To think she is my real niece?

[Mrsemcgregor]

My dsil (DH sister) is currently in labour with her first dc, a little girl!

I was telling my MIL that I was so excited to meet my new little niece and she scoffed and said "she's not your real niece, your not a blood relation".

I am as excited about this baby as I was my db's children and feel like I am getting a "real" niece. Now I feel hurt and like I am not a "real" part of the family

AIBU to think she is my niece and treat her as I do all my other nieces? (I have no nephews!)

Yes - we always regard our spouse's siblings' children as nephews and nieces. Your MIL needs a kick up the pants - silly lady!

YANBU, she is absolutely your niece. My mum and dad both have brothers and their wives are my aunties - that's how it works! I even still call them 'Auntie' ... and I'm 40.

Your MIL should be pleased that you're so excited. I think it's really lovely of you and you are clearly going to be an awesome auntie.

She is also my really aunt, of course.

Thinking about it my DH is most certainly an uncle to my Db kids. They adore him and call him uncle.

My mil is nuts, I wonder if she is trying to stake the new gc claim as more important or something?

Of course she's your niece. DH's sibs' children are part of my own family in the same way. They are my nieces and nephews and my sons' cousins too. Ignore the daft MIL.

Absolutely I agree she is a "real" niece. I wouldn't dream of considering my sister's children are my nieces but not my husbands, similarly his nephews are our nephews. The ones that aren't are one side across - I wouldn't presume that my sister's nieces on her husband's side are also my nieces, though if we lived closer we'd probably have a lot more to do with them too.

I don't consider my DH niece and nephew to be mine simply because they were born before I knew him, but if they'd been born after they'd definitely be mine too.

My favourite aunt would be an in law, but no-one has ever considered her anything but our auntie.

Of course she's your niece. I consider my bil son my nephew. I have aunty and uncle if married not just aunty and husband for e.g

Of course she is your niece. She will always be your niece. My DB and his wife divorced and my DD’s still refer to my ex-SIL as their aunt. She will always be their aunt.

My sil's kids are as real to me as my own blood nieces and nephews. I've been in their lives for 16 years, birth to teen, high times to truly shit times.
They are stuck with me

She's a misery. DW's great-niece is my great-niece too, or rather she's our great-niece and we both adore her and she adores both of us.

What PuppetInParadize said is absolutely right and don't see why nieces/nephews through marriage are any different. I hope your MIL isn't always this catty and that down the line she isnt gonna start telling the niece you're not her real aunt

I think she's your real niece. Has your MIL got any nieces and nephews by marriage? If so doesn't she consider them to be "real" nieces and nephews and call herself their aunt?

Of course she's your niece Aunty Bunny!!

What would DSIL think if you said well she's not my real niece is she?

It's so nice that on the whole everyone seems to be just as loving and accepting of relatives by marriage as they are of relatives by blood.

Your MIL is a twat. Yes you are her aunt by marriage but an aunt nonetheless.

Your MIL is not a real MIL. She is, however, a real B(**#!

Congrats, Auntie! Enjoy the lovely new baby.

mynestis interestingly my film is an only child so she only has nieces and nephews from her dsibs, which could explain a lot.

You will always be her real aunty regardless of what happens in the future. As all children, I imagine, I didn't feel more strongly about a blood aunt or uncle than one, who was not. It is the person I cared for, not whether there was a blood line. What does your mil think she's royalty or something?

*fil not film, damn autocorrect

By MIL's reckoning, you are not related to her and therefore need not worry yourself about her bonkers opinions.

Enjoy your niece.

I am an auntie to my niece and nephew even though me and my oh aren't married and its his sister. I do feel differently to my own blood nephew (my brothers son) but i love them equally. Its so lovely to be called auntie x.

That was not very nice of your MIL, as you obviously do see her as your niece.

I do not see my DH's siblings kids as my nieces, nor do I see my DSis kids as anything to do with DH. Though I do not see them very much, have not seen the youngest who is 4 since she was born. So there is not much of any relationship there anyway.

OP Tell us when she joins the world!

My SIL's sister is pregnant and it's the first on their side.
I got quite upset when she announce on FB how she was so pleased she was becoming an Auntie. Funnily enough she's relished the Auntie role for the past 9 years with my DC!