Reddit Stories - DESPERATE Plea_ SURRENDERING My Unborn Child to a STERILE Kin for the Sake of Love_

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #desperate #plea #surrendering #unbornchild  Summary:A heart-wrenching tale of a desperate plea to surrender an unborn child to a sterile kin for the sake of love. Dive into the emotional journey of sacrifice, love, and difficult decisions in this moving narrative.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, desperate, plea, surrendering, unbornchild, love, sacrifice, emotionaljourney, difficultdecisions, movingnarrativeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story and is requesting that I hand over my future child to my sterile relative because my spouse is not of the Christian faith and we are both employed. She enlisted her religious acquaintances to monitor my activities. I, 24F, am currently eight months pregnant with a baby girl and my aunt slash cousin have been giving me trouble since I have announced the news. My partner and I already adore our girl and have no plans to give her up, but my aunt wants me to give up my child to my cousin, who has been suffering for infertility for the past five years. For more context, my aunt has raised my sister and I as a motherly figure after our

mother passed away when we were very young. We have been quite close with our aunt slash cousin throughout our life and have been trying to support my cousin through her struggles with infertility. My aunt is also very religious being a Mormon who regularly attends church and has a very rigid, close-minded view on morality slash values and living a good life. She believes that a child deserves a strong, foundational religious upbringing with a strong, providing father and a loving, attentive mother. Since my partner is not Christian and because we both have full-time jobs and careers, she believes that my child will grow up confused and misguided in our household due to our religious differences, lacking a proper sense of identity and adequate care.

She says she fears that our child's well-being will not be put first in such an environment and that our kid could likely go down a dark, immoral path. According to her, my cousin, who works part-time from home, and her husband are way better able to provide my child with a loving home with good values and religion. I have both my aunt and cousin blocked on most forms of communication and I have moved to a new home, where they do not know the address. My partner and I also got married in a private ceremony so they won't have control over my medical decisions. Out of the two, my aunt has been more aggressively towards me and even showed up to my old apartment one day to scream and argue with me about the situation.

She, in a fake nice tone, tried to get me to come with her to a cafe near the church to speak with me about the baby even when I told her there is nothing to be discussed and that I'm keeping the baby. I spoke with the apartment manager and had to hide until she left after half an hour. My aunt also has her church friends after me. They sometimes regularly send me hostile text message and voicemails. My cousin has been on the quieter side towards me and has been struggling with depression and trauma from her latest pregnancy last year ending in a stillbirth of her baby girl after preterm labor at 30 weeks. She has been regularly posting on social media and has joined motherhood related groups.

I've heard through gossip that she is trying to get a baby through those groups and has been banned from a considerable amount of them to her dismay. She had been harassing young moms and widows for their babies. My cousin is desperate for a baby to fix her family and is apparently waiting for, my name, to give birth for my baby girl, who she apparently sees her own late baby in. My aunt and her are apparently sure that I will be overwhelmed with my decision and the responsibilities with motherhood that I will give up slash give more to my baby by letting my cousin and her husband adopt her. My aunt says that giving my baby to my cousin shouldn't be as hard as it could be because we are family and that I could have a baby later on as I am still young and have plans to attend grad school after working for a while. My cousin also apparently wants to get into contact as we had before my pregnancy. I will not be speaking to her again until after I give birth to see where she is then and to prevent further stress during my pregnancy. I have been very supportive of her through her infertility journey and generally liked her more than my aunt growing up,

but her behavior and thinking have shocked me and are making me fear for my safety. I am planning a big wedding party for next year since my partner and I privately got married this year and I am not sure if my cousin slash aunt would be invited and able to come. I have a lot of family support from both sides right now apart from those who are close to them and on their side, but I'm not sure if that support will be as strong in a year and what my relationship with my aunt slash cousin will be then. I have skipped some family events that I know they will be at, but I don't want to miss out on those family gatherings and fun forever. I'm not sure how the future will look like with my aunt slash cousin after my baby and the issues that arise with that. Any support would be appreciated. Update 1, this will be a small update.

We got in contact with the local church leader and talked to them about the situation with my aunt and cousin, who are both active members. We talked to him for a while. He initially dismissed my concerns as personal conflict between family and tried to refer us over to counseling services. We explained to him that my cousin is dealing with trauma from her baby's death and that she is having false hopes about adopting my baby, which would be raised in a good home. We also told him that my aunt is feeding into those hopes and has been harassing me on her behalf, causing disturbance and a lot of stress. He told me he understood my side and that he knew what my cousin has been going through with her inability to have kids. He said he would contact my aunt and cousin to see what they have to say about the situation. I talked again with him today.

