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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To NOT want a relationship with my lovely sibling?

111 replies

ConfusedSister · 23/07/2021 19:48

This is a strange one, but I have no one in my personal life that understands my feelings around this and I just sound so ungrateful.

Basically a decade ago my estranged father died. I went to the funeral where I met my biological half brother for the first time. There were 2 brothers on my dads side with different women.

Brother number 1 was pleasent but didn't have much interest in a long term relationship and neither did I. So we had a couple of weeks of finding out information about eachother we never knew, exchanged numbers and had no further contact since. We both had our own lives and families/friends so left it there.

Brother number 2 I will call John. Since the funeral John has made a LOT of effort to maintain contact and form a sibling relationship.
He has no other siblings and other Brother number 1 basically told him directly he wanted no further contact or relationship.

I on the other hand was open to keeping contact as I didn't mind either way really. However John over the years has become a nuisance although lovely.

He sends birthdays and Christmas cards and presents. He insists on traveling across the country to see me and wants me to see him which I have obliged on occasion due to a sense of duty/obligation to him after all the effort he puts in.

He rings me very regularly and makes it clear he wants an active role in my life as a sibling.

Now here is where I don't know if I am being an unreasonable ungrateful cow or if my reaction is normal/reasonable.

I already have siblings that I grew up with from my mother's side. I don't particularly get on with them and don't put in a fraction of the amount of time I feel I have to do for John. Me and my siblings don't ring eachother constantly and see eachother at Christmas at my mums and maybe once during the summer. We are all happy with this level of contact.

If my siblings were to start calling me like John does I could say to them 'stop annoying me and no harm done. We have that sort of relationship as raised together.

John essentially is a stranger I have little in common with other than the fact we have the same dad. The relationship feels forced and unnatural to me.

John has a wife and children and he tries to force some kind of 'auntie' role from me. He will ring me and put the kids of the phone to speak to their 'auntie'. But it's awkward for both me and the kids as I have met them a handful of times over the years. He'll send me handmade gifts from the children which is sweet but essentially feels like a strangers child's gift I'm expected to put on my mantelpiece and feel sentimental about.

I find myself avoiding calls from John and dread seeing texts pop up from him. It feels almost like a burden.

I keep telling myself to be grateful I have someone who genuinely cares and WANTS to see me and cares about my wellbeing.

But if I'm honest, the relationship is just awkward and unnatural as we weren't raised together and have nothing in common. It's a forced relationship.

I don't know if I am making any sense or if anyone understands.

I'd appreciate advice. Even if it's a kick up the ass to say I am ungrateful and selfish to feel this way and to keep making me effort.

I'm on my phone so apologies for any typos.

OP posts:
Serenschintte · 23/07/2021 19:52

Your posts makes me wonder why you don’t want a relationship with him.
Is he too intense?
Do you feel he wants more than you can give?
Or something else?
Family is a wonderful thing but of course not perfect. Maybe he would also be like this if you had always known each other?

30degreesandmeltinghere · 23/07/2021 19:52

I will say yabu but only because I am an only dc and I would bloody love a sibling to come to light!
I have dc, some half siblings although that is never mentioned at all. and I am quite sorry you don't have a closer relationship with the ones you originally had... Maybe offer up a regular call once a month and keep it short?

JustLoveYourselfALittle · 23/07/2021 19:56

Maybe you should have put a stop to it earlier so yabu to have continued contact if its not what you wanted.

Littlegoth · 23/07/2021 19:58

As an only child I was desperate for siblings.

Turned out I have a few, and I realise I’m not as desperate for them as I thought. They are strangers to me and I’ve not made contact as 1. I don’t want to risk rejection, and 2. I don’t want strange adults, who I may suddenly have a responsibility to, instructing on my life.

It’s a tough one as I swing between wishing I had a relationship with them, and being happy as I am. The truth is it came about 25 years too late for me, I’m happy as I am and as they have a way to contact me if they wanted to, it looks like they feel the same. Im ok with it.

I sympathise OP, it’s a complicated situation.

Littlegoth · 23/07/2021 19:59

Intruding, not instructing

PersonaNonGarter · 23/07/2021 20:02

I think you need counselling. Honestly, your posts sound rational but actually they convey such resentment and you need to get to the bottom of it.

Estranged father? Brother you don’t see? This is quite big stuff. No wonder you want to squish it away in a box and hate the text messages that open it up.

StepladderToHeaven · 23/07/2021 20:02

I don't think you're being ungrateful OP. Your description of John makes me feel a bit smothered too.

PersonaNonGarter · 23/07/2021 20:02

And YABU - to yourself as well as your brother.

Daydrambeliever · 23/07/2021 20:03

You are both unreasonable and reasonable. Hope that helps 😂😂.

