There are a lot of kids out there without parents or with parents who can’t take care of them, and foster parents can be an absolute godsend for those kids in need.
But what if those parents already have a kid and they start to treat them differently from the foster kids?
The story today is about a situation like that, and it’s kind of mind-blowing.
Check it out!
AITA for walking away from my parents after they told me they’re going to adopt my brother’s bio sibling?
My parents became foster parents after I (16m) was born. They actually adopted three kids from foster care before they decided to stop fostering.
At the time my parents said they wanted to focus more on their kids. But really I think they were struggling with four of us and I think near the end fostering became more for the money than anything.
This kid had to go without for a long time.
As the oldest and their bio kid, so they didn’t worry if I felt like I belonged or not, I had to make more sacrifices than my siblings.
Stuff for me came last. I got less than my siblings too and gifts were cheaper so they could splurge a little for my siblings.
So for Christmas I’d maybe get some clothes and books (and I don’t really read) my siblings would get toys and tablets and stuff they loved. For my birthday I’d get a smaller cake and essentials as gifts again.
And things got worse.
When I was 12 my grandparents bought me a laptop for my birthday and my parents pressured me into giving it up so it could be used as a family computer instead of a personal one just for me. I said no the first time but my parents weren’t going to accept it.
I don’t get to go out with my friends often because my parents don’t want use gas driving me and they don’t want to give me money to eat or go to a movie or whatever.
They also send me to birthdays without a gift for my friends so I have asked my grandparents for money sometimes to buy a gift for my friends.
The foster kids get VERY different treatment.
My parents never send my siblings without gifts for their friends.
My parents wanted me to get a job. But they wanted me to do that so I could put the money into the household.
Since I get the short end of the stick I don’t want to add money to make everyone else’s lives easier but not mine, and I don’t believe it would make my life easier.
But things were looking up for a second.
In October my grade will have the chance to go on the schools interactional trip. We were told about it in February so we can save and get numbers.
I pleaded with my parents to find a way to send me. I got my grandparents to help me talk them through it. And they agreed. So they started saving.
Then a week ago my parents announced that my younger brother’s birth mom is pregnant again and she approached them to do a private adoption so her kids could be raised together.
My parents agreed.
And, as expected, they didn’t keep their promise.
So they sat us down and told us and mentioned that they had already spent the money saved for the trip. They said things will change for a couple of years but we’ll have a new member of the family.
I was so angry and hurt and I just walked out. I walked away from my parents and ignored when they called me back.
The grandparents tried to get involved, but it didn’t work.
They were so angry about it and when my grandparents found out they offered to pay for the trip for me, but my parents said they would stop them paying directly and if they give the money to me/them they will make sure it goes on more important things.
They called me childish and petty for walking away like I did.
AITA?
Yikes, that’s rough. It’s hard to believe that parents would treat their own child worse than their foster kids, but that certainly seems to be the situation.
Let’s take a look at what folks on Reddit had to say.
One person thought that the grandparents could be a good option.
Another person thinks they’re treating him like he should be parenting the foster kids.
Another person has a pretty good plan for this kid.
I think we can all agree that this kid needs to take care of themselves and get out of there as soon as possible.
If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.