Woman Tries To Get Custody Of Boyfriend’s Daughter After Calling CPS On Him Without Him Knowing
She did the right thing by that girl.
Olezzo / Shutterstock They say if you see something, you should say something — but what if doing so could impact the life of someone you thought you loved?
A woman who found herself facing this dilemma took to Reddit to tell a story about a relationship that led her to take full custody of the daughter her boyfriend had from a previous relationship.
The woman called child protective services (CPS) on her boyfriend without him knowing it was her.
“The more time I spent at his home with his daughter, the more I saw what a terrible parent he was,” the woman wrote in her post on Reddit. “The house was dangerous and unsanitary and he was the most un-involved parent.”
Custody has been taken away for much less, but for her, the line hadn’t been crossed just yet. For now, the woman was doing her best to treat her better and improve her life as much as she could.
“I bought her shoes as hers were literally falling apart, I went to her parent-teacher conferences. She smelled really bad and never brushed her hair,” she explained. “We had fights over making her bathe. I bought her a bed for his house. I bought food and snacks for her (I didn’t even live there). I took her to school everyday. I did everything I could to improve her conditions.”
All that for a daughter that isn’t biologically hers, but is actually her boyfriend’s from a previous relationship.
The woman stayed with him for a while before the straw broke the camel’s back.
“I had just had a spine surgery and was staying at his house to recover as I couldn’t do anything for myself, and tripped over the kid's shoes that were in the middle of the living room and got hurt,” she wrote. “I said ‘Hey, “kid”, I’ve asked multiple times about keeping the pathway clear for me. Can you please move your shoes?’”
However, this started a huge fight since the woman explained that the 8-year-old girl cried whenever someone asks her to do something.
Photo: Reddit
Later, she’d find out that it’s because she’s never been yelled at, and whenever the father tries to yell or scold her, she cries and he ends up letting her do things she normally wouldn’t be allowed to do like eat ice cream or watch what she wants on TV.
So in this situation, her dad flips on the girlfriend.
“He started screaming at me ‘Don’t tell MY kid what to do!’” she said before replying, “‘After everything I’ve done for YOUR KID’?? He had just proposed to me a week before. That was the straw.”
The situation prompted her to call CPS and stay with him for another two months gathering evidence for the case.
“She has been removed from the home and placed in a foster care that I am closely monitoring,” she wrote in conclusion. “I will have full custody of her soon. I am disabled so I’m having to go through some hoops to make sure I’m a fit parent (already passed!) and move into an apartment big enough for us.”
She talked about her daughter’s new life and how she’s “thriving,” but still feels some guilt for the fact that her boyfriend never found out it was her fault — fortunately, the comments made her feel better about her choice.
They praised her, saying kind things like “there should be more people like you in the world” and commending her for “[saving] this child’s life.”
All things that are true since now that girl has someone who cares about her and will take care of her the way any parent should.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.