Do you believe that a parent is entitled to have contact with their adult child/children

or that they need to earn it?

After you’ve grown up and a shitty parent asks, pleads, demands your attention, do you give it?

Do you think oh, they gave me life, I should appreciate that and overlook the abuse/neglect/whatever because they thought they were doing their best?

Or do you say well damn, they should have educated themselves and done some introspection and some work so that they could have done better, and not caused me so much pain, and my life is better off without them in it, so they can just bugger off?

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ElwoodBlues · M

Parental rights terminate when a child reaches the age of majority (18 in most US states; there are exceptions).

At that point it's entirely up to the child to decide who to keep in contact with. Past the age of majority, contact has to be earned. And woe betide those who did not lay a foundation for a lasting relationship with their adult children.

Akimbo75 · 46-50, F

@ElwoodBlues agree. I have a friend who takes care of her sick, elderly parents. They don’t have money. She stretches herself so thin to take care of them- and they put her through some very rough things. Her siblings all refuse to help. I don’t get her commitment. But I respect it. But I probably couldn’t do it if it were me.