Do children have the right to know who their biological parents are?
There are a lot of things that can break up a marriage, and at the top of that list are disagreements over finances as well as infidelity or a lack of commitment to the relationship.
Learning that your spouse has been unfaithful is heartbreaking enough, but it only becomes worse when there is a child as a result of the infidelity.
These realities were highlighted in a recent online post in which a teen learns that she was born out of an affair, and goes on a search for her biological father despite the outcry of her family.
Do children have the right to know who their biological parents are?
A Reddit post published on September 18th, reported on by Samantha Berlin from Newsweek, has gone viral with 12,900 upvotes and 1,900 comments.
The author begins her post by explaining that she's always had a strained relationship with her family, but she never really understood why. However, just recently she discovered that she was a 'child of infidelity'.
She goes on to explain that her mom cheated on her dad, and the author herself was the result of that affair. She just turned 15, and her three other siblings are the biological children of her father.
When the author originally learned that she was the product of an affair, she moved in with her grandparents because her father said he would only stay with her mom if the author moved out. This was 6 months ago, and she is still living with her grandparents.
The author goes on the add that, unfortunately, ever since the affair was exposed she has been treated 'like garbage' by most of her family members, and even some of her friends. She also hasn't spoken to her dad ever since she moved out of the house half of a year ago.
Children should not be blamed for the crimes of their parents.
Since being cast aside by most of her family, the author has barely spoken to anyone, and has spoken to her mother just one time in the last 2 months because she asked her for information about her biological father. Her mom originally refused, but the author was able to collect enough information to go on a hunt for herself.
She explains that her aunt is one of the only relatives who still treat her the same as before, and with her ‘suspicions’ the aunt tracked down the man she thought was the author's biological father. DNA tests were able to confirm everything.
The author's biological father didn't even know that she existed, and he was ‘excited’ to learn about her. His family also treated her very kindly. Her biological father told her that he didn't know her mum was married at the time of the affair, and when he learnt she was he left her. His wife and children are also very excited that the author is now part of their life, and she's been spending a lot more time with them and is getting to know them well.
However, the author's family is now very upset that she went to seek out her biological father, and they’ve insisted that they're 'hurt by her actions' because she is trying to 'replace them'. But she's not sure what they expected to happen when they started treating her so horribly after the affair was exposed.
What do you think? Is the author in the wrong for pursuing a relationship with her biological father and his family after her own family shunned her following the news of the affair? Or is the author entirely within her right to know where she comes from, and her family got exactly what they deserved after treating her so terribly when the news surfaced?
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