Figuring It Out for the Child Initiative: Fostering Coparenting in Unmarried Expectant African American Parents.

Strong, positive coparenting alliances play adaptive functions in a wide variety of family systems. For unmarried, expectant parents in nonromantic relationships, impediments to developing a positive coparenting alliance are formidable. However, these obstacles must be overcome if unmarried fathers are to stay engaged and coparent their child together with their children's mothers. This article spotlights Figuring It Out for the Child (FIOC), a Brady Education Foundation-sponsored initiative for expectant unmarried first-time African American parents. FIOC builds on the expectant parents' often untapped and overlooked desires and resolve to create a positive life for their baby, and helps them build bridges to communicate, collaborate, and address obstacles to coparenting- whether they are co-resident or not. The authors highlight the travels of one remarkable family through the FIOC intervention in this article.