Brother and Sister Sharing a Bedroom

Question

I have heard before that it is one is not allowed to have boys and girls share a bedroom. Is that really true?
My situation is, under emergency circumstances, I am adopting my nephew and niece next week who my sister became unable to raise, which is a long story. They are 6 and 4. This was sudden and unexpected. I am 28 and I live in a small, one-bedroom apartment and there is no choice but to have them share a bedroom. I plan to sleep in the living room and give them the single bedroom. I cannot afford any other dwelling at the present time and probably won’t be able to for the foreseeable future. Just raising these kids will be a struggle. I have no other relatives who can take them in. I plan to try to give these kids the best life I possibly can, which will not be easy. This is not what I wanted, but it’s the right thing to do. It’ll dim my prospects of ever getting married because not many men want to marry a woman who already has children.
Any suggestions what to do?

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    When children are young there is no real problem with having siblings share a bedroom. Once the older one reaches the age of nine they should be separated. (If you are still with a shared bedroom then, please feel free to write back to me. But, I pray that, God willing, you will have the rooms you need for your situation.)

    May God bless with unlimited goodness for the kindness that you are doing. And please accept my personal blessing that your adopting your nephew and niece not have any kind of negative impact on your dream to marry and establish your own home.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team