We can never be too sure with whom we can truly trust.
Making it all the more important that we think very carefully about whom we share delicate information with.
Most people think it's safe to assume that they can always trust their family with a secret.
For far too many people, however, the situation is sadly quite the opposite.
Redditor Financial-Sun-9480 was recently given some frightening news that she didn't want to share with too many people.
Unfortunately, a member of the original poster (OP)'s family caught wind of it and shared the news with many more people afterward.
Leaving her to wonder whether or not she wanted this family member to remain an active part of her life.
Wondering if she overreacted, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where she asked fellow Redditors:
"AITA for being furious at my mother-in-law []MIL for sharing my private medical information without my consent?"
The OP explained why she was seriously considering cutting all ties with her MIL.
"| (27 F[emale]) am married to my husband (25 M) of 2 years."
"His family has always been a very tough spot for us because they are just very different."
"His mom in particular has always caused problems and is emotionally manipulative as well."
"I won't get into too much because there is literally a huge list of things she's done."
"One thing in particular that kinda annoyed me is that she has his location, which isn't bad in itself; however, anytime we would leave our city, she would text/ call and ask what we were doing/ where we were going."
"Which I just felt like was kinda a breach of our privacy."
"For the story:
"A few months ago, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer."
"It was very persona,l and I didn't tell a lot of people at all."
"Anyways, we were at the hospital, and I was getting surgery to remove it, and I guess she texted him and said 'why are you at the hospital', he replied '(my name) is having surgery'."
"She then replied, 'is it a baby?'"
"He replied 'no she has cancer in her uterus I think she's getting it removed'."
"She then texted my friend and said, 'hey what kind of cancer does (my name) have?'"
"To which my friend said 'cervix'."
"She never spoke to me or asked me or texted me after or anything."
"I only know because my friend told me 'hey, btw, she asked me'."
"Then about 2 weeks later I get a letter in the mail from my husband's grandmother (his mom's mom) with a pamphlet about vaginal health and taking probiotics for BV."
"Also keep in mind I have never spoken to his grandmother or even met her."
"She didn't come to our wedding."
"I immediately get upset and ask my husband if his mom had told her mom about my surgery."
"He texted her, and she said, 'Yes, I told her,' and he said, 'Why would you do that? (My name) is really upset,' and then she replied 'well, why didn't you tell me I wasn't supposed to tell anyone?'"
"I'm soo upset I never want to speak to her again."
"Am I being dramatic or AITA for being upset when she probably meant well?"
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You're The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community largely agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for being furious at her MIL.
Just about everyone agreed that the OP's anger was more than justified, as her cancer diagnosis was not her news to share, even though many pointed out that the OP should be equally furious and concerned with her husband's behavior as well:
"NTA."
"But it seems to me that the person who needs an intervention about (a) cutting the figurative umbilical cord known as a locator and (b) keeping his mouth shut about your personal business is your husband."- Individual_Ad_9213
"Perhaps this is a language issue, but I can't get past the part of this story where your husband just casually texts 'yeah she has cancer, I think she's getting it removed' as if this is a routine sinus infection you're just picking up antibiotics for."
"The whole thing makes little sense, and I can't imagine any fully grown adult (your husband) who let's his mother track his real-time location, but doesn't share what should be among the most traumatizing news of his life - which is that his wife has cancer."
"He barely seems to even know the details of your life-threatening illness?"
"So NTA I suppose, given the information we have."
"But this whole saga doesn't really pass the sniff test."- MikeDamone
"NTA."
"For being upset."
"Tell your husband that you would like him to turn off the location Services for his mom."
"If she says, I need to know you're safe."
"He can say that my wife is the one who can monitor that I'm safe."
"And tell him he's never to tell your mother any health information about you."
"If you want her to know, you will let her know."- bopperbopper
"If you yourself hadn't told her it obviously wasn't any of her damn business in the first place."
"Your husband needs to step up this grey rocking."
"NTA."
"I'd feel so violated."- witsendgame
"NTA, but you need to include the people who give her info in your fury."
"Why is your husband just answering her questions, knowing what she's like?"
"Why is your friend texting her?"
"What's wrong with everybody's judgment?"- Ok_Homework_7621
"NTA."
"But I think it is important you narrow your focus here."
"Your husband is the real problem."
"He needs to cut the cord with mommy and stop spreading your personal medical information."-Elegant_Bluebird_460
"NTA, but why aren't you furious with your husband?"
"This is ALL on him."
"He shouldn't be sharing his location with his mother, and he should be able to say 'it's personal and you should ask her directly'."
"Or if he knows it's ok with you to tell her personal things, then he needs to say 'please don't share this information with anyone else'."- T_G_A_H
"You are NTA, but I think you have more of a husband problem than a MIL problem."
"He's the one who shares his location with her; he doesn't have to do that."
