Internet Slams Redditor Who Refuses to Take Husband's 'Affair Baby' on Family Vacation

The internet has slammed a woman who shared in a now-viral post that she does not want to bring her husband's "affair baby" on their family vacation.

Posting to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" forum on Sunday under the username u/Consistent_Field_900, the woman asked: "[Would I be the a**hole] if I leave my husband's affair baby with my MIL [mother-in-law] while the rest of us go on vacation?"

So far, the post has received more than 7,700 votes and over 2,100 comments.

"My husband has a child from an affair he had a couple [of] years ago," the woman wrote. "I forgave my husband but I cannot force myself to see his son as my stepson."

Per the custody agreement between her husband and his former mistress Leah, the Redditor's husband watches his son every other week. This year, the majority of the family's Christmas vacation—including Christmas day—falls during her husband's scheduled time with his son.

But according to the Redditor, this schedule interferes with the family's holiday plans.

"I have an annual trip that I and [a] few of the other housewives put together for all of [the] families," she explained. "His ex-mistress, Leah, is refusing to take him for just this week. I told her she's being selfish and that she should want to spend Christmas with her son. She said that so should my husband."

Despite the agreement, the Redditor's husband also felt that Leah was being "selfish." Not wanting to bring the child on the trip, the Redditor felt it was best to drop the child off at her mother-in-law's.

"When Leah found out she was furious she said I'm being selfish. I told her she's the last one to be talking about being selfish and she has [no] control over what my husband does with the child during the time he has custody of him," she wrote.

She further explained that her 18-year-old daughter took Leah's side, arguing that it was wrong to punish her husband's son for the affair. This, of course, angered the Redditor.

"I told her to stay in a child's place and that if she keeps this up she'll be joining him," the Redditor concluded.

Newsweek previously reported that around 15-20 percent of marriages experience infidelity.

"The Relish Relationship Report that was conducted at the end of 2020 found that around 26 percent of respondents had experienced infidelity in their marriage: 23 percent emotional, 21 percent physical, and 55 percent experiencing both emotional and physical infidelity," Psychologist Briony Leo told Brides.com.

Of those marriages that experienced infidelity, only 15 percent recovered successfully, Leo added.

According to author Michele Weiner-Davis via The Lily, children are one of many reasons why couples choose to stay together.

"It is an act of courage to say, 'even though I've been hurt, there are lots of reasons to work through it,'" Weiner-Davis said.

Though the Redditor and her husband chose to stay together after the affair, many commenters argued that she hadn't truly forgiven him, as is evidenced by the way she treats his son. They added that while he was wrong to cheat, she is wrong to take her anger out on an innocent child.

"YTA [you're the a**hole]," wrote u/BooksAreLuv. "Also if you can't handle being around the child, you haven't forgiven your husband. Instead, you [are] using that child as a target for [your] anger instead of the man who cheated on you."

More than 28,000 Redditors up-voted the comment in agreement.

"Whether you recognize it or not, that poor child is literally unwanted by either parent over Christmas. That's absolutely heartbreaking. You may be angry over how this child came into the world—justifiably so—but he is still your husband's child," commented u/NYC_L0veLight. "Stop being the Evil Stepmother and be a safe place for this child."

"Circumstance does suck, but don't take it out on the little boy. YTA," said u/fab__dady.

Redditor u/NUT-me-SHELL added: "YTA. Your husband's child doesn't deserve to be punished because his father can't be faithful to his wife. Either you've forgiven your husband or you haven't—but treating an innocent child like this makes you both a**holes."