It can be hard to say no to a family member if they’re in need, but sometimes, it’s the right thing to do…as painful as it may be.

A woman wrote the story below and described why she had to put her foot down and refuse a big request from her brother.

Check out what she had to say.

AITA for not letting my brother live with me?

“I (24 F) have never actually talked about my life problems because I figured my life was one of a kind. I’ve been dealing with my family’s issues since I was a young child and I am now 24 years old.

2 out of 6 of my brothers are addicts. My entire biological family has some problem with drugs or alcohol. (Me and 3 of my brothers were adopted together).

One of my brothers, let’s call him “Z” passed in 2022 from an overdose and my other brother (30 M), we’ll call him “W”, was sober for about 6 years before that.

She did a lot for her brother.

Z had stolen from me and lied to me so many times and he finally told me he wanted to get better. I found him a free inpatient rehab but he never came and about 3 months later is when he OD’d.

W has blamed me for that. Saying I never cared and never wanted to help. W relapsed in 2024 and has been homeless ever since. (I now live on the other side of the United States).

And she’s helped out this brother, too.

I have sent W money before for food and I try to find places for him to stay or just make myself available for him to talk to. However this time I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

As a child I use to BEG my mom to let Z and W stay at the house. It was always “just for one night so they can be warm” and she would give in and it would backfire eventually. Well W has now told me he wants to get sober.

This is a lot to ask…

He wants to go to rehab and get a job and also…come live with me until then. Now my husband and I have a 1 1/2 year old and my mother living with us.

I found a program here that, I thought, was free and told W, if he was serious, then he could come stay after rehab but he had to be a year sober before coming to stay with me.

He is currently (allegedly) 30 days sober and wants to come out here however the program is actually not free. I don’t have the money to pay for a rehab for him, I can’t go against my husband and let him stay with me, and W has expressed to me that he is having some mental issues but has no insurance.

This is very complicated.

I can’t have that in my house with my 1 1/2 year old.

His ex girlfriend (who helped him get sober the first time) is now telling me that W is going to come out here no matter what and he can’t stay with her and that I’m a horrible person because I made him a promise and can’t follow through.

She told me that my brother said I never cared about him and that I have never tried to help him. When I talked to W he seemed calm and understanding but she is telling me something so different.

I’m the youngest of all of my siblings, yet everyone’s problems always fall on me to fix.

AITA?”

Check out what readers had to say about this story.

This person said she’s NTA.

Another individual agreed.

This Reddit user had a lot to say.

Another reader weighed in.

And this Reddit user shared their thoughts.

That’s asking a lot…and she just can’t do it at this point in her life.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.