Family asking for money from daughter they kicked out aged just 16 slammed

Some people wait their whole lives for an apology, but a 43-year-old woman online is refusing to make amends for her family’s actions when she was 16.

The woman, who was kicked out by her parents at the age of 16, has sparked a wave of support on Reddit after revealing they recently contacted her asking for forgiveness—and money to help her sister. She explained the situation in a viral Reddit post, which received 12,000 upvotes. Newsweek spoke to relational therapist Danielle Sethi about the family’s olive branch and how the poster should move forward.

In the post, the woman wrote that her parents disowned her as a teenager after she had an affair with her sister’s husband.

“I had an affair with my sister’s husband when I was 16,” the woman wrote. “Yes, I regret it and I truly am disgusted with my past self.” While her sister chose to forgive her husband and stay with him, she was left to face the consequences. And those consequences were brutal.

“My parents kicked me out,” she wrote. “Every time I found a new job, my parents and sister would contact my coworkers to call me a ‘homewrecker.’ They would harass me wherever I went, gossiping about my ‘status.‘” Eventually, she left the city entirely in order to protect her mental health.

After starting a new life, the woman found community and support in an elderly couple who welcomed her as family. She later married and had four children, now grown. But after over a decade of no contact, she recently received a message from her estranged parents—one that began with an apology and ended with a request for financial support.

“I am asking for your forgiveness,” the message read. “If there’s any way you can help us with financial support or guidance…it would mean the world to us.” The sister’s husband, it turned out, had cheated again and left her with two children with additional needs.

The woman said she was angry upon reading the message and is not willing to see them or help her sister.

Reddit users were firmly in her corner.

“They’re only reaching out now because they need you to step in and care for sister’s children. They are not really apologizing,” one person wrote.

“I agree on not responding,” another added. “They failed you. Yes you made a mistake but you were a kid not an adult. Then they tried to destroy your career by spreading gossip. Keep yourself and your family safe.”

An Expert Opinion

Newsweek spoke to Sethi about her perspective on the situation as a therapist. She emphasized that being ostracized by one’s family during adolescence—particularly in moments of crisis—can be profoundly damaging.

“When families use shame and rejection to punish, especially during moments of vulnerability or crisis, it can cause deep emotional wounds,” she explained. “Being cut off, as a child at 16, from the very people who are supposed to protect and guide you creates a profound sense of abandonment and often long-term issues around trust, worthiness and self-identity.”

Sethi also noted that combining an apology with a financial ask often signals manipulation, not genuine remorse.

“A genuine apology does not ask for anything in return—not even forgiveness,” she said. “Asking for money while apologizing completely undermines the sincerity of the message.”

While the poster considered getting her husband to send a harsh reply, Sethi urged a different route. “Responding with anger often costs more than it gives back…She’s not responsible for educating those who harmed her about the impacts of their actions,” she said.

Instead, she advised the woman to “prioritize her emotional safety and well-being,” and affirmed that “choosing not to reengage can be seen as an act of self-respect.”

As the woman put it in a final update: “I came here expecting to get bashed.” Instead, though, thousands have rallied behind her, reminding her that healing doesn’t require reopening old wounds.

Newsweek reached out to the original poster for comment via Reddit.