The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

A chosen family is a group of adults who have consciously decided to play a significant role in each other’s lives equivalent to that traditionally filled by family members. Chosen families are common social structures in the LGBTQ+ community due to the rejection LGBTQ+ individuals often face from their biological families. Members of a chosen family, therefore, often serve as a surrogate or replacement for the unconditional support and care that most people expect from family members.

The Wayfarer is an excellent example of a chosen family: No member of the crew is biologically related to any other, but they all know that, if they are in need, they will receive whatever support or comfort the others can provide. The Aandrisk recognize three different kinds of family, and the crew of the Wayfarer is Sissix’s “feather family,” the chosen family that Aandrisks belong to as young adults before they are ready to settle down and raise children. Likewise, when Ashby considers the possibility of raising children on the Exodan Fleet, he realizes that the Wayfarer provides him with everything he wants in a family.