"And he's the one who both told her this information and didn't tell her not to tell anyone else."
"If you haven't been clear with him that you don't want the information shared, you should be."-ConflictGullible392
"NTA."
"But your husband is."
"He's the AH."
"He lets his mother stalk him."
"This is an open invitation FROM HIM to her to do what she does - stalk YOU."
"He pretends he doesn't know how inappropriate it is to let her monitor his location."
"He pretends he doesn't know how inappropriate it was to tell her your private business."
"He knows she's a blabbermouth and he told her something very private without asking."
"I would go home to your family or go stay with friends and tell him you're not coming home until this stops."
"No more mom following him."
"No more telling her or your family your business."
"This should have been handled a long time before this."- Evening_Delay_1856
Some, however, felt that the OP's anger was misdirected, and felt the bigger issue she needed to deal with was her husband's concerning relationship with his mother:
"Soft YTA."
"You are justifiably angry, but at the wrong person!"
"Your husband shared the info."
"He is the AH."
"By the time the info got to grandmother, who knows what she was told, so just ignore the probiotics pamphlet."
"Let that go, but you have got to get the scissors out and cut those apron strings attached to your husband!"- underwater_owl
While a few had trouble sympathizing with anyone in this scenario:
"You're mad at the wrong person."
"The people who broke your trust and gave out your private medical information are your husband and your 'friend'."
"Did you tell your husband and friend that you were sharing your medical information in confidence and YOU wanted to be the only person who told people about it?"
"If not, do that as soon as you are up to doing that."
"And your husband needs to stop sharing where YOU are with his mom."
"If she calls to ask why he's at the hospital, he says 'can't talk now mom' Or he says 'that[s private business mom'."
"Or he turns off the damned locator so she doesn't know where he is in the first place."
"ESH, but mostly your husband and friend."- KingBretwald
The OP isn't wrong in that her MIL had no right to share her private information with others without her consent.
That being said, it is alarming that the OP doesn't seem to have taken into consideration just how her MIL got that information.
As many have pointed out, it seems that the OP should be more concerned about her husband's inability to keep a secret than her MIL.
Woman Asks If It's Wrong To Hold Grudge After Mom Told Her When She 8 Years Old That She Wished She'd Aborted Her
While some people view having and raising children as the greatest blessing, some parents hold their children's existence against them for their entire lives.
And when they feel that way about their children, they're unfortunately typically pretty honest about it, cringed the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor heavelymango knew from the time she was young that her mother did not really like her and significantly favored her sister.
But when her mother told her at the age of eight that she wished she had aborted her, the Original Poster (OP) held on to that grudge for years after the fact.
She asked the sub:
The OP had a grudge against her mother.
"I (22 Female) have been holding onto a grudge due to something my mom told me when I was roughly eight or nine years old."
"Growing up, I was a rebellious kid and always felt as if my mom favored my older sister. My sister would always get whatever she wanted."
"I know she was born with Down syndrome and always needed more attention and care, but if my sister wanted my tablet, for example, she would have it for the whole day while mine was limited to 30 minutes so she could have it."
"As a kid, I lashed out more because of this. She could take all of my things, but I could never use hers."
During a heated moment, the OP's mother said something unforgivable.
"Eventually, this led to an argument with my mom. I don't recall the whole thing, but it was related to my sister and how I felt my mom didn't care about me or give me the same amount of attention."
"The fight got heated, and I probably told my mom that I hated my sister and her."
"I remember she said back, 'I never wanted you from the start. I knew I should've aborted you when I had the chance.'"
" I didn't know what aborted meant at the time, and I remember I looked it up, and it made me cry. I never forgot it, and it lingers in my mind whenever I am home."
The OP's mother pressured her to "let it go" and move on.
"Even growing up, I still brought it up, and she would get mad, saying I need to let it go and how I'm stubborn for not just forgetting what she said."
"There was even a time in high school when she took me to a therapist, and she complained about how I never dropped what she said."
"She says I need to move on from it because it has affected my relationship with her, and she wants to fix it."
"I know I'm older now and it was so long ago, but it still hurts, and I feel like it's made me not want to have her in my life in the future, and I have told this to her."
"How I don't want her in my life once I move out, get married, or have my own kids."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that this sounded like a core memory more than a grudge.
"The axe forgets. The tree remembers."
"It sounds less like you're holding a grudge and more that this is a formative, core memory for you."
"It won't stop being a core memory (unless maybe with the help of a lot of therapy). Has your mom ever apologized for saying that? Because you don't have to forget to forgive, but if she's not remorseful for saying that terrible thing to her young child (not just remorseful that you remember it), then she probably needs therapy (or is a narcissist/sociopath/similar)."
