Debra L. Chernick, Esq. was recently featured in an article by  the RI Bar Association about the origin and usage of the para-kin terminology.  Below is an excerpt from the Rhode Island Bar Journal Source: Rhode Island Bar Association Volume 59. Number 4. January/February 2011 |   Download Excerpt page 39 here Attorney Debra L. Chernick sat in a local hospital emergency room, anxiously trying to finish the formality of intake...

... so there I was tonight.. at an opening for a local art gallery. The female manager, in her late thirties,  comes over and says, "I hear you are working on a new term.. something called Para-Kin." I acknowledge this and she says.. "Well, I have been with my partner for 15 years and I think its crazy to introduce him as my boyfriend but I respect those couples who have turned to a more traditional marriage so I don't want to call him my...