Man Sparks Fury for Threatening To Divorce Wife Over Babysitting Niece

Babysitting seems to be a contentious topic amongst families, at least according to Reddit's AmItheA****** (AITA) forum.

In a post shared to the subreddit on 9 August, user throwawaydnsnssnsn explained that she had agreed to watch her 3-year-old niece while her sister recovered from surgery. Despite the toddler only staying for a week-and-a-half, her child-free husband was strongly against the idea.

She wrote: "I said it was my niece, and that just because we weren't really fans of having kids ourselves doesn't mean we can't do a favor for family.

"It ended in an argument but I ended up taking her anyways.

"He refuses to do anything with her (this isn't the first time they've met, he's just never really interacted with her) which I don't expect him to, but when I brought up that he could have a better attitude about this he just said that I shouldn't have brought a kid into our home."

The situation has begun to escalate, with the poster's husband concerned that caring for her niece will make his wife want children after all.

"He also went on a rant that because of this I'm probably going to change my mind about having kids, and he won't put up with that," she continued. "Said like that he will divorce me if I even suggest it.

"My niece hasn't even been much of a problem, in fact she's usually quiet unless she's hungry or tired. Yes she gets into stuff and makes messes but I assume that's pretty standard toddler behavior.

"I don't understand why he's so angry, since it's not like he's having to do anything."

A recent survey of 1,500 adults in Michigan found that 21.64 percent want to remain child free. Although the poll was not nationally representative, Michigan is demographically similar to the United States as a whole, making it a good option for the survey.

The study identified child free people as those who have never had biological, step or adoptive children, and do not wish or plan to do so in the future. It also found that 70 percent of people make the decision to be child free early in life, usually in their teens and 20s.

Results from a 2021 poll conducted by The Pew Research Center discovered that the number of child-free people in the United States is rising. Its research revealed that 44 percent of 18-49-year-olds that do not have children plan to stay that way, up from 37 percent in 2018.

The study also found that men and women were equally likely to be child free and that 56 percent of non-parents under 50 said the reason was not wanting to parent, rather than financial, medical or environmental factors.

Reddit users blasted the poster's husband for his behavior, with the post receiving 7,000 upvotes and 2,500 comments at the time of writing.

"People are saying [You're the A******] [because] he said no and that should be a mutual decision," said Ceecee_soup.

"I would normally agree, but I'd be pretty upset for my partner telling me that I can't help out my sister in a tough situation like that. This isn't a social visit, it's a family 'emergency.'"

Just-Like-My-Opinion agreed, commenting: "People like this seem to forget that children are still people. I am child free, but I still interact with friend's kids and have even babysat to help friends out."

Hoistedonyrownpetard described the husband's "lack of kindness and generosity" as "appalling."

"This isn't really about the kid," they wrote. "Who doesn't help out a family member in need?"

Other recent babysitting battles to go viral on the AITA forum include a woman who begged her brother to pick his teenage son up early, after the 14-year-old refused to clean up after himself, wiped his hands on her white couch and invaded her privacy.

Another woman paid her sister-in-law $500 for three days of babysitting but was horrified to discover she'd posted a picture of her baby on social media without her consent.

Newsweek has reached out to throwawaydnsnssnsn for comment.