Mom of Stillborn Praised for Refusing To Give Sister's Baby Her Breast Milk

A woman who experienced the tragedy of stillbirth has been praised online after she refused to give her sister breast milk for her baby boy.

In an emotional June 21, post shared on Reddit's popular AmITheA**hole sub, user Comerainorthunder said she had a stillbirth five weeks ago, while her sister gave birth to a child a week later.

Stillbirth is a tragedy that affects thousands of families across the U.S. every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were an estimated 24,000 stillbirths reported in 2014.

Due in part to the formula shortage, Comerainorthunder said she was still producing milk following the stillbirth of her child and as her sister could not breastfeed, she offered it to her sister.

She added: "I was advised by the doctors to pump for three weeks after the stillbirth to prevent problems for me and then stop, otherwise I'd just keep producing milk.

"Due to the formula shortage, I have been pumping for five weeks now to give the milk to my sister. Now that there is more formula in stock and she has been able to go buy it, I told her I'll stop pumping."

The sister claimed her son had stomach problems due to the formula and asked for more breast milk. "I told her I emotionally cannot handle it any longer."

Comerainorthunder added: "She said I am being selfish and she already has to feed her son by bottle (because she at first suggested I'd just nurse him for his daily feedings at least - we live next door and I refused).

"I told her I'm sorry and I can pump a few more days so she can put some in the freezer and have some back up until she finds a better formula for her son but she said breast milk is healthiest and I should just help her out.

"She called me a selfish a**hole and said I am the embodiment of 'misery loves company.' My mother feels I should help my own sister out. My husband said my sister is way out of line. I feel really awful because I could still help her out and I know she needs it."

The emotional post resonated with many people online and since being shared it has attracted some 10,200 upvotes and more than 1,290 comments.

Many of those commenters praised the woman and said she was within her right not to share her breastmilk any longer.

One Reddit user said: "NTA [not the a**hole]. Your husband is right. You shouldn't be bullied into continuing your milk production and then pumping when this is time for you to grieve. You were kind enough to continue to two additional weeks, she needs to be grateful and move on."

Another added: "NTA. [Her] sister is way out of line, this is for your own health and even if it wasn't you are not her personal milk machine."

A third commenter posted: "I love how the sister calls OP [original poster] selfish. It's always the person who is being the most selfish who accuses other people of it."

Newsweek has contacted Comerainorthunder for comment.