Being the childfree sibling can quietly turn into being the family ATM with a smile slapped on top.

When a doctorate student realized she’d spent years funding her siblings’ weddings, baby showers, and six kids’ worth of gifts with barely any reciprocation, she started doing the math — and the numbers weren’t adding up.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA — Niece/Nephew Birthday Gift

I (28F) am the youngest sibling of my family of origin.

I come from a blue collar, evangelical household.

But lately, her life has taken a different path.

I am currently in the final year of a doctorate program, and am also single and childfree.

I very recently accepted that marriage & kids will not be happening for me (for personal reasons that are unrelated to this topic).

Still, she tries her best to be there for all of her friends’ big life events — and this doesn’t come cheap.

Over the past several years, I have attended and/or been a bridesmaid/MOH for many weddings.

I have spent money on gifts for these events as well.

I have also spent a ton of money that I do not really have on baby shower gifts.

This is especially true as her family has decided to have many children.

My older brother and older sister now have 6 kids in total, all under the age of 5.

I have accepted that I likely will never see any return on the money/time I have invested into these events.

What’s even more upsetting is that her siblings never seem interested in repaying the kindness.

For reference, my oldest sibling (34M) does not reciprocate for me.

He has “helped” me out with small financial favors in the past, but I have since invested that same amount back into his kids.

Her sister is a lot better about things like this.

My older sister (31F) struggles more financially, but has “helped” me as well.

I feel as if I had a better relationship with her when we were children than I did with my brother.

I have also invested the same amount into her kids that she has invested into me.

Deep down, she wants to help, but isn’t sure how much more she can take.

This goes without saying, I care deeply about all of the kids and spend time with them as much as I can, especially since my sister is financially unstable and my brother is a workaholic.

For the sake of my own mental health, I cannot keep giving while feeling a lack of reciprocation.

This is a problem I have had since childhood, and in addition I am also taking care of my parents.

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WIBTA if I stopped buying gifts for my 6 nieces and nephews, at least temporarily?

Gift giving does get expensive no matter how you slice it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about siblings who treat every social outing like a weird competition.

Reddit is sure to have some strong opinions.

It’s possible this woman is going about gift giving all wrong.

Maybe happiness is the return she’s looking for.

This commenter thinks other redditors are missing a bigger piece of the picture.

Being the childfree sibling shouldn’t mean being the family’s full-time gift sponsor.