Family bonds don’t always grow evenly, especially when parentification blurs the line between sibling and caretaker.

One older sister helped raise her twin siblings and stayed close to them into adulthood, but years of family tension, a difficult stepmother, and a blended household left her distant from the rest of her siblings.

But when her parents demanded she start dividing her support equally, she knew it wasn’t that simple.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for only caring about two of my siblings?

I have five siblings.

I have two full siblings (15 twins). Then my father had two more (4 and 6), and my mother adopted another child (13).

I’m the oldest of the children.

As the oldest, she often found herself parentified.

My parents worked a lot when I was younger, so I had to do a lot for the twins.

I have known the other kids since they were born or taken in, but I’m not as close to the other kids as I am to the twins.

She often found a lot of strife, even with her blended family.

My father’s second wife (mother to 4 and 6) is actually a decent mother but never liked me or the twins.

The adopted child was taken in at an older age.

I’m in the military now, and the twins are in boarding school.

She tries to keep in contact as much as she can.

I write the twins at least once a week and call as often as possible.

I use my leave to visit between them and my boyfriend.

I also help them financially and am working on saving to help them with college.

But with her other siblings, she doesn’t really care to talk to them — and her parents have taken notice.

I don’t contact my other siblings ever really outside of holidays.

My parents have realized that I only care about the twins and none of my other siblings.

They’re furious with me for my obvious favoritism.

They press her to treat everyone equally, but it isn’t that simple for her.

They’re demanding that I split my time and (implied) money equally among all five siblings and not just two.

I don’t want to.

I don’t like the others that much, and I’d rather just have my own siblings.

I don’t hate them, it’s just that we’re not close and my stepmother is too hard to deal with.

AITA for continuing to not care?

Something just isn’t right with this situation.

What did Reddit think?

When a relationship isn’t there, you can’t always force it.

This user thinks outright excluding the siblings is a bridge too far.

The parents are the real villains of this story.

This user finds her parents’ demands just plain unreasonable.

You can’t force a connection that just isn’t there.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.