Marriage comes with some baggage, people.

Note: Some stories include subjects of child and verbal abuse. Please proceed with caution.

"We eventually went to the car for AC because the baby was too hot/overstimulated and told them we were stepping away. About 40 minutes later, the reveal happened without us. We were the gender keepers, but they did it without us before we could even get back. I was just trying to keep my newborn safe and settled, but instead I felt judged and then excluded.

The next day, my husband went back to her house to pick up our things and acted as if nothing had happened. When I brought it up, he said he’d 'talk to her another time,' which honestly made me feel even more unsupported."

"I finally calmed down and went to grab the mail. I was opening what I thought was my own Amazon order, but it was from my MIL. It was the ugliest onesie you’ve ever seen, and on it said, 'Move over, mama, you’re fired! Grandma's here!'"

"I followed up with, obviously, you don’t respect me as a mom, and this is my daughter, not yours, and we get to make the rules. The phone call included a lot of guilt about us being closer to my family and that we spent the night at my mom's house (she lives states away). He also followed it up with, 'Well, you will still get everything when we die, even if you hate us, because you married our son.' Mind you, this was happening when I was three weeks postpartum.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and my in-laws come over to see the baby. And my MIL says, 'I don’t understand why you won’t let me kiss your baby, I let you kiss mine.' My jaw dropped open, and I took the baby back. Your 'baby' is 30 years old, and we have been together 10 years."

"It's an oval sapphire halo ring in white gold. That day, I mentioned to my husband that it was strange for her to buy that ring. Even if she insisted it meant nothing more than she liked the look of it, on a subconscious level, it must have had a lot of meaning.

When she first got the ring, I asked my husband to please ask her not to wear it, at least when we were out together. However, she wears it all the time. It feels like a blatant disregard for my feelings and for my relationship with my husband, and it perfectly exemplifies her behavior toward me. Recently, I noticed she had it on her left ring finger during lunch, which made me feel gross and disgusted. It makes me want to take my own ring off, and there are times when I can't even look at it. I feel like her ring cheapens mine and takes away its meaning."

"He is in disbelief, and I am too. We have never seen this side of her. I don't know why a grandchild (and not our marriage) changed things. I don’t even think she likes my baby with how standoffish she is around him."

"For over a year, as I watched my dad slip away, I also had to witness this woman writhing with jealousy, making increasingly ridiculous claims about being miraculously cured of simultaneous liver cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, only to every few weeks claim they found a new cancer elsewhere. 

When pressed on why she never required chemo, radiation, or surgery for any of it, she initially said it was caught early enough, then changed her story to include sneaking away in the dark of night for secret treatments and wearing a wig so as 'not to worry her family.' And when asked about her prognosis, she said, 'Tentatively optimistic, but I'm not trying to take any attention, so don't worry about me.'

My dad didn't get so lucky. His cancer had a particularly cruel progression of responding well to initial treatment, only to come back quickly and often metastasize to the brain or liver. 

He died a few months before Christmas, and my MIL attempted to invite herself to my mom's for the holiday. When my husband told her no, she sulked and said, 'I really thought once [my dad] was gone, things were gonna be better.'"

"We feel he was insinuating I cannot carry a child because he likes to use medical issues against people. I’m healthy as can be, and my only issues are a well-controlled thyroid problem and asthma, which only flare when my FIL smokes cigarettes. We also learned that my FIL's sister, whom he dislikes, is spreading rumors that we aren’t ready for kids and shouldn’t have any.

Last year, my FIL said my husband shouldn’t reproduce with me. He’s always hated me because I was good to his son and helped build his confidence. He saw my husband as a means of income, and I put a stop to it when we got engaged. 

All in all, I don’t care if he accepts my pregnancy. I just feel bad for my husband and baby because neither one has done anything to deserve this horrible treatment. 

My FIL makes it a point with every family gathering to publicly talk badly about me with everyone else, then the whole evening I have to listen to people talk about me because my husband can’t tell anyone to shut up. I told my husband he needs to do a lot of thinking because our child will be the next victim."

"I’m upset she would risk my vulnerable baby getting sick and not caring. I expressed how mentally this affected me and how he didn’t kick her out, knowing she’s sick. He expresses that she brought us gifts and will help us out if needed, in case anything were to happen. I told him that’s no excuse for her to do whatever she wants and hold it over us, controlling situations.

He then tells me I’m overreacting. I’m going to burn bridges in life and isolate myself because people do stuff I don’t like. However, apparently, she’s allowed to do as she pleases because she will be the only one to help us out if needed. He was upset that I kept telling him I didn’t agree. He told me to leave his space as his face turned super red. He said I deserve to be shouted at."

