Reddit Stories - YEARNING for a New Father_ A Child's Plea to SURRENDER PARENTAL Rights_

Episode Date: September 27, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #fatherhood #parenting #family #relationships #children  Summary: A heart-wrenching tale of a child yearning for a new father and pleading for their current one to surrender parental rights. The emotional journey explores complex family dynamics and the desire for a better familial relationship.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, fatherhood, parenting, family, relationships, children, custody battle, emotional story, family dynamics, child's plea, parenting struggles, new father, parental rights, emotional journey, family relationships, heartfelt pleaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. Child desires his stepfather to become his primary paternal figure and requests me to relinquish my parental privileges. Hello, everyone. Prior to delving into the events that transpired, I would like to briefly address, to add something. I'm in a really difficult position regarding this situation with my son right now and I would really appreciate it if you guys were kind and mindful with your words while responding to this post. So, coming to my son, he's 17 years old now and celebrated his birthday just a week ago.

He's supposed to start college this fall as well. We've had a rocky relationship ever since I decided to divorce his mother two years back and I haven't been able to fix things with him, no matter how hard I try. He just keeps pushing me away which hurts, but I tried my best to keep him close until I couldn't. He doesn't respond to texts or calls and even when he does come to my house, he stays sure. shut in his room the entire time and refuses to interact with me. We only speak at lunch or dinner time when he's here and even then he tries to keep the conversation to a minimum. I was

frustrated by all of this and I started to distance myself as well and stopped pouring my heart and soul into fixing my relationship with him because that's clearly not what he wanted. Maybe that was my first mistake. My equation with my ex-wife is also not good and I think that's a huge part of the reason why my son hates me so much now. I'm 44 years old and my wife is 42. We were married for almost 20 years but unfortunately, things started getting really bad for us when I lost my job a few years ago. I was laid off abruptly and so it came as a huge shock to our family. My wife is a teacher so she doesn't make a lot of money but she pulled through somehow and I respect her for that but she also began to hate me even though I was trying my best to find another

a job as soon as I could. I think I must have been out of a job for two months, but I wasn't just sitting at home during that time, I was still trying to find a job that paid well enough. My wife was the one covering all the expenses and we barely saved anything. The pressure got to us and we started fighting almost every day until we just didn't speak unless it was absolutely necessary. The bitterness and resentment just kept building up and eventually, she filed for divorce and I didn't contest it either. I think both of us were pretty done with each other by that point, but I think she'd expected me to fight for our marriage at least a little.

So when I didn't do that, she began to hate me even more. I know this is true because even during the divorce, she'd once called me and asked me if I was seriously going to go through this and end things. And I'd said yes. We split everything we had equally so there was no discontent there, but our relationship was done for. She hated me and I wasn't a fan of hers either, but we still had to work as a team for the sake of our son,

who was struggling to come to terms with our divorce. He didn't want us to get divorced in the first place, but once we did, he chose to side with his mother over me which really hurt since growing up, we'd always been best buddies, so I don't know how that even happened. We were already living separately during the divorce proceedings and my son had obviously been living with his mom

because I was staying with a friend of mine for the first couple of months, and I think that's when she managed to convince him that I was in the wrong somehow. I wish she hadn't done that and had kept our son out of this, but she just had to get back at me somehow, and if the divorce wasn't going to hurt me, she knew that this surely would. And she was right, my son distancing himself from me was the worst possible thing that could happen to me, and she ensured that she made it happen. Point three months ago, she got married to her co-worker.

