Reddit Stories - My SPOUSE'S mother covertly swapped my CONTRACEPTION tablets with placebo pills to MANIPULATE

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #relationships #family #deception #birthcontrol #manipulationSummary: My SPOUSE'S mother covertly swapped my CONTRACEPTION tablets with placebo pills to MANIPULATE.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, family, deception, birthcontrol, manipulation, spouse, mother-in-law, contraception, placebo, pills, covert, swap, deceit, control, familydramaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My spouse's mother covertly swapped my contraception tablets with placebo pills to manipulate me into a dangerous pregnancy so she could extend her stay in our household indefinitely. I, a 33-year-old woman, have been. Married to my husband, 35M, 4-8 years. We have a three-month-old baby girl, Amy. After Amy was born, my mother-in-law, Mill, went through a major upheaval. She lost her job of 10 years and had no savings or other family to turn to.

My brother-in-law lives a few hours away and Phil passed away a few years ago. She was on the verge of losing her housing. My husband and I felt we should help, so we invited Mill to move into our three-bedroom house temporarily while she got back on her feet. At first, having Mill with us was actually helpful. I was recovering from childbirth and exhausted from caring for a newborn. Mill pitched in with household chores and occasionally held or fed Amy so I could shower or nap. My husband works full time, so he was relieved that I had some help during the day. It wasn't exactly how I envisioned our first months with a new baby, having a house guest

meant less privacy, but I reminded myself it was temporary and we were doing a good deed for family. However, as the weeks went by, Mill started crossing boundaries and critiquing my parenting. It began with little comments. If Amy cried at night and I went to pick her up, Mill would tut that I was spoiling her by responding too quickly. When I was breastfeeding, Mill insisted I wasn't producing enough milk and pushed me to use formula. When I did give a formula bottle, she'd switch and say breast milk was healthier, basically, I couldn't win. One afternoon, I even found her rearranging the nursery,

moving the crib and refolding my neatly organized baby clothes, without asking. She insisted her setup was better. I was floored by the audacity, but I still bit my tongue to avoid an explosion. I reminded myself she was trying to help in her own way. Still, it was incredibly frustrating to have my decisions undermined at every turn. My husband noticed the tension and spoke to his mom a couple of times, asking her to ease up on the unsolicited advice. Mill always acted innocent, saying she was only trying to help and that we were being sensitive. She would back off for a day, then slip back into her critical ways. We didn't want a huge blow-up, so we mostly kept the peace and hoped she'd find a job soon and move out. We figured her overbearing behavior

might stem from her own stress and feeling of loss of control after losing her job. Fast forward to when Amy was about five months old. I had gone to my postpartum checkup at six weeks and started on birth control pills, daily combination pill, because my husband and I did not want another baby right away. We were using the pill carefully and occasionally condoms as backup. I kept the pill pack in our master bathroom medicine cabinet. Mill sometimes used our bathroom because the shower and the guest bath wasn't great, so in hindsight she had easy access to my pills, though I didn't think about that at the time. A couple of months after I started the pill, I began feeling off. I was unusually tired, beyond normal new mom exhaustion, a bit nauseous, and then I

realized my period was late. My stomach dropped, I took a home pregnancy test, and to my shock it turned positive immediately. I ended up using two more tests, hoping the first was faulty, but all confirmed I was pregnant again. I was floored. I remember just sinking to the bathroom floor in tears. We had been so careful, how could this be happening? My husband was just as shocked. We hadn't planned to even consider another child so soon. We were using contraception diligently, and the idea of two babies under two was terrifying. Physically and emotionally, I didn't feel ready to be pregnant again. My husband was trying to comfort me as I cried, both of us scrambling for an explanation.

I hadn't missed any pills, maybe one at most, and I know I handled that properly. I hadn't been sick or on antibiotics that could interfere. It made no sense. In the midst of this, Mill realized something was going on. She heard me crying and knocked on our bedroom door, asking if I was okay. My husband stepped out and, under the stress of the moment, told her that I just found out I was pregnant again and we were completely caught off guard. Instead of being concerned that something was wrong, Mill lit up with excitement.

