A 29-year-old woman turned to Reddit, pouring out her heart in a desperate post. Her stepmother has decided she can simply take the woman’s baby daughter away, slowly turning her life into a nightmare.
She started her story by talking about tough family relations.
A woman recently shared her complicated story in a Reddit community. She started with some background to better understand further circumstances, “I’m 29, English, and I live in Italy with my fiancé Marco, 37, Italian, and our daughter, 5 months old, Willow. I moved to Italy after graduating medical school, where I met Marco, and now I’m a resident in one of the hospitals.
My father left my mum and me, and he has been very inconsistent. He married Tammy when I was young, and she has never liked me. She was also never able to have kids.
So when I gave birth, my mum’s side of the family came over to visit and meet Willow and to look after both of us. There was nothing from my dad or Tammy.”
The stepmother made a shocking revelation when she finally came to visit.
“So two weeks ago, they turn up unannounced, claiming to be ‘in the area on holiday’ and wanted to meet Willow. Willow was getting a bit fussy, and she was combination fed, but as I was home, I grabbed a cover and let her latch onto me.
Tammy says the breastfeeding will have to stop soon. I’m confused and ask her why. She said it couldn’t be kept up when Willow is with them. Now I’m even more confused, and I ask what she is on about. She shows me photos of a baby room and says that we should split custody of Willow and not to worry, as she has everything set up already.”
The stepmother’s motives were completely outrageous.
“I just stare at her, but she carries on. Claiming that the age gap between myself and Marco is unhealthy for a child to grow up with, saying it was obvious I needed help, and she was happy to step in. She also claimed that I was more bothered about working than staying home with my baby, so I should just let her have Willow. She couldn’t breastfeed, so we would have to stop that now.
I tell her she can’t be serious and think I’m giving her my baby, and she tells me to calm down. She’s not asking for full custody, but she could provide a much calmer and stabler home, and that I could always visit. She said it’s what she deserves.”
The new parents’ reaction was entirely expected.
“Marco pushed everyone out and made sure Willow and I were alright. Since then, I’ve been really weirded out and have been getting texts from my father saying I need to let Tammy prove herself as a good caregiver. Tammy has been sending loads of photos of the nursery she has made.
Just to add so people don’t get confused: I’m in Italy, but Tammy isn’t. They had flown over here. My dad isn’t actually on my birth certificate, so I think that limits his ‘grandparent rights’ claim. My mom is our nominated guardian for Willow if anything happens to us. It’s written in a will, and Willow goes to the daycare in the hospital where we both work.”
Almost all comments suggested taking all possible actions for the safety of her family.
Starting a new relationship can be hard for everyone in the family. It can be tough to get along with a new partner, and communicating with an ex can make things even more complicated. Everyone needs to be patient and understanding to make it work.