I know him, he'd even been to our house a couple of times when my ex-wife hosted work parties. It came as a total surprise to everyone and I was completely blindsided by their wedding. I don't know how long they'd been together or if she'd been cheating on me but at this point, I didn't care because it just didn't matter to me anymore. So I didn't ask her about it. What I did care about was when my son started posting about his new stepdad. They were going to football games together, hanging out together, and even at his birthday party, which I wasn't invited to, he posted a picture with my ex-wife and his stepdad and captioned it

mom and dad with a heart which just broke me. I did throw him a birthday party later, but he didn't seem too excited about it so he and his friends just hung out in his room with cake while I sat out in the living room, wondering what had gone wrong. Later that night, after his friends had left, he said that he wanted to talk to me about something really important. My son then told me that he'd thought about this long and hard, but he'd finally conclude that he wanted me to sign over my parental right so that his stepdad could adopt him. He said that he just didn't connect with me anymore and he liked his new family

better so he didn't want me around anymore. I was speechless and my first instinct was to argue with him but I realized quickly enough that arguing wouldn't do any good. If he wanted to be with his stepdad, then I couldn't stop him by fighting with him. So with a broken heart, I told him that I'd do whatever it took to make him happy, and if this was what he wanted then so be it. He thanked me and then left the very next day. The days after that were the hardest for me. I couldn't bring myself to do anything and didn't even go to work for a few days because nothing seemed worth it. The little guy I was working so hard for so that I could give him a good life, didn't want that life. Not from me, at least. I was devastated and spent my days

lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling while trying not to break down. I honestly had no idea how to fix this or even if this could even be fixed. I knew that this was my ex-wife's doing and she must be really happy knowing that she'd finally ruin my relationship with my son for good. I also hated her new husband with a passion. Not because he was married to the woman I once loved but because he was taking my boy away from me. But there was nothing I could do about this now. Fighting with my son would only make our relationship worse so the most I could do was just accept it and hoped that he'd come back. Miraculously, my son did come back just yesterday. But not for the reasons I'd thought he would. I believe that he'd finally come around and realize

that I'm his dad and maybe his mother has brainwashed him into believing that his stepdad is going to be a better fit for the family than me, but that's not. true at all. I'd hoped that he'd realize how much I love him and that would make him come back but that wasn't it at all. I was thrilled when he dropped by yesterday because I'd thought he'd finally changed his mind and he had but he still looked very upset. When I asked him what was going on, he told me that he didn't want me to sign away my rights anymore because his stepdad had told him that he couldn't afford to pay for his college tuition. So here he was since there was no other option. His mother alone couldn't pay for it all.

he had to stick to the custody agreement if he wanted to go to the college of his choice. He sounded and looked very upset about all of this and that was quite hurtful. It's not like I treated him badly, if anything, it was the other way around. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why he hated me so much. I hadn't done anything to warrant this level of hatred for my own son and it just really made me mad that he hated me for seemingly no reason apart from his mother's brainwashing. She taught him really well, I'll give her that. I kind of snapped at him when he said this because I just couldn't take this treatment anymore

where I give my son everything and he gives me silence. I told him that he didn't have to stay with me if he didn't want to and there were still other ways to pay for college. He could take up a job or a student loan if that's what he wanted. And if he thinks that I'm the worst father, then he absolutely should go ahead and get himself adopted by his stepdad because I don't want him to suffer anymore. Of course, I was being very sarcastic when I said this and he did pick up on it. He looked pretty ashamed while I was saying all this and didn't respond so I continued to rant.

I couldn't help it, it just kept coming out on its own. I think the years of pent-up frustration of being hated by my own son for no reason was finally getting to me. The dam had broken and there was no holding back anymore. I told him that I hadn't willingly gotten divorced, it was his mother who'd wanted it in the first place and the only reason she hated me so much was because I hadn't fought for our marriage. I don't know what lies she'd fed him while he'd been staying with her, but I could assure him that the divorce wasn't my fault alone so he could throw out all the incorrect notions he had about my marriage with his mother. He was just 17 and he knew absolutely nothing about me

or the life I'd led and if he was going by whatever bull crap my ex-wife had been telling him then he was in for a nasty reality check. I was not his enemy and I hadn't even wanted a divorce in the first place, but if that's what she wanted, then I wasn't going to stick around either. I knew that he was upset about the divorce, but I'd tried my best to keep things as normal for him as possible. Even while I was staying separately, I'd visit at meal times, but he'd be the one ignoring me because his mother had convinced him that I was the one responsible for the divorce. I told him that I regretted ever letting him stay with his mother during the divorce in the first place and trusting her not to fill his mind with horrible ideas about me. I finally ran out of steam

