Dad Slammed for Not Tattooing Stepson's Name Alongside Those of Own Kids

A man has been slammed online after he admitted he did not want to tattoo the name of his stepchild alongside inkings of the names of his children

In the post, shared on Reddit's Am I The A**hole group, user u/Thereshegoeswithymhe explained he only wanted his children's names on his arm.

The 36-year-old said he has two children, aged 9 and 7, from a previous marriage and a 1-year-old daughter with his current wife. He added his 8-year-old stepson also lives with the family and that his "dad isn't involved at all."

He continued: "I have the names of my oldest two kids tattooed on my arm. I just recently added the name of my youngest daughter.

"My wife and I were talking about the tattoo and she asks me if I'll tattoo my stepson's name in the same round as our daughter's.

"I told her I have no intention of tattooing his name. She was shocked and asked me why. I said I only have the names of my children tattooed. She said I am excluding her son and he is part of this family too."

The man added: "I refused to tattoo his name and proceeded to only tattoo my daughter's name. Wife called me all sorts of things."

Unsurprisingly, the comment attracted a lot of attention online and since it was uploaded on Monday some 2,630 people have responded to the post.

Many of those who commented were highly critical of the dad's decision to leave out his stepson and were quick to blast his reasoning.

One Reddit user, who received more than 18,000 upvotes, said: "YTA [you're the a**hole.] You've been a father figure to him for half his life, poor boy will probably be shattered when he realizes you don't actually see him as yours."

Another added: "The kid looks up to OP [original poster] as a father. He's going to be so hurt when he realizes OP doesn't feel the same way."

A third commented: "As a step-parent myself, this speaks volumes for his relationship with the kid and how he views him subconsciously.

"Not to sound like one of 'those' Redditors, I don't say this lightly, but if I was OP's wife I'd be doing some hard thinking about how I was gonna fix this and, if I couldn't, it'd be divorce.

"I've been the one to question my place in my family and it hurts and has lasting repercussions on a person's mental health."

Newsweek has contacted u/Therehegoeswithymhe for comment.