She Found Out Her Parents Have Been Lying To Her For Years, So She Gave Them Back A Birthday Gift To Show Them How Upset They’ve Made Her
by Matthew Gilligan
Family therapy can get pretty tricky…especially when there are teenagers involved!
And the youngster who wrote this story on Reddit seems like she’s pretty fired up about what’s going on in her household.
After all, no one likes being lied to.
Did she do anything wrong?
Read on and see what she had to say.
AITA for giving back a gift from my parents during family therapy?
“A year ago I (16f) learned that my parents had been lying to me, and my “dad” was not my bio dad.
She was pretty shocked.
For me it wasn’t the lie alone that caused problems. But the reason for the lie and the overall actions.
My real dad didn’t abandon me. He didn’t walk out. He wasn’t a jerk.
He was in an accident when I was 5 months old that left him permanently disabled and unable to do anything for himself.
My mom filed for divorce a month after the accident because she realized he wouldn’t recover, she met my stepdad (and I call him that now) during that period, and before I was 2 they had him adopt me.
My real dad’s family wanted to be in my life but my parents refused and told them my stepdad was going to be known as my real dad and they didn’t want to share me with them.
My stepdad didn’t want to share the title of dad, didn’t want me to know I wasn’t his blood.
Wow…
So they lied to me and hid it from me.
They returned and/or destroyed any attempts my dad’s family made to reach out.
And because my dad was alive technically, just not able to make choices for himself, they couldn’t get any grandparents rights to see me.
I found out the truth when a cousin from my dad’s side reached out to me on social media last year.
She sent me photos of me as a baby with my dad, sent me photos of me with that side of the family.
She explained some of what happened and told me they had always wanted to know me and she’d always been aware I existed (she was like 16/17 when she found me).
I searched our basement records one night (where all the paperwork is kept) and I found the birth certificate with my stepdad’s name on it, but I also found the letter they got with it stating the changes had been made to father.
They weren’t having it.
I confronted my parents and I was angry they refused to acknowledge it, they tried to pawn me off and told me it was a lie and I shouldn’t trust randos on the internet.
It was only when I started calling my stepdad by his name instead of dad and saying he was my stepdad that they decided we needed therapy.
It took 3 months for them to tell the truth.
It took more months for them to admit why they had done it. They didn’t like when I told them they did it for them and not me.
My parents said they did it out of love for me.
]I said they did it to be selfish, to claim me as theirs and not have to share me.
I can’t forgive them for it and they still keep me from my biological family.
She’s still upset about what she learned.
So during our last session in therapy I took off the necklace they gave me for my 13th birthday, they called it my daughter necklace, and I gave it back to them and told them I reject it.
It went a little crazy after that and I stopped listening and they fought with the therapist.
They told me I was being cruel with my actions and it wasn’t right.
AITA?”
Reddit users shared their thoughts.
This reader said she’s NTA.
Another individual offered some advice.
This Reddit user chimed in.
Another Reddit user shared their thoughts.
And this person also said she’s NTA.
I don’t think this family should give up on therapy just yet…
Then again, if the parents aren’t going to change their minds, what’s the point?
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.
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