Team Patty or Team Shauna? Inside the ‘I Am Shauna Rae’ Family — Mom, Stepdad & the Sisters (2026 Guide)

Everyone knows Shauna Rae — the 27-year-old TLC star standing 3-foot-10, fighting for an adult life the world keeps mistaking for a childhood. But behind every one of her battles stands a family the cameras loved almost as much: the mom fans argue about, the stepdad who earned Father’s Day tears, the sister she calls her best friend, the sister she butts heads with, and the father who is not in the picture. Three years after the show’s last episode, the family is the story. Here is your 2026 guide to every member of it.

Patty Schrankel — The Mama Bear Fans Can’t Stop Arguing About

Patricia “Patty” Schrankel is the mother at the center of it all — the woman who shielded baby Shauna through brain cancer, who still shares a Long Island home with her, and whose hovering became one of the show’s most debated storylines.

Reports have described Patty and Mark as loving but “overbearing by Rae’s standards.” Fans split hard: some say Patty smothers a grown woman who needs room to breathe; others say she built a survivor. Shauna herself has acknowledged the tension — and praised the support underneath it. Where do you land?

Mark Schrankel — The Stepdad Who Actually Showed Up

If Patty divides the fandom, Mark unites it. He has been a father figure in Shauna’s life since she was young — the one, in her words, “that’s been around most of my life,” celebrated in a Father’s Day tribute alongside a family trip photo from Disney World.

Mark stood beside her at the county clerk’s office in 2022 when she legally dropped the surname Lesick. She had even considered taking his last name, “Schrankel” — but, she joked on Tamron Hall, “it didn’t sound right.” Mark laughed it off and supported her choice. Her own announcement said it best: “My legal full name is now Shauna Rae bye bye old last name.” Few stepdads get that kind of public love. Mark earned every word of it.

Rylee — The Best-Friend Sister

Of all her siblings, Shauna is closest with younger sister Rylee. “She’s like my best friend. She is my support system,” she said on the show — and fans saw it: the two spent the most time together, both living under the parents’ roof on Long Island. Rylee became a quiet fan favorite precisely because she treats Shauna like exactly what she is — a sister, not a storyline.

Tara — The “Tumultuous” One

Older sister Tara is the fire to Rylee’s calm. Shauna’s own introduction of her was cautious: lovely, independent — but “stubborn, opinionated,” with strong views she is not shy about sharing. Their parents have suggested Shauna resents Tara’s ability to live a more typical life; Shauna pushes back on that, insisting she does not want Tara’s life.

Tara still carries the Lesick surname — the biological father’s name Shauna chose to leave behind. The two bicker like sisters everywhere, and reportedly get along relatively well underneath it all. But their dynamic remains the family’s most fascinating fault line.

The Father Who Isn’t in the Picture

Shauna’s biological father is Scott Lesick — and she is out of contact with him, according to Newsday. No drama aired on screen, no reunion episode: just a door that stays closed. In a story about chosen family, Mark’s presence says the rest.

So here is the question splitting the fandom: Team Patty or Team Shauna? Was mom’s protection smothering — or exactly what a 3-foot-10 cancer survivor needed to make it? And if TLC ever brought the cameras back, which family member deserves the spotlight first? Sound off below.