"He has zero boundaries. He goes into my husband's and my room when we’re not there, and god knows what he touches (hence why I’m going to start locking our door). He has no sense of privacy and always wants to be in our business. 

The only reason that keeps me from telling him off is the respect I have for my husband. Every time he talks shit to me, I just bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut. Then he wonders why I’m never in the living room chatting with them while my husband works. It's because my FIL made the environment like that — HE made me feel this way. 

Never have I ever been disrespectful or said anything rude towards him. I’ve told my husband this, and he said to just ignore him. He knows how his dad is, and he’ll defend me against him any day."

"Well, my husband finally got to his feet, and his father hit him. My father-in-law stormed out of my front door, slamming it shut. The ambulance arrived, they took my husband, and my FIL screamed at the firefighters, saying that I was a 'piece of sh*t.' 

I can’t get over the fact that there was abuse, and he tried to cause problems in our marriage, and he talks constantly behind my back to my husband. My husband is a plumber. He went out today to do plumbing work for the family, and his father was there and tried to act like nothing had been wrong."

"My fiancé and I have to pay for the rest (invites, floral, the rest of the photography, etc.), and I can't help but be angry at the astronomical cost my parents are paying and how little his family is contributing. Not to mention, the audacity to ask us to cut out our friends so he can invite his."

"I looked it up afterward, and legally they wouldn’t get anything — they have no standing, and my husband and I are on the same page about no contact, and a judge would probably laugh at the situation. 

My husband says they just want to be grandparents and will do anything to get that, but to me, that sounds even worse. If someone is willing to do anything, including threatening legal action against the parents, that doesn’t make me feel safe or comfortable with them. It makes me feel the opposite."

"It turns out she is now vaccinated against whooping cough and all other vaccines, but was refusing to get any moving forward.

She turned up just after we had gotten my little one down (it had taken a while as she had a long awake period), and instantly said to me, 'Where is my granddaughter?' I explained she was asleep and would have to wait for a bit. 

My MIL tried to argue with me, but I stood firm. When my daughter woke up, I gave her a feed and put her down for a cuddle. Everything was going well until my MIL spotted my Reed diffuser and said to me I was a 'bad mother' for having this around my little one, and I was putting her in harm's way.

My hubby told her to drop it, and she sat there sulking until she left. She then sent a massive text to my hubby, saying he needed to protect her from chemicals, and the reason why she isn't settled is that we have exposed her to too much. She tried to tell us that Google would back her up, and again said I was a bad mom because of this.

Hubby blew up at her, and I have now gone no contact for the foreseeable future."

"I’m an engineer and also doing my second master's in computer science at the same time. I send my son to daycare and also have him stay with my in-laws during the weekdays so I can get some sleep and have the energy I need for work. 

They initially told me they wanted this, and I felt grateful at the time, until one day, my father-in-law decided to reveal all these things to me. I’m utterly shocked and traumatized. I cried for weeks. My husband warned his father not to behave that way and not to say those things to me again. He apologized and promised him, but never to me. 

Now they're staying with us for four more months in a three-bedroom apartment, and every single day is torture for me because I work from home. It would be okay if they left and never came back, but they want to return for Christmas.

And my husband isn’t denying that request. I feel like I’m going to become miserable with this. I've talked with my husband more than a couple of times and am still crying every night. No result. I love my husband deeply, and getting divorced is my last resort."

"I cannot stand having him in our home for such long periods of time, and despite keeping busy, going out every day to avoid clashing with him, I still dread every visit because there is ultimately always an incident. 

He treats us like we're children and is very controlling about how we do things in our own home. My husband struggles to confront him on his behavior, as my FIL is very domineering and my husband is quite gentle-tempered (confrontation is not in his nature)."

"She hadn't seen him since July 2024, and finally came to see him in November. She demanded to be a part of his discharge plans and wanted him to live with her. She didn’t even ask him how he was doing — she pulled out a list of questions and started asking him. 

She was recording him while asking him who he wanted to live with, and he pointed at me. But that wasn’t good enough for her. Her, his dad, and sister (who were all on the phone) asked me to leave the room so they could ask him private questions. 

She called and told his case manager that she wanted my visits with him supervised because I 'somehow got pregnant,' which is not true."

"He does this to degrade, insult, and humiliate me. If he really feels this way about women, in my opinion, he’s a fool, but why say it? What does he think the outcome will be? He’s trying to stir the pot.