after that and my son was pretty much dumbstruck. He had nothing to say and I knew that whatever I had said had gotten to him because he looked shocked and apologetic at the same time. He didn't say much after that, just mumbled that he was sorry and then went back to his mom's house. It's been a day and I haven't spoken to him since then and I feel really bad about what happened. I should have kept my emotions under control, at the very least and I feel horrible for yelling at him even though he's just 17 and has been manipulated by his mother for the past two years of his life. I also do think that it was really cruel of him to tell me that the only reason he was coming back was so that I'd pay for his college tuition. That was just

not okay, in my opinion. So I'd have for yelling at my son after he told me that he didn't want me to sign my rights over Update 1. Hi there. I'd just like to thank you guys for the love and kind messages and I'm so happy to see that so many single dads have been able to resonate with my story. Stay strong, guys. I've also noticed that a lot of you guys have been asking if I'd ever suspected my ex-wife of cheating.

Honestly, no, I hadn't. Even while we were getting divorced, there was nothing that made me think that she might have been cheating on me. Maybe there were signs but I'd never picked up on it, I don't know. And really, it just doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't think it's relevant whether she was cheating on me or not. She's already proven that she's a horrible person by trying to use our son to hurt me, I don't need any more proof of her being a trash person. As for why I didn't try to get my son to stay with me when I was living at my friend's place in the initial months of the divorce, I did. I really did. I really didn't.

did, but my son insisted that staying at home was more comfortable for him and since he was in school, I didn't want to cause him or my friend any more trouble than I already was. I'd try to visit him from time to time, but the environment there was so hostile because of my ex-wife that I wouldn't be able to stay for long and eventually, even he started hating me. So that was what really happened. I don't know what more I could have done to avoid this. I really did my best to keep my son away from the drama of the divorce, but my ex-wife made sure to drag him into it and made him hate me. By the time I realized what she was up to, it was too late for me to fix things and my son was already too far gone. It's been a few days since the last time I spoke to my son and we've been

texting but haven't called or visited yet. I haven't heard from my ex-wife yet either, so I'm assuming that he hasn't told her about me yelling at him either. Under usual circumstances, he would have instantly complained about it and made sure that my ex-wife caused a lot of Hugh and cry about it, but if he's not doing that and trying to make me look like a bad father, then I guess it means that he's finally coming around. I'm not getting my hopes up yet, though, because I don't want to be let down. But I hope that he calls or visits soon so we can discuss our relationship at length and fix things between us soon enough. Update 2, my son finally visited me today and it was an interesting meeting, to say the least. I won't say our relationship is miraculously fixed now because obviously, that's not how this works. It takes time and hard work to fix something that has been broken for so long but today was a start, at the very least, and I'm happy about that.

He seemed very awkward and uncomfortable initially, but he did apologize to me for the way he'd been behaving. He admitted that when his mother and I were getting divorced, she did make it a point to tell him how I'd ruined their marriage and wasn't even trying to fight against the divorce and salvage it now. and he believed it. He didn't know any better and since he was just 15, he just wanted someone to blame and the most convenient option was to blame me for everything that was going wrong. Things didn't get better once his mother decided to remarry. My son said that it was all his mother's idea for him to put up posts with his stepdad and make it seem like they were a tight-knit family when in reality, they weren't even that close. He did it just because he wanted to get back at me for tearing the family apart because he wasn't aware that it was actually his mother who'd filed

for divorce. It was also his mother's idea to ask me to sign my parental rights away so that his stepdad could adopt him legally but as it turns out, she hadn't even discussed this with him and had just sprung it on him without warning. His stepdad had been really taken aback and had said that while he did like hanging out with him, he didn't want to adopt him since he really didn't feel that connected to him yet and needed some time to make up his mind. He also mentioned, he also mentioned that he didn't want to pay for my son's college tuition which he inevitably would have to pay if he adopted him. It wasn't as if he couldn't afford it. He could, but he just didn't want to. All of this had taken a toll on my son which was why he looked so upset the other day, but he said

