Man's Response to Brother Marrying His Ex-Girlfriend Applauded

Senior Life and Trends Reporter

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A husband has been praised for siding with his wife as opposed to his family.

In a viral post shared on the subreddit, 'AITA', a 27-year-old, who goes by the user name u/Newdadalert_, claims his childhood sweetheart "cheated" on him with his brother when he was 17.

The lengthy post has received over 6,600 upvotes and the top comment alone has more than 8,800 upvotes.

Following his discovery, the man explains he was "extremely hurt" as his parents knew about it too. This prompted him to move out of the family home and focus on his studies. After graduating at 19, he moved to Texas and spoke to his family during the holidays.

Couple laughing at mobile — A man has been praised for backing his wife rather than family. Here's a stock image of a couple laughing at a mobile. fizkes/iStock/Getty Images Plus

The original poster continues to tell Redditors about his life in Texas. After two years of living there, he met Amara at her family-run bakery and they became romantically involved after a year.

"The relationship was great, I loved her family and they loved me," he wrote. He describes their wedding as "wonderful" but his family didn't attend despite receiving an invite.

"I realized that if my wife were ever in an argument with someone even if she was wrong I'd always have her back."

More recently, the original poster explains he received a call from his mom, who informed him his brother is marrying his ex. The mom stated he is wanted as the best man at the wedding.

"It was silent for a bit and Amara burst out with giggles and I joined in after her. My mom hung up and I didn't bother calling her back, and enjoyed my night with my wife. The next morning I was bombarded with angry texts from my brother and dad on how I hurt my mother's feelings and made her cry by not telling my wife to not laugh."

The plot thickens, as the man discovered it was all a lie, it turns out he wasn't invited and the mother made it all up in an attempt to get them speaking again. However, this has backfired as the family feud worsened and the couple has been subject to "hurtful messages."

He concludes the post by stating Amara is pregnant, he added: "I've decided for the sake of my wife and I's future I will be limiting contact with my side of the family."

In 2020, Cornell University sociologist Karl Pillemer found that 27 percent of Americans 18 and older had cut off contact with a family member, most of whom reported that they were upset by such a rift.

That translates to at least 67 million people nationally – likely an underestimate, Pillemer said, since some are reluctant to acknowledge the problem.

Of the more than 1,300 people Pillemer surveyed, 10 percent reported being estranged from a parent or child, eight percent from a sibling, and nine percent from extended family members including cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, and nephews.

'A Baby Can Be a Bridge In The family'

Newsweek spoke to Dr. Shadi Shahnavaz, a Family counselor based in London, UK.

She told Newsweek: "Only one side of the story has been published, therefore it is hard to comment. I am curious about why the whole family has turned against the original poster when he is apparently the victim.

"Either way, it sounds like it has gone too far for this family and they should seek professional help to start communicating better about everything that's happened and move forward or stay clear, as it has become very toxic.

"It will be difficult to go back to rebuild unity and a relationship so I can understand why they are cutting them off for now. In my line of work, we often say a baby can be a bridge in the family, and his parents will want to be grandparents (I hope).

"Even when parents have a lot of conflict with their children, they usually want to amend things and be involved in their grandchildren's life, which will give them another opportunity to seek help from a professional.

"I think this family should wait until the baby is born and then seek professional help to try to mend their relationships."

Hundreds of Redditors have commented on the post and they have seemingly sided with the original poster which has been dubbed 'not the a**hole'.

The top comment said: "Wait, why is your mom asking you to be your brother's best man? That's super weird. Why isn't that coming from him? Very clearly not the a**hole. Laughing is about the nicest thing you can do in a situation like this."

"Although, there was a great post a while back about somebody who accepted being the best man and then gave a speech recounting all of the details of the cheating, dropped the mic, and left. So that's always an option for you."

Another wrote: "And it was a giggle, not roaring laughter, which would also be totally understandable and acceptable."

Newsweek reached out to u/Newdadalert_ for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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