I could hear her practically squealing, another baby. How wonderful. Her reaction was the polar opposite of ours. She was overjoyed. My husband tried to temper her, explaining this wasn't planned and we were stressed, but she just kept insisting that babies are a blessing and telling us not to worry because she would be here to help. I came out, upset and in disbelief, and the first thing I said was, I was on the pill. I don't understand how I'm pregnant.

The moment I said those words, something in Mills' face changed subtly and something when off in my mind. Mill had made odd remarks before, little jokes about how maybe we should give Amy a sibling sooner rather than later, or comments about my birth control making me moody. I'd brushed those off at the time. But now an idea began to form that was so outrageous I almost couldn't believe it, but I had to ask, what if this wasn't an accident at all? I went to the bathroom and grabbed my pack of birth control pills. On close inspection, I noticed some pills look slightly out of place. A few of the tablets in the blister pack had odd,

tiny puncture marks in the foil backing, not as neat as when I push a pill through. I confronted Mill directly, holding out the pack. I asked, point blank, if she had done something to my birth control. At first she denied it and acted offended, calling me crazy for even suggesting such a thing. But my husband joined in, saying that we knew something was wrong and that she needed to tell us the truth.

After a lot of pressure and us telling her we weren't buying her denials, Mill finally cracked. She confessed that she had been tampering with my birth control pills. In fact, she had secretly ordered look-alike sugar pills online and swapped out my real pills. I was stunned into silence as she tried to justify it. She rambled that she only did it because she thought another baby so soon would bring us all closer and that I would definitely need her help with two little

ones, ensuring she could stay with us long term. In her warped reasoning, she believed we wouldn't kick out the devoted grandma if I was overwhelmed with a newborn and infant. She kept saying she thought we'd be happy, that she was creating a situation where we'd all be one big happy family under one roof. She actually had the gall to tearfully say, I did it for you too, for the family. You'll thank me one day. I was absolutely livid hearing that. I have never felt betrayal like that in my life. I yelled that she had no right to interfere with our family planning and my body. My husband was furious too, he told her she had done something deeply twisted and unforgivable. Things escalated quickly. My husband told his mother that she needed to pack her things and

leave our house immediately. Mills's eyes went wide with panic and she began pleading with us. She said she had nowhere to go, that we couldn't just throw her out. She even tried to argue. She even that we were overreacting and that having another baby would be a positive thing in the long run. That just made us angrier. I was shaking with anger and shock. I could barely even look at her. We didn't budge. We watched as she hurried to gather her belongings from the guest room, sobbing and begging all the while.

My husband took the spare house key back from her. Despite her cries that she had no money and no home, we stood firm that she had to leave right then. The trust was completely destroyed. At that point I felt unsafe with her in my home, considering what she was capable of. Within in two hours, Mill was out the door. She lingered on the porch wailing, until my husband told her through the closed door that if she didn't leave, we would call the police. Eventually she left.

We later found out she checked into a cheap motel that night, which at least meant she had somewhere to sleep. After she was gone, my husband and I just held each other. Neither of us could believe what had just happened. I barely slept it all that night. I kept replaying the betrayal in my mind and swinging between fury and grief. That night we started to grapple with the reality that I was pregnant again under the worst possible circumstances. We felt violated, betrayed, and scared. Now that the dust has settled just a little, we haven't told any extended family yet what happened. I'm dreading that conversation, knowing it will bring even more drama. I'm also torn between rage and a small bit of guilt.

We did kick her out when she was vulnerable, unemployed, no savings, essentially making her homeless. My husband and I are united in our decision, but some small voices in my head, and probably soon from family members, are asking if we went too far by throwing her out immediately. So, Ida for kicking my mill out as soon as we discovered she tampered with my birth control and caused an unwanted pregnancy? We feel her actions were heinous, but she's also in a tough spot and is my husband's mother. I need some outside perspective on this nightmare situation. Update 1, about a week after original post, I had my first OBGYN appointment

since the positive tests. The doctor confirmed I'm roughly five weeks pregnant. Because Because this new pregnancy is so soon after giving birth, it's being treated as high risk. The doctor warned me about possible complications from back-to-back pregnancies, higher chances of premature birth, low birth weight, placental problems, maternal anemia, even uterine rupture if I'd had a C-section. Thankfully my first delivery was not C-section. It was overwhelming and left me in tears to hear all those risks laid out. I've been struggling with a lot of anxiety over what could happen.

