My son married a woman with 4 kids. She’s 8 months pregnant, and he travelled for work today. At 3 a.m., his wife called me crying, “I’m not okay. Take me to the ER, please.” I refused and hung up, because yesterday I discovered that she and my son lied about their relationship.

My son had told me they got married 8 months ago, while they were abroad, right after finding out she was pregnant. But it turns out that wasn’t true. Their relationship was on and off when she got pregnant. They didn’t get married until later.

And more than that—while she was seeing my son, my DIL had also been secretly seeing her ex-boyfriend, the same man who fathered her two youngest children. My son knows. He married her anyway, even though he’s not sure the baby is his. But I can’t be that forgiving.

I’m not proud, but I couldn’t bring myself to help her after that. The betrayal was too much. Still, I didn’t leave her completely alone—I called her stepmother to take her to the ER, even though she lives far away. They made it in time. She and the baby are stable. It was a false alarm.

Was it cruel of me not to go? I just can’t get past the feeling that this child isn’t my son’s—and that I’ve been lied to by them both.

Yours,
Melinda

Hi Melinda! Thank you for having the courage to share your story with us. We’ve prepared some guidance to support you as you work through this delicate situation.