"You are certainly not obligated to 'get over it.'" - Hot-Can3615
"This is not a 'grudge'; it is pain that is still felt to such a degree. If she said it, then she was thinking it. She'll probably never apologize, but that doesn't mean your pain is or was invalid." - Fast_Register_9480
"NOR. This kind of thing needs a real apology. Like she needs to acknowledge the damage and genuinely care about it. Brushing it off won’t make it go away." - TentacleWolverine
"NOR. Did she really want to fix things? She basically just told you to get over it from the start instead of giving you a sincere apology."
"That isn't working on anything. She wants you to get over it so she can pretend that she never said it, so she doesn't have to feel bad about what she did. It doesn't sound like she cares much about how you feel."
"She just doesn't want to deal with it. For that reason, I would still have issues with what she said." - Chemical-Ad6809
"If your relationship with your mother is being affected by the actions of your mother, your mother is responsible for fixing it."
"You should know you probably aren't ever going to get closure, but you don't have to swallow it down. It helps to be the person you needed when you were younger out loud to yourself, but especially to others."
"For example: My name is Liz, and my mom told me to go ahead and do it already and save us all the heartache when I finally had the courage to tell her about how much I've been struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I'm never going to forgive her for that, and we have never been close as a result of her actions."
"You aren't holding onto a grudge; you have a core memory of your mother distilling her feelings into a world-shattering sentence."
"You did not have a secure attachment before and can't have one now because of the deep trauma. You do not apologize for being stabbed."
"Find another therapist. I mean it. Someone who cares about your well-being wouldn't force you to apologize for being verbally abused as a child. I'm 29 now, and I lived through it. I still struggle with suicidal ideation daily, but once I stopped relying on my mom and unstable sources for support, my life got better immediately."
"You want things for comfort and familiarity. Don't let your mom or your therapist gaslight you into crossing a boundary."
"It might help to ask for a written five-part apology from your mom. 1. Acknowledge what you did 2. Say why it was wrong 3. Promise not to do it again 4. Ask how to make amends. 5. Share your feelings at this time if there's anything you'd like to say."
"My mom can be a good person and a bad mom and role model. Being in your own company is so much better than poor company." - PotLuckyPodcast
Others hoped the OP would go no contact with her mother sooner rather than later.
"NOR. It’s emotional abuse. And you do not owe her closeness after that, especially as she refuses to be accountable for that and try to make it up to you."
"She knows you have her number, and she can’t forgive you for knowing what a colloidal b***h she is."
"It’s unlikely that will change; it will at least be turned back on you with her the victim."
"Stop expecting her to apologize. If she doesn’t pay your bills, ghost her." - SnooCheesecakes2723
"My mom said something similar. My brother and I were adopted, and when I was a teen, in front of a church lady, she said, 'We didn't even really want you, but the people didn't want to split y'all up, so we just took you, too.'"
"Me and the church lady were shook. When I say my falbbers were ghasted. Like huh? She didn't remember saying that when I brought it up years after the fact."
"I also got grounded two times for two separate nine weeks (for C's on my report card) and a three and a half to four months (for smoking at 16 and getting caught because she liked to just pop up out of nowhere), and we just had a talk about that, and she didn't even remember."
"She said, 'No, I didn't. I never grounded you for that long,' and when I gave my rebuttal, she said, 'Well, if I did, it definitely wasn't for no nine weeks or months,' and this started because she was praising me for reading so much and liking books. I said, 'Well, when you were grounded like me, that's all I could do (no TV, no friends outside of school, no music, nothing but my room and books)."
"There's a reason I only call or answer her calls once or twice every few weeks. And I only call to get food, really..." - ManicalMoe
"‘Fine, I'm sorry’ is not an apology."
"Whilst I’m sure it was said in anger, most things said in anger have a grain of truth. There are also some things that no half-decent parent ever says to their children, no matter how angry they are, and this is one of them! It also sounds like she has made repeated similar comments of not wanting you as her child."
"I understand her eldest had a disability, but this is no excuse for neglecting and emotionally abusing her younger child. Lots of families deal with a child with additional needs whilst still managing to prioritise their other kids. Children with Down syndrome are capable of understanding ‘that’s your sister's, not yours; give it back’ !! It sounds like your mum has mental health issues?"
"Do you have a present father or other family you can turn to?"
"Protect your peace. Your mum has hurt you time and time again, honestly, for no real gain other than momentarily satisfying her anger. You owe this woman nothing." - Background_Term9810
"I went through something similar. When I was a little girl, my mother used to make comments that implied she didn't want me, though it was never that explicit. 'I only had you because your brother wanted a sister,' and 'My figure never recovered after you; after your brother, it did.'"
"Each comment stayed with me, but I never addressed it with her. I tried to move on and leave it in the past. She did a lot of horrible things throughout my life, but her behavior was always ignored because that's the precedent my dad set, where she can do essentially whatever she wants."