I left the appointment feeling terrified and furious all over again at Mill for putting me in this position. Physically, I'm dealing with the usual early pregnancy fatigue and nausea on top of still caring for an infant, so it's rough. Emotionally, I swing between anger, anxiety, and a kind of numb disbelief. My husband has been very supportive, coming to appointments and helping more with Amy now that we don't have Mill's help, not that her help was worth the strings attached. As for Mill, she has been blowing up our phones with calls and texts. I blocked her number, but she's bombarding my husband with a mix of frantic apologies and guilt-tripping.

One moment she's sobbing that she never meant to hurt us and begging forgiveness so she can come back to help. The next, she's accusing us of abandoning her and being cruel to family. We haven't responded to most of these messages. My husband sent her one text after we kicked her out, telling her that what she did was monstrous. that we need space, and that she should not contact us. She obviously isn't honoring that. We've saved all her texts and voicemails, especially the ones where she more or less admits to swapping my pills. In one message she actually said she only replaced them because she thought we'd thank her later. Collecting that evidence, I'm starting to consider legal options,

but we haven't decided on that step yet. In the meantime, word of our family drama started to spread. Mill, from her motel, has been telling a very skewed version of the story to other relatives. We started getting calls from extended family asking why we threw Mill out. It turns out she told them that there was a huge misunderstanding and that she was just trying to help us, but we overreacted and made her homeless. She's making herself out to be some sort of martyr, saying she only suggested we have another kid, and that we took it the wrong way and banished her. Of course, she left out the crucial detail that she actively tampered with my birth control and secretly forced that suggestion into reality. Once we realized what she was saying,

my husband and I decided to set the record straight. It was not a fun task, but we individually called family members and explained the real story in plain terms that Mill meddled with my medication, causing an unplanned, high-risk pregnancy, and we had to remove her from our home for our safety. To say they were shocked would be an understatement. For example, one of my husband's aunts initially scolded us for overreacting, but when we calmly explained the whole story, she was stunned into silence and eventually apologized for judging us without knowing the facts.

There was a lot of jaw-dropping and utter disbelief on these calls. Thankfully, the majority of people understood how serious and unacceptable Mills' actions were. A few initially couldn't believe she'd do something so crazy, but when we described the evidence, and my husband even played one of her voicemails where she effectively admits to it, they came around. The family consensus has shifted to agreeing that Mill's behavior was appalling. Many are furious with her on our behalf, others are just trying to process it and stay out of the fray. Importantly, no one is telling us we did the wrong thing anymore, not after knowing the full story. One person in the family has been particularly supportive.

My brother-in-law, my husband's younger brother. I'll call him Derek. Derek was horrified when he learned what their mom did. He lives a few hours away, and as soon as he heard the full story, he contacted us to offer help. He even apologized, saying he had no idea she was capable of this. We don't blame him at all, he's just as blindsided as we are. Knowing Mill had burned her bridges with us, at least for the foreseeable future, Derek stepped up and made an offer, he would take Mill in at his place, provided she agreed to some serious boundaries and conditions. Specifically, he told her she would have to get professional help, therapy, and absolutely respect that she is not to interfere in our lives.

According to Derek, when he presented this plan, she was initially defensive, insisting she wasn't crazy and didn't need therapy, but ultimately she had no other option. She finally agreed, albeit grudgingly, knowing that otherwise she'd be homeless. She doesn't have money for the motel long-term and no one else is offering to house her. Derek made plans to drive down over the coming weekend to collect her and bring her to stay with him. It's a relief that she'll be out of our immediate vicinity. My husband and I both slept a little better knowing she would likely be four hours away under Derek's watch, rather than in a motel ten minutes from us.

