Stock photo.Photo:Getty
Getty
A mom who adopted her husband’s niece found herself at odds when her parents told her they didn’t consider the little girl to be their own granddaughter.
Sharing her story onReddit’s AmITheA—— subreddit, the original poster (OP) explained that she’d adopted her husband’s niece Sarah nine years ago. Noting that it was hard for Sarah to adapt at first, the mom said that she considers Sarah her daughter.
“When we told my parents, they were excited about their ‘first granddaughter.’ It bothered me, but I tried to ignore it,” she wrote in her post.
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“But yesterday I had enough. Mum was mentioning things to pass down and I reacted stronger than I probably should have, but I was pretty mad. Sarah is their granddaughter since she was 2.”
“But she’s my daughter, their granddaughter,” OP insisted. “She calls them her grandparents. My sister is her aunt and my nephew is her cousin. If they don’t accept Sarah, then there’s no way I’m wanting them around either daughter.”
Though OP’s husband believes her parents are in the wrong, she said he feels OP should let the situation go and that she’s misunderstanding their intention. Adding that he tends to be a “bit of a pushover,” the future mom of two said her parents still haven’t apologized, “if anything they’ve double[d] down.”
“I don’t want Sarah hearing any of this, and if I can’t trust them to treat our girls equal then I can’t trust [my parents] with them. Everyone else thinks I’m overreacting, but I don’t agree,” she concluded her post.
“NTA — as an adoptee I can tell you it would have been terrible to feel like I was excluded from my own family because I was adopted. I feel you are in the right here,” another wrote.
Another commenter felt that OP was at fault. “Ok, hear me out. YOU adopted Sarah (your husband’s niece) and consider her YOUR daughter. That’s great and fine, BUT they don’t have to feel the same.”
“All of those feelings are valid,” the user continued. “Who you love and the relationship you have with someone does not simply make that relationship ‘replicate’ to the people in your life.”
“If your parents start to treat her poorly or showing blatant favoritism, I would absolutely protect my child first,” they added. “I (however) do not feel that people have the right to tell people how to feel about other people [sic]. Regardless of how we feel about them.”
source: people.com
