Every family is unique and has their own challenges to work through.

What would you do if your husband cheated on you and got his ex pregnant, but then both he and his ex passed away, and now you had to raise his autistic daughter as your own, causing your biological son to act out?

That is what the mom in this story is experiencing, so she decided to send her biological son to boarding school in the hopes that they can get him under control, and so she can focus on her stepdaughter with special needs. Not surprisingly, the son hated this decision and now refuses to talk to her.

Based only on the details in the story, it seems that she made a difficult decision too soon, and it may cost her the relationship with her son. Regardless, it is a heartbreaking story for everyone. Read it below and see what you think.

AITA for sending my biological son to a boarding school and keeping my autistic stepdaughter with me after my husband died?

My husband slept with another woman (his former girlfriend) while married to me and that resulted in them having a daughter.

Wow, she is far more forgiving than I would be.

My husband only found out about his daughter after her mom died in a car accident. His daughter was 5 years old at the time and our biological son was 4.

Although it took me some time, I eventually came to love and accept my stepdaughter as my own. I don’t even refer to her as a “step” child in real life – she is my daughter. My daughter has autism.

What a heartbreaking situation.

My husband died from cancer a year ago. My daughter did not take the news well. She still hasn’t accepted her father’s death and is waiting for him to come back.

I knew it would be difficult to handle both my son and daughter all on my own, especially given my daughter’s mental condition and her inability to accept her father’s death.

Boarding school can be very good for some kids.

Leading up to my husband’s death, my son had also been a bit difficult to handle. Around his birthday, he stole a significant amount of money from my purse, lied to the school headmaster that his grandfather had died, and then skipped class to watch a movie.

So, I decided to send my son to a boarding school. I felt he would get a better education there and I would be able to dedicate more time towards my autistic daughter’s needs.

I’m sure this was a difficult decision.

My parents were shocked when I told them my decision. They said that if I wanted to send someone to a boarding school, it should be my daughter as she is, in their words, my husband’s illegitimate child and not my daughter.

My son was in tears begging me not to deliberately send him away. He offered to mend his relationship with his (half) sister and listen to everything I said.

It isn’t really a surprise that he is resentful.

As tough as it was, I dropped him off in the car hugged him goodbye.

It’s been about year since then and my son is refusing to come back home for the holidays or maintain a relationship with me.

Is it too late to bring him home and send him to a normal school?

He thinks I am only a mom to my daughter and wants to stay away. I’ve tried calling him on the phone and even visiting him at the hostel but he is not receptive towards me.

I was only trying to do what’s best for both kids.

AITA?

This is honestly a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved. Boarding school can be great for some kids, but it doesn’t seem to be working well here. Hopefully, this family can find a way to come together, somehow.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a stepmom who says stepson isn’t doing enough, despite the fact that he’s working 12-hour shifts to pay for his own college.

Read on to see what the people in the comments think about it.

She should not have sent her son away while grieving his father.

Nobody is surprised that her son hates her.

What she did wasn’t what was best for her son.

This commenter says he was just doing normal teenager things.

Her son went through a terrible thing, and she made it worse.

Even if she had his best interests in mind, she shouldn’t have sent him away at such a challenging time. It is no surprise that he feels abandoned, and it is hard to imagine how this relationship can be fixed.

Hopefully, she will bring her son back home and find a way to rebuild their family, but it seems very unlikely.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.