I do feel a twinge of pity that it came to this, she's essentially estranged herself from us and put her other son in a tough position, but then I remind myself that her own actions led here. For now, we are maintaining strict no contact with Mill. The only updates we get are through Derek, for instance, arranging for some of her remaining belongings to be sent to her. We've made it clear we don't want to see or speak to her for the foreseeable future. She hasn't made any real apology to us, beyond the those self-pitying texts, and frankly, even if she did, I'm nowhere near ready to forgive or trust her again. My focus now is on taking care of myself and Amy, and staying as healthy as possible during this unexpected pregnancy. It's been a heart of a week, but having the support of my husband, Derek, and many family members has made me feel less alone in this. This whole situation is still unbelievable to me, but at least I know we're not crazy for how we reacted. We'll see what happens with Mill in the coming weeks, but I sincerely hope she gets the help

she clearly needs and stays far away from our family until maybe, someday, she can truly understand the damage she's done. Update 2, another couple of weeks later, after lots of discussion and emotional ups and downs, my husband and I decided to continue the pregnancy. Ending it was something we considered in our initial shock and fear, given the health risks and the circumstances, but ultimately we couldn't go through with that choice. So, I am moving forward with a high-risk pregnancy care plan, extra monitoring, and all the recommended precautions to keep me and the baby as safe as possible.

Now, on to the latest Mill drama. Before my brother-in-law could come pick her up as planned, Mill decided to take matters into her own hands. A little over a week after we kicked her out, she showed up at our house unannounced. It was late morning on a day my husband was at work. I was home with Amy when I heard aggressive knocking on the door. To my shock, it was Mill, with her suitcase. I did not open the door. Through the locked door, I told her she needed to leave. She kept pleading, saying,

Please, just let me in so we can talk. I'm so sorry. Don't do this to me, I'm your mother, in-law, and Amy's grandmother. I remained firm that she was not welcome and that she must leave where I would call. the police. Mill did not take that well. She refused to leave the porch and started raising her voice. She began shouting loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, painting herself as the victim. She yelled things like, I'm a homeless grandmother just trying to see my grandbaby. And they kicked me out after I helped with their family planning. Yes, she actually shouted about helping with our

family planning for the neighbors to hear, which left me both furious and mortified. I was shaking with anger and fear, and inside the house Amy had begun crying from all the commotion, which made me even more desperate to end this. I didn't want to engage with Mill any further, so I called 911. Those few minutes waiting for police felt like an eternity, but finally two officers arrived. They approached Mill on the porch and then knocked on my door. I spoke to them, explaining that this woman was my Mill, that we had told her to stay away, and that she was trespassing and causing a disturbance. They stepped back outside, and I watched from the window

as they firmly told Mill she needed to leave the property. Mill was hysterical at this point, crying to the officers about how we owed her another chance and how she was just trying to reunite with her family. The police weren't having it. They escorted her off my porch and down the driveway. In front of the officers, I explicitly told Mill that she is not allowed to come back on our property.

The officers warned her that if she returned, she could be arrested for trespassing. One officer took my statement about what happened. I also informed them about the prior situation, how she had tampered with my medication, which they duly noted in their report. Now there is an official trespass warning and the context behind it, on file. Mill had no choice but to leave with the police urging her along. Once she was off our property, I locked all the doors and just broke down. I was extremely shaken that it had come to that point.

My husband rushed home from work as soon as I told him what happened. He was horrified that she showed up like this and that I had to deal with it alone, and he kept apologizing, even though none of it was his fault. We have since taken further precautions, we installed a security camera system around the house, changed our locks, and were talking to our lawyer about a restraining order in case Mill ever tries something like this again. After this incident, my brother-in-law Derek got directly involved in person. He drove in that same day once we told him.

Mill had slunk back to the motel after the police encounter, we let Derek know where she was. Derek told us he confronted her and made it clear that her behavior was completely out of control and unacceptable. He then basically gave her an ultimatum. He would still take her to live with him, but only if she agreed to follow the strict rules he laid out, including attending therapy regularly and having no contact with us whatsoever. If she didn't agree, she'd be on her own. Having no other options, Mill finally agreed again. Derek told us she muttered complaints about how we were treating her like a criminal and how

she wasn't crazy, but he held firm that those conditions were non-negotiable, so Derek has now taken Mill to his home. We're told she has already started seeing a therapist. He drove her to an appointment a few days after taking her in. I have no idea whether she's actually owning up to what she did in those sessions or just playing victim, only time will tell. The important thing is that she's out of our hair and not in our vicinity. Derek promised us that he will keep a close eye on her and that she will not be coming near us unless and until we decide we're ready to talk to her, which, honestly, might be never

or at least not for a very long time. The police report from that day means there's an official paper trail of her actions, which could be important if we decide to pursue any legal charges for the birth control tampering itself. For now, we are focusing on our family and my pregnancy. I'm hoping the drama is truly over. I want nothing more than to have a healthy pregnancy and baby, and to give Amy a normal, peaceful life without this kind of chaos. This update was a doozy, but with Mill gone to Derrick's and under instructions to stay away, I'm optimistic that the worst is behind us. Update 3. Final Update.