He said that my aunt and cousin would like to speak with me and that they were concerned that I stopped communicating with them, especially since I moved away. I explained to him that their behavior regarding my baby influenced me to do those things and pressed him on what they said. He said that my cousin had talked with a church therapist and was looking into adoption to start a family because her IVF treatments were likely not going to produce a child with her condition. I emphasized to him that I was not giving up my baby and that my cousin had been thinking such. He said that understood that and started asking me for personal details on how I was doing now. He was again trying to to set up a meeting between us and my aunt slash cousin and referring us to services. I told him I was

not comfortable with that at the moment and he told me to at least call my cousin once. He said he will meet with my aunt on Sunday since I was too scared to do on my own. Our call ended after that. I'll comment any update on what he says in the coming days under this post. Edit 1, I am not satisfied with his response and do not like that he is putting pressure on me with reconnect with my aunt and cousin. He says he understands my concerns, but I think he is being rather dismissive of them and trying to force us to resolve our issues. My partner and I thought it was worth a shot reaching out to him to because he has influence and religious authority over my aunt slash cousin. I'll see what he says on the next phone call and see what I can do to make him care more.

Edit 2, to make clear, I didn't give him any personal information and have no plans for any in-person meeting with my aunt and cousin. We are in contact with legal help. We do not live in Utah. Update 2, we spoke again with the bishop. He said that there isn't much he can personally do to resolve the situation within his capacity between me and my aunt slash cousin other than refer to counseling services. I asked him if he did meet with my aunt and he said he did.

Their conversation was apparently focused on my cousin and helping her heal. He told me my cousin was also grieving the loss of communication with me and my sister who hasn't been talking much to her anymore. I told him that my cousin was trying to take my baby to replace hers and that her and my aunt's behavior was threatening the safety and well-being of me and my family. I think he was losing interest in the conversation so he just told me to do whatever I feel is best for my family. but to consider the grief my cousin has been through and contact family counseling services for

further help on this matter. Me and my partner sent him an email afterwards with a copy to our lawyer to close off communication. I decided to unblock my cousin and send her a message. I told her that my partner and I are keeping our baby and that is not up for discussion. I encouraged her to seek proper therapy if she hasn't already done so and told her that I am not comfortable with her, her husband, or my aunt being involved in my child's life. She hasn't responded yet. Regardless of what she says, our relationship will not return to as it was before and she will not be a part of my child's life. Update 3, November 25, 2024. Here is the update

everyone has been waiting for. I was busy in the few last months with the birth and projects I have been working on as I recover from birth and take care of my new baby. I logged into Reddit a few times since then, but haven't gotten a chance to update. I am 25 now and my baby is almost four months old, time flies. She is doing well and brings us so much joy. I love going on walks with her and she is growing up so fast. I am planning to go back to work soon, looking for a new job. Thank you all for the concern and well wishes, and I hope. I hope everyone is having a great time during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Now, the update that everyone is looking forward to, my cousin and aunt since my last update,

my cousin and aunt went silent for a while and my cousin didn't respond to my texts. In August, my aunt reached out to me through a new number and asked me how I was, and if I had the baby yet. We talked. She was concerned about my slash baby's well-being since I distanced myself from a lot of my family and had to leave my job. leave my job. I asked about my cousin. She says they have been trying to adopt a baby through their church connections but nothing has been successful so far, because they probably just started on that. I asked about whether they consulted with a proper adoption agency but my aunt said that my cousin's husband's past may become a problem, didn't know about that, and she proceeded to rant about

how the white birth rate is dropping and how people were actively denying themselves parenthood. She asked me if I still wanted the baby and got angry about ninth-month abortions. She is pro-life without exceptions. I reaffirmed to her that I did and she talked about how my cousin was getting old, but she is in her early 30s, and that her nest is still empty. She wanted me to at least share the joy and let me cousin be in my daughter's life and spend time with her. I told that would not be possible due to their past behavior. I feared that my cousin would try to become her mother and let her delusions get to her again. My aunt said that my cousin was trying to become better and got some church counseling.

