Mom Criticized By In-Laws After She Refuses To Introduce Her Son To Baby Her Husband Fathered During An Affair
She refused to let the baby into her life, and didn't want her son to meet his new sibling either.
Anastasiya Lobanovskaya / Pexels A mom is being called an "awful b-tch" by her in-laws after refusing to accept the baby girl her husband fathered with his mistress or allow their son to meet her.
She explained the situation in a post to the "r/AmITheA--hole" (AITA) subreddit, a forum where users try to figure out if they in the wrong in an argument.
In her Reddit post, the woman wrote that her husband's family is pressuring her to accept the baby in order to unite the family.
But for obvious reasons, she's not interested, and it's caused all kinds of drama between her and her husband's family.
The woman's in-laws have pressured her to meet the baby girl because her husband refuses to be involved in her life.
The Redditor writes that her son fathered the baby girl with a former friend of theirs while they were separated several months ago.
Her husband wants nothing to do with his love child and isn't even interested in establishing paternity—she hired a lawyer herself in order to "[force] him to do it."
After being contacted by her husband's former mistress about meeting the baby and introducing her to their three-year-old son, the Redditor refused.
This prompted her in-laws, who have been very accepting of the other woman and her baby, to get involved, pressuring her to meet the baby in order to overcome their son's refusal to take responsibility.
The conflict has ruined her relationship with her in-laws.
She writes her in-laws think she should "help foster a relationship between her and my son as we all know my husband isn’t going to do it."
The Redditor was so upset by this that she told her in-laws "my son would never have a relationship with her and I wouldn’t ever meet her because they kept pressuring me."
She went on to say that "now everybody thinks I’m some awful b-tch who hates a baby" and that the conflict has alienated her in-laws, with whom she used to be close.
This has made her "feel like crap" and left her "wondering if I’m an a--hole."
The dilemma proved divisive among Reddit users.
Many empathized with the woman, but felt she should at least allow her son to meet the baby.
One user wrote that while the woman shouldn't be "responsible for arranging play dates," she doesn't "[have] the right to actively deny two siblings the chance to build a connection."
Others felt like pretty much everyone but the baby herself was in the wrong.
One user wrote that "the child is the only true victim in this situation," especially since the Redditor is "enabling her husband to be a total deadbeat."
And some were outright appalled by the situation.
A user took the woman to task for taking her cheating husband back but still "[expecting him] to be a father to her son while being totally OK with her husband abandoning another baby."
They went on to excoriate the woman, writing, "both you and your husband are horrible human beings and I hope your son grows up to be a better person than both of you."
But others felt it was unfair and ridiculous that the woman was being held responsible for a situation that ultimately isn't her problem.
As one Redditor put it, "sounds like you’re getting blamed for a lot of your husband’s poor choices. I feel for the baby, but that’s not your responsibility."
Others agreed, with one person writing, "Once again, how come the husband's behavior is excused, but his wife has to bear all the responsibilities?"
But one Redditor cut right to the heart of this messy situation—regardless of blame, "there's a zero percent chance that nobody gets out of this dilemma unscarred."
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.