My father-in-law's behavior is the reason why I don’t want to be around him. No one is forcing him to do and say these things, and he knows what the reaction will be. So if the result is we’re not around, then boom…he has reaped what he’s sown.

I’m being made to feel that I’m letting him get under my skin, and I should rise above it and laugh it off. But it’s not funny. It makes me genuinely mad."

"My husband took my oldest to the bathroom, and then my FIL instantly started mocking me, saying, 'I know you women are funny about your shopping order,' and refused to help scan anything, lift the heavier items, or try to calm my now-screaming newborn.

I rushed through the shopping, angry at my FIL, and as soon as my husband appeared, I picked up my newborn and said, 'Go get the kids McDonald's. I'm feeding the baby in the car.'

I didn't realize my FIL had followed me outside and suddenly started going on about how we women 'have demons,' especially after childbirth. I apparently needed to get help for the sake of my children. I was literally pinned to our car because he was right in my face, and I was terrified.

Finally, I managed to unlock the car door and got in, locking it until he eventually left and drove away in his own car, after making more comments about how I couldn't offend him and that I clearly needed help. 

He presumes I have a mental illness after giving birth to every child because, after my first, which was an extremely traumatic birth with my eldest in NICU for a few weeks, and me developing sepsis, I also developed postpartum psychosis. I haven't had it since.

My eldest still asks for my FIL six months in, and my MIL (they are divorced) has told me he's a broken man without his grandchildren, and I've taken all the joy away, and I need to give him another chance."

"I didn’t know what to say. My father-in-law never said anything to me like that before. I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. 

We were almost home, and I was just praying and hoping he would hurry up so we could get to my house and I could go in and lock the door. As we were almost home, he said, 'If you want me to kiss you, I would. Just tell me whenever you’re ready.' I was completely creeped out. 

I’m married to his son, and I love my husband with my whole heart. I had a panic attack waiting for my husband to come home to tell him. I just didn’t think my husband would believe me. So when my husband got home, I told him what happened, and I was crying. He called his mom and told her to come to our house. I told her, and she was so mad. 

I was so freaked out, I had to leave and go stay with my sister. I just can’t process what happened. I told my husband and my mother-in-law that I wouldn't have anything to do with him again, and he wasn't allowed around me. that he isn’t allowed around me. I can’t get over him doing that."

"I was fuming inside, but I kept smiling and even politely refused when they invited us on a trip. Like, WTF? Do they really have no sense of boundaries or awareness?

I stayed composed and let my husband do all the talking, but I’m sure by now my in-laws know I can’t stand them, despite my polite smiles.

My MIL didn’t even talk to me like she used to...just stared at me and fake cried, saying she missed her son and was upset we don’t visit anymore. She's also upset we had an elopement wedding. My husband got fed up and decided we'd get married without any of them invited. Frankly, I couldn't be happier.

I feel vindicated, too, since my husband didn’t give in. He put my MIL in her place. About time to learn how to respect people's boundaries!"

"On our way home, I told him that if it ever happened again, our daughter would not be going over there anymore. I’m not going to expose my child to that. He completely agreed and called my mother-in-law. She downplayed the situation and said FIL was overreacting, but the reason he yelled was that he was worried that she was going to walk, fall, and impale herself on the stick. It’s a somewhat valid concern, but all he had to do was take it away from her? We felt like it was just an excuse for his behavior. 

Cut to the following day, when my FIL confronts my husband and blames us for our reaction, calling us drama-makers. You can’t make this stuff up. Going no contact isn’t an option; our businesses are intertwined. However, it was made clear that if it happened again, our daughter would not be visiting anymore."

"BUT we never knew if she took anything because she gave us the boxes back after our honeymoon. So, who knew what was missing or not, other than us assuming, because we didn’t even have one-eighth of what we expected.

I recently visited them with my husband (we don’t live in the same country), and my father-in-law, who is now getting a divorce from my mother-in-law, told my youngest sibling-in-law, 'Your mom took all of your brother's gold and monetary gifts from his wedding.' What I didn’t know was that she also took money from my son’s birthday party.

I’m a little relieved  I was right and wasn’t accusing her for no reason without evidence."

"Having just turned 50 and with my youngest turning 21, I just cannot deal with this anymore. I want to scream, 'What about me?' When can I see my family and friends, and spend time prioritizing my wants and needs?

My FIL is a person with alcoholism who, having spent all his money, is now reliant on family. He justifies this by saying we can sell his house when he dies. I am growing increasingly concerned that we will only be left with his debt. 

He isn't lonely or alone — he goes out FAR more than we do. We seem to only work and then see him, and it is driving me bananas."