that my outburst was really necessary because it made him realize a lot of things that he needed to know. I was relieved that we were finally talking about this and he was finally realizing that he'd been lied to and manipulated by his mother. It was an incredible day for us and we finally seemed to reconnect a little. I know it's going to take a long time for us to get back to normal, but this is a good start. I told him that no matter what has happened in the past, I'm still willing to forgive him for all of it for a fresh start. He also promised me that he'd confront his mother about whatever she'd been telling him all these years and he even suggested getting therapy together

so we could fix our relationship in a more healthy and effective way. I'm happy that this is finally happening and even more thrilled that my ex-wife will finally get what she deserves. She's a horrible, horrible person and doesn't deserve to be a mother at all. I know this sounds harsh,

but I said what I said. If she's willing to use her son just to make me feel bad, then she's clearly an unfit mother and I think I'm going to file for full custody soon. Of course, I'd have to discuss it with him first because who knows, maybe he still wants to stay with her in spite of everything and I wouldn't want to stop him if that's what he wants even though that'd be very

disappointing. I'm going to talk to him and find out what he wants and then, I'll talk to my lawyer. I truly wish that he finds out what a disgusting and selfish woman his mother is and decides to stay with me instead. I don't say this lightly, but I do wish the worst for her. For years, she's been manipulating and gaslighting our son just so. so that she can make me feel bad. I can't even imagine how heartless someone has to be to even imagine doing that, let alone actually go through with it. She's deranged and absolutely doesn't deserve a son like that.

I truly don't know how I lived with her for so many years and how she went from a sweet, caring wife to a narcissistic and self-centered monster overnight just because I lost my job. But at least now both my son and I know what kind of a person she really is and she'll finally get her comeuppance. Updated 3, my son just texted me saying that he's coming to my place and he needs me to pick him up from his mother's place. He said he's carrying a lot of stuff and so he needs me to drive him home. He can't just take the bus like he usually does.

I'm in shock right now because I'm pretty sure that he's decided to move in with me. This is really sudden but I'm already in front of my wife's house and waiting for him to come out. My son has told me to wait for a few minutes and I can hear the sound of fighting inside the house but I can't make out who's yelling at who and what they're saying. I so badly want to go in and bring my son home with me but I don't want to trespass because I'm sure that my ex-wife will leave no stone unturned to get me into trouble. So I'm just waiting out here for my son now. Update 4. Okay, so I'm finally back home after a really long evening and I'm exhausted but I feel like I have to share this just so that I can make sense of whatever has happened so far.

Like I said, I'd been waiting for my son outside my ex-wife's house earlier because he texted me to come pick him up. A few minutes after my update, he finally came out, and even then, I could hear the sound of yelling coming from inside the house. My son looked furious while walking to the car with his bags and I soon noticed my ex-wife chasing after him. She looked angry as well and as soon as she spotted me sitting in my car, she headed straight towards me and started yelling at me from outside the car with her face right outside the window. It was pretty scary, but I told her that if she didn't back off then I'd call the police so she did take a few steps back, but she didn't go away. While I helped my son load his stuff onto the car,

she continued to scream at me because apparently she believed that I'd been the one who had turned her son against her and was calling me every name in the book, but I didn't care, I knew the truth and so did my son and that's all that mattered. She continued to scream at me even as we drove away and all of a sudden, while we were just a few yards away from her house, she threw a freaking rock at the car and ended up breaking one of my tail lights. I drove a little further away and then called the police immediately to report her. My son and I were both shocked by what she'd done and I couldn't believe that she was acting so unhinged just because she'd been exposed. I pressed charges against her and finally came back home a few hours ago.

My son had a total mental breakdown and I know he's taking this really badly so I'm going to take him to a therapist first thing in the morning tomorrow. I've also made up my mind to file for full custody tomorrow itself as well as a restraining order because what happened today was simply just unacceptable. I'm still hoping that her current husband realizes what a nutcase he's married to and escapes while he still has the chance to. I hope that I managed to get full custody of my son and the restraining order against my ex-wife soon enough as well.