Money can strain even the closest of family ties.

In this story, entitled in-laws demand a woman and her wife repay them for years of financial support after they refuse to let them move in.

The couple is forced to decide if maintaining ties with their family is worth the price of manipulation – and the sacrifice of their dream of starting a family.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for refusing to let my wife’s family move in with us, leading to them demanding repayment of a “gift”?

My wife and I have always been open about our finances to her family.

So for Christmas, her stepdad bought her a course to bring in more money. He is well off and we believed this was his way to help.

My wife did not ask for this.

We decided to start our journey to have a baby and we had open discussions with them about the financial implications for this procedure us, being lesbians.

But things were about to change.

A few months later, we had been saving up for our donor and looked at profiles.

Around the same time, they had a big fight and MIL moved in with us.

After a few days, she realized that she had to go back to him because in her words “cannot have the lifestyle she wants without him.”

We supported her decision, as it is her decision.

A week later, they decided to move houses. Just before they found another house, she called me.

This wasn’t just a routine check-in.

She asked if the two of them and their 4 dogs could move in with us for a month.

They won’t be able to really contribute since they would be using this period to save up for moving expenses.

I told her I would chat to her daughter first.

Her mom was aggressive with me over the phone and implied that we had no choice as they have done so much for us in the past.

When my wife heard what her mother asked, she was upset and called her.

Her wife’s parents were about to drop a bombshell.

The conversation went bad and it came out that they have been keeping record of everything they have done for us and given us.

He was expecting us to pay that course back.

The couple decided to make a big sacrifice.

We had half the money saved up. So because we do not want to ever owe anyone, we paid that money over to them.

This broke our hearts because it meant we were back at square 1 with saving for a baby.

What happened after this was almost worse.

Her mother continued to be incredibly controlling and it was beginning to strain their relationship.

Her mom would come over and speak about how SHE was going to be the one decorating the nursery, etc.

We haven’t seen them since they moved. We used to spend every weekend doing something together and we would be chatting over the phone.

She continued to twist the truth for her own gain.

When we do call, she walks out of the room when he comes in.

And we heard from my wife’s sister that her mom told her that we manipulated them by saying this money was for our donor whilst we we still just being honest.

I don’t want contact anymore.

AITA?

What a nightmare scenario for a couple wanting to start a family.

What did Reddit think?

If this couple doesn’t get their affairs in order soon, bringing in a baby will only complicate things.

This Redditor thinks being accommodating was the wrong decision.

What kind of family treats each other this way?

The MIL’s priorities are all out of wack.

This couple was left reevaluating their boundaries and pondering what true support really looks like.

It’s time for this couple to take ownership of their money and their future.

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