The thesis deals with the role of a family in particular life phases of a person suffering from the rare disease, spinal muscular atrophy. There are three main parts. The first one defines the term family, namely its system, features and functions, and explores the particularities of a family living with a handicapped member. The second part focuses on the spinal muscular atrophy, primarily on the development objectives of individual life phases of the people suffering from the disease. Thirdly, there is a section aiming at describing the role of the people taking care of the people challenged by spinal muscular atrophy from the early childhood to the middle adulthood. Furthermore, the diploma thesis points out the effort of these people to become independent and live their lives to the fullest with the help of care assistants, partners as well as start their families. For a better comprehension of the situation, there have been made semi-structured interviews with twelve families with a member of various age suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, inquiring not only the challenged persons, but also their parents and siblings.