and family resemblances between mothers and their daughters?
You’d be excused for the mistake but they are all, in fact, siblings, with anywhere from 14 to 24 years between them.
But what does a huge age gap mean for a sibling relationship? Four sets of siblings reveal all.
AGE GAP: 24 YEARS
ELIZABETH DHOKIA, 35, is a lifestyle blogger and social media trainer who lives with her accountant husband Raj, 30. She has a brother, Alex, 33, and three sisters — Jessica, 18, Charlotte, 14, and Annabelle, 11.
ELIZABETH SAYS: Annabelle is my mum’s youngest daughter, but it’s a common assumption when we’re out together that she’s mine, which is unsurprising, given the 24-year age gap.
My parents — Mum is a special educational needs consultant, and Dad is a complaints handler in the energy industry — were both 20 when they had me and they separated when I was six.
My brother, Alex, and I lived with Mum, while Dad’s work commitments meant we only saw him about once a month.
Dad remarried in 1999 and he and his wife had my sister Jessica, now 18, when I was 17.
Then, in 2002, Mum, now in her 50s, married my stepdad Sean, an architect who’s eight years younger and didn’t have children of his own.
When they told us they were expecting a baby, I was so excited. Mum took me along for her hospital consultations and I was at the 20-week scan when we found out she was having a girl.
After Charlotte was born, I spent the university summer holiday at home and loved helping with night feeds and settling my baby sister to sleep.
By the time Annabelle came along three years later, I was working in London and I booked the week off to look after Charlotte while Mum was in hospital.
During those early years I adored taking Annabelle out for walks in her pushchair and to cafes, where all the assistants would make comments such as: ‘Oh, is Mummy buying you hot chocolate with marshmallows today?’
Now, I love taking her shopping and to the ballet, and we play board games together. Hypothetically, I’d like to have two children of my own close together because I loved growing up with my brother, Alex, with only two years between us. It means we have lots of shared memories and ‘in’ jokes. The relationship with my sisters, though lovely, is different because I’m an adult, they’re still children and we don’t live together. Equally, I don’t think age gaps matter. What’s important is how the parents manage the family to ensure the older children feel involved with their new siblings. Mum and Sean — and my dad and his wife — have done a terrific job of that. ANNABELLE SAYS: Elizabeth is a very cool older sister and I love spending time with her and chatting to her on social media.
She knows lots about fashion and movies and what’s trendy. My friends think she’s cool, too, especially because she has her own YouTube channel.
But I do sometimes wish that I could see Elizabeth every day instead of once a month. When we were all younger, she and Alex always came on family trips and holidays, but they’re both married now and seem a lot older than Charlotte and me.
I don’t like the idea that I might become an auntie while I’m still at school if Elizabeth or Alex have children. It wouldn’t be cool to be auntie Annabelle!
AGE GAP: 18 AND 16 YEARS
BETHANY WING, 20, is a marketing assistant for a healthcare recruitment agency and lives with her father,
Dominic, 46, a training manager, and stepmum Marie, 36, a stay-at-home mum, and their daughters, Thia, four, and Molly, two. Bethany also has a brother, Nathan, 17.
BETHANY SAYS: There have been countless times when I’ve been playing with Thia and Molly at the park and strangers have mistaken me for their mummy because of the age gap between us.
Although I don’t mind, because I adore my little half-sisters, occasionally I get dirty looks, too, mainly from older people who assume I’m a gymslip mum with two kids under five.
My parents separated when I was four, and my brother and I then lived with our mum. As I got older I worried that Dad might be lonely living on his own, and secretly hoped he’d remarry and have more children.
He was adamant he never would, but when he met Marie all that changed. They got married in 2012 and when they told me Marie was