We have had some major new developments. My husband was unsettled by the lies his mother told and started digging into her recent past. He managed to get in touch with someone from the dental office where Mill claims she was laid off. The truth turned out to be much worse. Mill was actually fired from that job, and it wasn't even recent. She lost the job months before she ever moved in with us. The reason? She had been caught stealing from the dental practice. According to my husband's source, cash from patients had gone missing and they discovered

she was manipulating the appointment system to cover her tracks. They let her go and quietly handled it without pressing charges at the time. This means Mill lied to us about being abruptly laid off. In reality, she'd been out of work for a while and likely blew through whatever money she had, which is why she was desperate enough to show up on our doorstep. My husband was livid and felt deeply betrayed all over again. It made us rethink everything that happened while she was living under our roof. We started to wonder if she had also stolen from us.

Unfortunately, that suspicion turned out to be true. My husband and I went through our bank statements, credit card bills, and even the files in our home office, and we uncovered evidence of mill's sticky fingers. While staying with us, she had gotten a hold of our financial info. We found a few unexplained ATM withdrawals from our joint bank account that neither of us made, likely using my debit card, which I had entrusted to her a couple of times for grocery runs. We also spotted small charges on one of our credit cards that we hadn't noticed at the time, things like online purchases and subscriptions we never authorized.

In hindsight, these charges were small enough to fly under the radar, but they added up. Mill had apparently been snooping, perhaps taking photos of our cards or documents, and treating herself on our dime while we were busy with the baby. Discovering this felt like a second massive betrayal on top of everything else. When we informed Derek about these discoveries, he was appalled and apologized profusely on her behalf. He said he had truly hoped their mom wouldn't sink so low as to steal from her own child. We compiled all the evidence and contacted the police detective who had taken our report during the

trespassing incident. We provided bank records and credit card statements showing the fraudulent transactions. Given this concrete evidence of theft and fraud, the police started during their work. The police traced some of the illicit purchases and could tie them to Mill, for example, they found out some items she bought online were delivered to the motel when she was staying there, and one of our credit card numbers was used for a subscription under her email. Long story short, the authorities arrested Mill. She was taken into custody on several charges related to the financial crimes, credit card fraud, identity theft, etc. To add to that, the prosecutor is now also aware of the birth control tampering incident. There isn't a specific

law that neatly covers reproductive coercion in this context, but they are looking at possibly charging her under general assault or fraud statutes for that act. At the very least, her tampering with my medication will be presented as evidence of her intent to cause harm. As of now, Mill is in jail awaiting a bail hearing. I have no idea if she'll manage to be released on bail, frankly, given the situation, none of the family are lining up to help her on that front. My husband is conflicted emotionally, it's his mother, and it's incredibly sad and angering that it has come to this, but he also feels she brought it entirely upon herself.

We've given full statements and know we may have to take it. testify in the future, but pursuing legal action is absolutely the right thing after everything she's done. In the aftermath of all this, we've taken steps to protect ourselves even more. We changed all our banking passwords and set up fraud alerts on our accounts. We already had the security cameras from before. I'm checking my credit reports and medical records to make sure she didn't meddle in anything else while she was with us. It's an awful feeling to have to double-check these things about someone who lived under your own roof. My own parents, when they learned about everything, and the toll and stress it was taking on me

during my pregnancy, they flew in to stay with us. They've been helping with Amy, giving us much-needed comfort and stability. Having them here has been such a relief. I finally feel like I can breathe a bit and focus on my health and on Amy, instead of constantly dealing with one crisis after another. So, that's where things stand. It's a heartbreaking and messy outcome, but at least the danger and deceit are being addressed head-on. Mill will have to face the legal consequences of her actions. We have no intention of having any contact with her for the foreseeable future, probably years, if ever. Our priority now is to move forward and ensure our children grow up safe and loved, without this kind of insanity in their

lives. Reading and writing this entire saga, I can say we have zero regrets about how we handle things. If we hadn't kicked her out when we did, who knows what further damage she might have done. It's a terrible situation all around.