A man who has taken in his sister, after her father and stepmother tragically passed away, has been asked by Child Protective Services to also take in a 5-year-old to whom he has no blood relation. He has refused to do so, and has been harassed by others for his choice, turning to Reddit to find out whether or not he’s wrong for his decision.
*This is a work of non-fiction sourced from social media discussion boards and verified experts/specialists.*
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The author, a 19-year-old, explains that his father and stepmother recently passed away, which is especially tragic as his own mother passed away many years ago.
That said, he is already working full-time and lives independently, so he happily took in his 15-year-old sister, Calla. However, he was recently contacted by Child Protective Services. CPS asked if he would also be willing to take in 5-year-old Lacey, who was his stepmother’s daughter from a previous marriage.
When a child is neglected, abused, rejected, or orphaned, it is possible that they will end up in the foster care system. As of 2015, it was estimated that there were over 400,000 children in the foster care system, according to the Huffington Post.
Though the author made it clear that he only wanted to take in his own sister, the 5-year-old’s family members didn’t agree with his decision. He explains:
“Once they learned [CPS] had asked, [they] then pestered me about it for weeks. Finally they told me they were older and [Lacey] could use as much family as possible and that she misses Calla.”
The author clarified to them that he was just 19, and would only take in his own sister. The 5-year-old’s family argued that Lacey is also his sister, even though they’re not related, and his dad would have wanted his kids to ‘all stick together’.
Despite making his boundaries clear and blocking the 5-year-old’s family members on his phone, the grandparents still found him on social media and continued to harass him:
“They told me that I should be ashamed of myself and their granddaughter deserves to be with her siblings and be raised by me since I'm young, fit and healthy and could run around after her like they can't, and will be around a lot longer than them.”
At this point, the author told the grandparents that their granddaughter was ‘not his responsibility’, and told them to leave himself and his sister alone, as they have no reason to be in touch ever again.
Despite his requests, they still reached out through other online avenues and called the author ‘cruel and selfish’ for his refusal to take the little girl.
Parenting an orphaned child is no easy task, as outlined by psychologists. Mental health struggles such as ‘odd behaviors, delayed language’, and a series of other delays in brain development are common after suffering this sort of trauma.
What do you think?
Is it truly cruel and selfish for the author to not take in his 5-year-old stepsister as well, since he’s already taking in his 15-year-old sister?
Or it is absolutely preposterous for the grandparents of this little girl to expect a 19-year-old with no blood relation to take care of their grandchild, seeing as raising a 15-year-old and a 5-year old are very different realities?
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