I still told her no. She then asked me if I knew anyone or any resources to adopt a baby. I told her I didn't and that my cousin should be careful and patient with trying to become parents. My aunt emphasized how becoming parents was important to my cousin and her husband because they deserve children at this point. and for their reputation since everyone around them is reaching the parenthood milestone. She asked about my future family plans and pushed me on when I'm going to get pregnant again slash of my next child. She told me family planning was important, especially after this surprise pregnancy and asked

if they could be involved next time. As the call went on, more and more of her past slash usual behavior became a parent and I was getting tired of it. I wanted to end the call, but she ended at first because she had some activity. Thankfully, I have my sister to keep me in the loop with what's happening with my aunt slash cousin and other matters regarding my family and my old church. Everything my aunt said was apparently true about my cousin. According to my sister, my cousin's overall mental health seems to have improved from her worst,

but she still has her deep depressive periods. She sometimes feels very empty with her lack of children and her worsened relationships with me and my sister. My cousin and her husband are also trying to find an IVF doctor abroad in hopes of a miracle since a lot of their options are shutting down here. My cousin apparently still views my baby as something she lost, but she believes God will give her kids soon and has been trying to get her sins forgiven. We are skipping Thanksgiving with my side of the family in a few days for obvious reasons. I am going back to the workforce soon, likely after all the holidays.

I have my child care arrangements ready with all the necessary precautions and the future is looking good overall. Again, thank you all for your support and let me know if you have any questions about anything, Mormonism, my family, motherhood, etc. Next story, Mom chose my stepdad over me and put me in foster care. Years later my brothers found me, and one of them remembered watching my stepdad force me to eat from a dog bowl. I really need an outside perspective on whether I'd be the eye in this situation.

I'm a 21-year-old male. I ended up in foster care at nine years old because of the abuse I suffered at the hands of my stepfather, a man my mom kept choosing over me. Despite all the support and interventions that were supposed to protect me, my mom refused to kick him out. Even after she had a restraining order against him, she still led him back into our lives. Meanwhile, she went on to have two more children with this man, my half-brothers, who are now 19, Richie, and 16, James. It got to the point where it was obvious that no matter what she would keep letting him back into

our lives and allowing me to be his scapegoat of anything that was wrong in life and I ended up being removed. After I was removed from the home, my mom was allowed to keep and raise my brothers, as if nothing had happened. From what I know, my stepdad never laid a hand on them. My mom and this man are still together, I know because I've checked her Facebook more times than I'd like to admit. Growing up, it was devastating to realize that my mom would rather give me up than fight for me. She could have kept me if she just left him, but she didn't.

This abandonment left me with deep scars and a lot of issues to deal with as I grew up. It didn't help that she cut off all contact with me almost as soon as I was placed in foster care, she wouldn't even show up for court-ordered visits. Foster care was also really rough for me. I bounced around three different families, and it wasn't until the last one that I got any therapy to help me make sense of what had happened. A few days ago, out of nowhere, I got a Facebook message from my Richie and James. They said they've been thinking about me a lot and want to get to know me. They even mentioned that our mom talks about me sometimes and wonders how I'm doing. They said he'd like to start some kind of relationship if I'm open to it.

And Richie said he would be willing to drive him and James to come and visit me wherever I am in the country. They both seemed nice in this message, and I don't have an issue with either of them. At first, I was going to ignore the message because I don't want anything to do with my biological family. But then a darker thought crossed my mind this could be my one and only one. chance to expose my stepdad for the monster he truly is. I could finally tell my half-brothers everything he did to me, everything he put me through, and let the truth come crashing down on them. I know that if I do this, it'll probably destroy any chance of having a relationship with them, but honestly, I'm not sure I want one anyway. I told my friend that I was thinking about doing

this and he said it's a really bad idea that won't accomplish anything I wanted to. He said it will most likely just cause them to think I'm bitter and mean and won't make them have any issues with their dad. But, while I know it would be a difficult thing to process, I would want to know if my dad was like that. I would want to know the truth about how my dad treated other children. I don't know how much they know about why I was removed into care. So, would I be the asshole if I went through with it? Update 1, hey everyone, I wanted to come back and give you all an update. First off, thanks for all the advice and different perspectives. I really needed to hear them.