"A few weeks ago, my own mom ended up in the hospital after battling cancer for many years, then came home, where I was providing her care while she was in hospice. My in-laws never reached out to me. Then, when she passed away earlier this week, still crickets. 

I had to ask my husband just to make sure he hadn’t thought that maybe I wouldn’t want to hear from them, so he hadn't asked them not to. Nope. I could tell by his response that his own family not sending me their condolences had upset him too. 

My MIL wasn’t pleased when we moved my mother in, knowing that she wouldn’t be on this Earth much longer. She expressed this to my husband. She also warned him when we added my mom to our cellphone plan (a measly $10 more a month) that, 'I just don’t want you to be taken advantage of.' My mom let us live with her for a few months, and she always had a great relationship with my husband.

So as the days passed and I still hadn’t heard from her, I knew for certain what I’ve always suspected. My MIL couldn’t care less about me. Now I can cut ties without feeling an ounce of guilt."

"Finally, a month and a half prior to the wedding, she went to a bridal shop with my brother-in-law (an enabler to her shenanigans). Luckily, my sister-in-law was also there and noticed the dress was white. She voiced her concern, but my MIL insisted it was the lighting in the shop, and the description of the dress read 'champagne.'"

I told my husband and explained that if she wanted to make a show of herself, I would let her. He was, however, irate about the situation and wouldn't let it go. He decided to casually mention the dress to his father. I overheard his dad say, 'Oh, yeah, your mom has a great dress. She’s going to outshine the bride.'

My husband then confronted my MIL, saying she couldn't wear it. She told him he had to see it in person to recognize it was champagne, and not white. They went to the bridal shop, told her it was white, and asked to order a different color. She cried and complained. 

She ended up ordering a different color, but was so angry about it that she didn’t smile once on our wedding day. In all of our wedding photos, she has a sour face. I can’t wait to get these printed and hung up for her to see."

"Mind you, my MIL loves cooking and making sure everyone is fed, so this felt very strange. We said again, 'Please feed her lunch.' When we arrived around 3 p.m. to pick up our daughter, she hadn’t had lunch, but she 'ate everything in the lunch bag.'

I checked her lunch bag, and it was full; I didn't know how to approach this with my MIL. When we got there, my daughter was having full-blown meltdowns, and I felt so sad because I knew it could have been prevented if she had eaten proper food."

"My fiancé was furious. His mother told him, 'You need to be a man and tell your fiancé that he will be the pastor,' which pissed me off. I will not compromise on this — there is no debate."

"We were staying with them (they live about an hour away), and my husband and I both went to bed. About an hour after going to bed, I got a few calls from my sisters, who told me my MIL had announced our pregnancy on Facebook and tagged us. She knew we were asleep.

We got up, scolded her, and left. She said, 'I thought you’d told everyone.' She was then hysterical, saying she didn’t think we’d care. Then she took the post down.

But I’m so livid. She’s either manipulative or so self-absorbed that she doesn’t see how messed up her post was. Normally, she isn’t this toxic a person, so I can ignore her attention-seeking comments, but this put me over the edge."

"I’ve tried bringing it up to my husband repeatedly, but he doesn’t seem willing to take any action. I feel so alone in this fight, and the lack of support from my husband is just as painful as my father-in-law’s disrespect.

The resentment I feel is suffocating me. I hate coming home and being around my father-in-law, and I’m terrified of what this anger is doing to me. I don’t want to hate him—I don’t want to feel this way at all."

"Somehow she found out (not from us, of course). Her very first reaction wasn’t compassionate — it wasn't an 'I’m so sorry.' Instead, it was, 'You’re blaming me. Maybe God didn’t want you to have the baby.' I’m not paraphrasing. She said those exact words. No empathy — just playing the victim, and even daring to frame our miscarriage as 'divine punishment for our choices.'

I heard her say this, and something inside me snapped. Not just anger, but pure rage. Who weaponizes someone’s miscarriage to make themselves the victim? So I told my fiancé, 'No more.' This time for real — we needed strict boundaries. And he said I was overreacting.

Then came the cavalry — his sister and his stepdad. They jumped in with manipulation, telling him he was going too far, that she 'didn’t mean it like that, and was just emotional.' And the worst part is my fiancé believes it. He's pulling away.

I feel alone. I’m grieving a baby I lost, and now I feel like I’m losing him, too. I can accept that his personality is more conflict-avoidant than mine, but I cannot accept him failing to protect our family when we are under attack.

Because that’s what this is. An attack. And let’s be honest, that’s exactly what she wants: to drive a wedge between us, to make me the scapegoat, and to keep him in orbit around her."

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.