In the next century, the "patchwork family" will blend together people from various backgrounds, some of whom also belong to other families. Helping make such family work as a happy unit has become the challenge of a lifetime for Anne McCabe from Galway. Anne, as commissioning editor with TG4, has commissioned several award-winning projects, such as Lip Service, winner of the short film section of IAFTA. But her most impressive project to date has been becoming - at the age of 42 - a mother and step-mother almost simultaneously, while also forming close relationships with new family members in two foreign countries.

Two years ago, Anne married Ralph Christians (48), a German writer and film-maker with Magma Films in Galway. When they met, Ralph had already been a father for 27 years, having had his first child at the age of 19 in Germany. Ralph had four children in two families in two countries: three children with his first wife in Germany and one child with his second partner in Iceland. His youngest child at the time was the German/Icelandic Dora, named for her grandfather Halldor Laxness, winner of a Nobel Prize for literature.

When Anne and Ralph met and fell in love, Dora was spending a lot of time with them, and Anne had to help her learn English so that they could communicate. Last year, Dora lived and went to school in Galway, and it wasn't long before Dora was calling Anne "Steppy" - short for stepmother. "She saw us like Barbie and Ken - she loved it," jokes Anne. "I was the fun-girl and play-mate, but when Nora came along a year ago, suddenly I was thrown by having a new baby and lots of adjustments to make, and as a result Dora felt that she had no one to play with."

Constantly mindful of giving Dora the attention she needed, Anne recalls that "when Nora was five weeks old, I was in the garden with Dora, rocking Nora in the buggy with one hand while playing tennis with Dora with the other".

"It was a baptism of fire," says Anne. "If I had had older children, I would have known what they were like when a new baby arrives. But it's all fine now. We have come through happily, and Dora and I have a special relationship."

Nora has been visited by her entire international family, which includes Nora's niece, Lily, who is three months older than she is. Anne treats Lily's mother, Emely, like a sister, and the pair joke about the fact that Anne is technically a step-grandmother since Emely became a mother.

Ralph's three, grown German children and Ralph's own German mother have been frequent visitors, as has Dora's mother. The challenge for Anne has been keeping relationships going with all of them - which has meant learning German. She adds: "We see so much of all of them, it's almost like a traditional Irish extended family."