"A few months ago, she came to see me because I was desperate for help and sick. Instead of helping, she made my life so much worse. I won't go into details. At one point, I could no longer keep it inside, and I told her that she is a narcissist, to which she responded with, 'It would have been better if I had never had you.'"
"In some ways, it felt really good to hear her come out and say it. It felt good to hear the truth I've always known."
"I don't know what you should do, but I've chosen to not forgive."
"Every time I forgave, I just let her know that she can get away with whatever horrible things she had done. Her apologies were never real apologies. She always found ways to blame me or others for whatever she had done."
"And I'm truly just done with it. As sad as it is to not have a mom, it's sadder to pretend that you have one when in reality you don't... quite the opposite, if anything." - Neos_Mom
"So, OP, what will hurt more: keeping her and the grudge in your life or making a break and going low or no contact with her?"
"Frankly, we've no idea of what she might have been dealing with at the time, but regardless, what she said was said only to cause pain and suffering. 'Sorry' doesn't magic that intent away."
"Me, I think spending time alone or with friends or in therapy away from her might be what you need here. You might come to some sort of acceptance, but if this is something that's just going to keep coming between you, then stop trying to have that relationship." - Tal_Tos_72
After the OP received feedback, she shared a few clarifications from her original post.
"I wanted to clear some things up, take accountability where it's due, and provide some much-needed context from many people commenting the same questions."
"I want to be completely honest. We had many arguments, and I was a rebellious kid. I acted out and argued with my mom."
"I don't want to give off the impression that I was an entirely innocent kid who never did anything wrong and my mom just snapped out of nowhere. We both said hateful and hurtful things to each other during our fights."
"Growing up, the only way she would accept an apology was if I got on my knees and begged her for forgiveness. If I ever asked her to apologize to me, she would say, 'I have nothing to apologize for; you should be the one begging for my forgiveness.'"
The OP had a lot of physical memories, too.
"Things also would turn into physical arguments, not just verbal ones."
"There were times when she would get so angry she would get physical. Like yanking me by my hair, twisting my arms, or throwing things at me (like remotes, a bug spray can, or a radio)."
"When she yanked my hair, I would fight back just to get her to let me go, and she would scream that I was trying to kill her and she would get me arrested. When she twisted my arm, and I begged her to stop because it felt like it was going to break, she would say she hoped it did."
"When she threw objects at me, she would say she wished they would hit my face."
"I remember in middle school, during an argument, she said she wished she could break my face and that she hated it because I look like my dad. I won’t lie, whenever she said things like that, I would say nasty comments about how she chose to have him put us in her."
While the OP wasn't financially ready to move out yet, she hoped to as soon as possible.
"Why haven't I moved out yet? The main reason I haven't been able to move out is financial."
"I wasn't making enough to support myself without worrying about whether I’d end up having to crawl back home."
"Thankfully, I have recently found a better-paying job. My plan is to move out between mid-to-late October, or early November at the latest."
"The only reason I can't leave this exact second is because I have a few legal/administrative things to get cleared up so I’m completely untied from my mom, which will take a few weeks."
The OP also had proof that her mother liked her sister better.
"Has my mom ever admitted to favoring my sister? Yes."
"In arguments, she has explicitly told me that she doesn't see me as her legitimate daughter, and that she adored my sister more and forever will. She has also called me a 'monster,' told me there is a certain type of evil inside of me, and said she was afraid I would be just like my dad and try to harm them."
"She would even tell me that she was telling family and friends these things about me, but then later claim she 'just said it in the moment' and wouldn't be crazy enough to actually tell people that."
"Because I was so confused growing up and didn't know if she was lying or telling the truth, I started avoiding our family when they came over."
"Naturally, that just made things worse because she would get mad at me for avoiding them (even now as an adult), completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who lied about what she told them."
Unfortunately, the OP didn't have support from her father.
"What about my dad? My dad is not in my life."
"He was around sporadically, but never as a stable parent. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was two or three."
"Growing up, it was just constant back-and-forth toxicity, with him telling me how toxic my mother was, and her telling me the same about him."
"He would mostly only come over to see my sister, and often used me to care for her if he wanted to take her out to eat. Ultimately, my dad didn't care about anyone else other than my sister (and his drugs)."
"I hope this can clear some questions on the original post. I know I didn't provide many details as I originally should have. I honestly didn't want to post something too long, and I honestly did not expect it to be noticed."
"Thank you all for taking time to talk to me and share your thoughts."
The subReddit fully sided with the OP, pointing out that no matter how heated the moment was, it would never excuse the terrible things the OP's mother had said to her.
If the OP's mother really wanted a relationship with her, she'd drop the defensiveness and demands, offer a genuine apology, and work hard to be better for both of her children.
That takes a very rare kind of person to pull off, and it didn't sound like the OP's mother had that in her.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp