Mom Urged to Tell Teen Daughter About Her Dad's Affair Before His Wedding

The internet has sided with a mom who is refusing to take her teenage daughter to her ex-husband's wedding as he is prioritizing his future in-laws rather than his own child.

In a post shared on Reddit on Thursday, the mom, under the username u/southerngallyl, wrote that her ex-husband is marrying the woman he cheated on her with, While she agreed to let their daughter go, she said that he would be responsible for transportation.

But according to the post, at the last minute, the ex asked her if she could do him a "huge favor" and take her daughter to the wedding, as he will be picking up his future in-laws from the airport instead.

Many divorced people in the United States go on to remarry. The divorce rate in 2022 is expected to be at least 44.2 percent, based on a marriage rate of 6.1 people per 1,000 total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Some 1,300 new stepfamilies are forming every day, and more than 50 percent of U.S. families are remarried or re-coupled. The average marriage in America lasts only seven years, and one out of two ends in divorce, with about 75 percent remarrying.

In her Reddit post, the woman wrote that, 10 minutes after her conversation with her ex-husband, her daughter came downstairs crying calling her "terrible" and accusing her of not wanting her to spend time with her dad.

"I told her that's not the case and she demanded to know why I couldn't take her, I couldn't give her an answer and she ran upstairs crying," she wrote.

"Now I'm getting messages from his family calling me 'heartless' and 'cold'... for trying to 'ruin his special day over a relationship that is long over.' My family understands my point of view. But I feel terrible that I've upset my daughter."

The post, first shared on the r/AITA subreddit, has so far received more than 12,300 upvotes and 3,100 comments, and most users have sided with the mom.

One Redditor Runningaway67907 wrote: "I also think your daughter is old enough to know the truth about her father otherwise you will be the bad guy going forward."

Far-Tangelo-7345 commented: "This was going to be my response. Also, her parents can take an Uber. It is the 21st century, after all," while WickedLilThing wrote: "Or any of the family that's calling OP "heartless" can go pick them up."

Another Redditor Jazzlike_Humor3340 wrote: "The people he needs to pick up can get a taxi. His first responsibility should be to his daughter if he actually wants her there. And I think it might be time to tell your daughter a bit more about what happened.

"She's a teenager now, and needs to be learning lessons about loyalty and managing relationships responsibly.

"Her getting the impression that this situation is all right, and that you're wrong for not being happy that the ex-husband who cheated on you is getting remarried is not a good place for her to start when it comes to learning how to expect good treatment from future partners.

"If he thinks picking up his future in-laws is more important than picking up his own daughter, then he's very, very wrong."

"The adult in-laws can manage a variety of transportation options, a young teenager can't.

"He's showing his priorities, and it isn't his daughter, and you need to be prepared to help protect her and guide her as he continues into the future wanting to play Happy Family and have his daughter go along with it while he puts her in second-place to his new family."

Redditor tornadogirll wrote: "Co-parenting doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice well-defined boundaries."

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