So, after thinking a lot about what everyone said and after having a session with my therapist, I realized that my initial plan to tell my brothers everything about my stepdad wasn't really about helping them. It was more about me still holding on to the anger and hurt from my past, and that's not fair to them. A lot of you pointed out that they probably don't know the full story and are innocent and all this. And honestly, that hit hard. I decided to reach out to my Richie brother and told him I'd like to meet up. I didn't mention anything about our mom or the stepdad situation. I figured if we were going to start a relationship,

it's better to take things slow and not dump all that heavy stuff on them right away. We ended up meeting at a cafe. I was super nervous, but when I saw them, it actually felt nice. They were both really nice, and we just talked. talked about normal stuff, like what we've been up to, our favorite football teams, that sort of thing. It was weirdly easy to chat with them. At one point, the James asked why I was placed in foster care. That caught me off guard, but I decided to keep it vague and just said that things were complicated

at home back then, and that going into care was what was best for me at the time. James started pushing a bit for more details, but the Richie told him to knock it off, which honestly was a relief. By the end of it, I was glad I went. They asked if we could stay in touch, and I said yes. I'm still figuring out how much to share about what happened, but for now, I'm just trying to focus on building a relationship with them. I realize that while the past is important,

it doesn't have to dictate how things go with them now. So yeah, thanks again to everyone who helped me see things clearer. I'm feeling a lot more hopeful about this. and I'm really glad I didn't just go with my gut reaction to tell them everything right off the bat. We'll see where things go from here, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Update 2. Before anything, I read a lot of your comments. So many were saying I was selfish for wanting to expose my stepdad, and then so many were saying I was a coward for not. Some people were saying I was allowing the abuser to get away with it by not telling my brothers.

I had DMs calling me an abuse apologist. People calling me a liar for not answering the question James asked when we first met. I never said I wasn't ever going to talk to them about my past. Literally in my last post I said I was still working on sharing my past in a healthy way. With help for my therapist, and yet I had people acting like they knew best and that I should just tell them both right away. So many people arguing about it one way or the other. It does seem like everything I do there will be issues. I will upset someone.

I know that and I am trying to navigate this in my own way, so please be respectful of that. Even if you would have done it a different way. I am in no way letting S.D. get away with the abuse. I tried everything I could as a child slash teen to get him prosecuted. I have accepted that that will never happen. Just know I am a real person who reads the comments, not everything I do is, perfect. But please just be kind. I don't say this to stop people from giving me advice, I love advice. Just be positive and kind. I don't need more negativity anyway. In the week since my

last post I have met up with my brothers three more times. Once with both, and two times it has been just me and Richie. There seems to have been an instant bond between us, something that I didn't even know I wanted. I am loving hanging out with them, which is amazing because I didn't even think I ever wanted to see any of my family again. Never mind start to develop a good relationship with some of them. When I last met up with Richie alone, we went to go see a movie and then get something to eat. We spoke about our plans and what he does now. And we got talking about me and foster care. I asked him what he had been told about me growing up. He said they haven't been told my but that mum sometimes talks about me. I asked him what he remembered of me and why I was

taken into care. He said he has some memories, fuzzy memories and clear memories. But he said he didn't know for certain what happened. He said he remembered a lot of fighting and arguing between me and SD. He said he had one very clear memory of me, but said he didn't know whether it was appropriate for him to share it or not. He asked me what I remembered, and I said it was difficult for me to talk about with people. He said he understood if I didn't want to get into it. I asked him what his clear memory was. He remembered me being about eight years old, my SD stripping me naked and putting me in a dog's collar and making me eat dog food. He said he remembered his dad hitting me with his belt as I was eating out the dog bowl and crying. This actually

happened many times for me growing up, but he said he only remembered it once. I started crying and he apologized for bringing it up, and I said don't. I was glad he at least remembered some things of my abuse. He said he guessed that the abuse by SD was the reason I was taken away. I said yeah. I asked if SD ever abused either of them and he said he hadn't ever. But he said he wasn't close to either my mom or his dad. He said they weren't ever amazingly loving people, but never abused them. He said he was sorry again. We spoke some more about our childhood. I felt safer talking about the abuse since he already remembered some of it. We spoke a bit more about it, I tried answering questions he had and he answered

some of mine. He asked if the trauma still impacts me now, and I said yeah. I was open with him that I've attempted to end my own life multiple times because of it. He apologized for not being there for me, for not sticking up for me. I said nothing that happened was his fault, or my fault and that we can't change the past. After we finished, we both went to our own homes. He messaged me saying he's glad I grew up and that I managed to keep living he meant it sweetly, I think, even though it came off a little weird. I feel really amazing that I have a brother who seems to care about me, I couldn't even have imagined he would have liked me a few weeks ago.