A protective mother shocked Redditors after she changed her adopted baby’s name. It was the message she had for the bio family that had jaws on the floor. Here is the whole story.
They Took in a Newborn
OP and her husband took in his female cousin’s newborn son near the beginning of the pandemic.
It was a bad situation caused by the cousin’s partying, not to mention her and her partner’s addictions. OP and her husband were the only ones who stepped up, and they were happy to help the child.
But the arrangement was meant to be temporary, just until OP’s cousin got her life back on track.
Skipping Out on Rehab
Both OP’s cousin and her partner, the baby’s father, were scheduled to go to rehab.
When they were finished, they would take the baby, and everyone would move on.
The problem was that both of the parents skipped out on rehab. They also blew off all the checkpoints that Child Protective Services set up with them and OP.
She Quit Everything for the Baby
So now, 2 years later, OP and her husband are still taking care of the little boy. OP is happy that she decided to take on the added responsibility, even though she had to sacrifice a lot.
Because the baby was a newborn and had been born under special circumstances, OP quit her job to take care of him. She also gave up her social life to focus on the baby.
And then, of course, the onset of the pandemic meant that OP was confined to her house most of the time with a new baby plus her own two daughters.
Awarded Full Custody
All during that time, none of the baby’s father’s family got involved with the child, either. As far as OP is concerned, the little boy is her son.
That’s how the courts see it, too, as OP and her husband were recently awarded full custody of the toddler.
On the heels of that decision, OP made another big decision – she changed the baby’s name.
A Name Change
In particular, OP got rid of the first name that her husband’s cousin had chosen. It was the name of the father’s brother, who died of a drug overdose.
The child’s middle name was the first name of OP’s husband’s grandfather, so she made that the baby’s new first name.
Then, for a middle name, OP used her own father’s name. And finally, OP changed the baby’s last name to her and her husband’s last name.
They Called Her a Baby Thief
Essentially, the baby now had a new identity to go along with a new official set of parents in OP and her husband.
But when the family of the little boy’s bio father got wind of the name change, they blew up OP’s social media and attacked her as a baby thief.
There were many even worse names laced among the insults the family hurled at OP by text and on social. She took all she could, but one day, she snapped and lashed out.
A Harsh Defense
OP told one of her online bullies that she wanted her son’s names to honor good men and not their drug using relative.
She said the only good thing the dead man did was overdosing before he went to prison.
That tirade unleashed a whole new level of backlash from the family, and OP felt like maybe she’d gone too far.
In fact, her own husband told OP that she went too far. But she’s not sure she would change her response if faced with the same situation again.
She Was Pushed to the Brink
Redditors almost unanimously agree with OP’s sentiment and think she had a right to defend herself.
Some of them can understand why the other family is upset about the name change, but they think OP had the right to make the switch.
Some commenters think OP was super harsh, but even they agree that she was pushed to the brink by the other family.
The post Branded a ‘Baby Thief’: She Sacrificed Everything to Care For Drug-Using Relative’s Infant – Family Only Cared to Name Him first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Africa Studio
Source: Reddit