Transnational siblings are brothers and sisters who grow up for all or part of their childhoods in different countries. Beyond this basic definition, we found that transnational siblings are very diverse. Some have always lived apart, while others have also lived together for part of their lives. Some transnational siblings are very close and stay in touch regularly, while others have a more distant relationship. For some young people, being a transnational sibling has lots of benefits, while for others, it’s a sad and difficult experience. That makes it hard to generalise about transnational siblings and make any claims about whether it’s good or bad for siblings to grow up transnationally ­- it depends on each person’s and family’s experience and situation.

When you live with your siblings under the same roof, staying in touch doesn’t take much effort; it just happens. You see them at the dinner table; they might go to the same school as you; perhaps you even share a bedroom. But for transnational siblings, maintaining a relationship takes work. For many transnational siblings, this happens mostly through digital media: video calling, texting, and sharing photos and reels. In some cases, transnational siblings also spend time together in-person during visits - for example, some of our interviewees visited their siblings during holidays to Ghana. But in all these cases, staying in touch takes an effort and is a choice. It’s a choice that not everyone chooses to make: for some people, they have either never had a close relationship with their transnational siblings, or that relationship has grown distant over time - either because of age differences, busy lifestyles, or lack of interest.

For transnational siblings who do make an effort to stay in touch, their relationships across borders can be emotionally close and important sources of support. With regular contact through video calls and visits, transnational siblings share emotional support, advice, and information about their lives. They even find ways to be ‘present’ at important moments - like how Cindy attended her sister’s wedding in Ghana via video call. Even when transnational siblings are not in touch all the time, some of them feel a strong bond simply because they are siblings - a bond that is quickly reactivated when they talk on the phone or see each other during visits. Of course, that’s not always the case: like we described above (‘Transnational siblings are diverse’), some transnational siblings don’t have a close relationship. While this can be a result of the physical distance and the vastly different lives they live, it can also be because of family conflicts, personality clashes, or age differences - just like with siblings who grow up together.

Some people who advocate for child rights have argued that siblings should always live together and that separating siblings - for example, following a divorce - is harmful for young people. One might therefore assume that transnational siblings are harmed in some way by growing up apart. This might be true in some cases, but the young people we interviewed had varied perspectives on the impacts of transnational siblingship. Some regretted having grown up apart from (some of) their brothers and sisters, feeling that they had lost out on the opportunity to share more childhood experiences and memories with their siblings. Others found living apart difficult but acknowledged that it had made them more independent or closer to their parents.

But some of our interviewees described transnational siblingship as having benefits. For example: (1) global knowledge - it gave them insights into other ways of life and cultures around the world. (2) personal awareness - it made them more aware of how their upbringing shaped their skills, personalities and opportunities, and how different this could have been if they’d been raised somewhere else. (3) transnational networks - it meant they always had a local host to show them the best places to eat and go out when visiting their country-of-origin.

Who is considered a sibling and their family roles vary from culture to culture. In Ghana, siblings include brothers and sisters who share one or both parents, but can also include cousins and other young people who live in the same household. Generally, the first-born child has responsibilities to care for, discipline, and teach their younger siblings. But siblings don’t relate to each other in isolation; they are part of broader families, including parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins, and other relatives.

When brothers and sisters become transnational siblings, this can change the roles and responsibilities they have in their families. For example, a first-born sibling who migrates to Germany in their teens will at first rely heavily on the language skills and local knowledge of their younger siblings who were born-and-raised in Germany, changing their traditional roles in the family. It can also change how siblings relate to other relatives. For example: the siblings who live with their parents in Germany might feel closer to them than the siblings living in Ghana, but the parents might praise the siblings in Ghana for having better housework skills and discipline because of their different upbringing.