It's not unreasonable for all of this to feel forced and weird and too much. It is unreasonable to go NC with him without sitting down and talking to him about how you feel. At the moment your frame of reference for a sibling relationship is the one you have with your "full" siblings - messy and conflicted and honest. Your new relationship isn't like this so it's maybe a bit sterile. A frank discussion might help. To both keep everyone honest and authentic, but also to normalise it all a bit.

Clangerschick1 · 23/07/2021 20:06

I would love for someone like this to come into my life. Why would you reject an offer of friendship /relationship from someone who seems so nice and caring. But then I grew up an only child until I was 10 and was so so lonely so maybe that’s clouding my judgement. But you can never have too many friends /people on your side in this life.

Freddiefox · 23/07/2021 20:07

I think he’s trying to reach out to you, maybe he wants a closer sibling relationship than he has with brother 1 and here you are to fit the bill. He’s not wrong to try to forge a relationship but equally neither are you to back away.
You have to do what’s right for you.

lioncitygirl · 23/07/2021 20:10

Sounds like he wants a close relationship but you don’t. Just tell him if so.

Cherrysoup · 23/07/2021 20:13

Don’t rush to reply. Politely tell him to stop sending gifts, don’t send him any (now the children are practically grown up as an excuse, if they are). Be unavailable for visits, obviously you’re too busy to talk to little Jonny on the phone.

We have a similar situation currently with an uncle who appears to think he is the glue holding the family together since my pil are no longer around. He hasn’t been in our lives ever, I met him for the first time at my mil’s funeral last year. We will not be inviting him or attending his proposed ‘family’ get togethers.

Spudina · 23/07/2021 20:13

I hear you OP. I traced my biological mother years ago and found I had siblings. We have very little contact and essentially don’t feel the family bond that I have with my adopted sibling. A friend traced hers and has gone on to build a strong relationship. It’s different for everyone and you can’t force what’s not there. I have a loose friendship with one of the siblings and no contact with the others. But it doesn’t feel like a sibling relationship.

NannyAndJohn · 23/07/2021 20:21

He's not your sibling, he's creepy stranger.

Tell him you want no further contact and block his number.

HideousKinky · 23/07/2021 20:23

The bit where he's trying to put his kids on the phone calling you auntie is quite sad. He really seems quite desperate for brother/sister relationship with you, so some kind of conversation about it will have to happen if you are not comfortable with how it is.

Could you perhaps explain to him how it is with you & your other siblings, the frequency of meeting etc so that he can adjust his expectations? That way you are not rejecting him, just gently trying to find a compromise between his expectations of a sibling and yours

Claudia84 · 23/07/2021 20:23

Have you got to know him as a person? Without the pressure of a relationship? Is he a fun person to be around or are you thinking of it that you have to consider him as a brother above all else?

Cam2020 · 23/07/2021 20:25

People react and feel very differently in these situations. He obviously feels he has a hole in his life, whereas you don't. Neither of you are unreasonable - that's just the way you feel. I supoose there's this Hollywoodesque expectation that you'll feel some sort of kinship by dint of genetics, but often that's not the case. It's a complex issue and I'm sorry I dont have any advice or solutions, but you're definitely not unreasonable.

Wjevtvha · 23/07/2021 20:32

I feel a bit sorry for him but I completely get where you are coming from in that he is a stranger and I suspect you’ve put enough time and effort in to know that a naturally good relationship is not forming which is the best you could hope for. I’m not quite sure what to suggest to do though apart from being honest that it’s too intense for you

drpet49 · 23/07/2021 20:34

I feel so sorry for him.

Iwonder08 · 23/07/2021 20:35

Not unreasonable. You are perfectly entitled not to do it. Do you want any contact with him at all? If not it is very easy, just bluntly tell him you don't feel the connection and won't be continuing relationship.. However if you do want some level of contact I would tread carefully. Be honest but very gentle.. Tell him you like him a lot, but it feels too soon too fast and too intense and you would like to scale down..

TheRebelle · 23/07/2021 20:40

I can understand why you feel that way because he is essentially a stranger who just happened to have the same dad but he’s obviously very keen to have a sibling, I wouldn’t cut him off because then he will have been rejected by both siblings and he hasn’t really done anything to deserve that, except be a bit over enthusiastic. Could you pull back by answering his calls less often and not going to visit him but still text him now and then.

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 23/07/2021 20:40

You keep saying about relationships with people you were raised with and yes you're not going to have the same relationship with someone you met when you're older. But you can still have a relationship with someone you met when you were older but it sounds like you decided to write this off before even getting to know him. You might have some stuff in common. It doesnt have to be a 'sibling' relationship but you sound like you dont even want to be friends. Yanbu to feel how you do but I do wonder why and I feel a bit sorry for him

Watchingyou2sleezes · 23/07/2021 20:41

Totally get you OP, Similar boat, won't say too much but I'm just not that interested in my half sibling's life. Lovely person but I don't consider them family. Some of my other siblings are more enthusiastic but I'm completely indifferent, and if they were a pain like in your situation- I'd tell them to fuck off.
For me the parent in question is still around and wages a low level campaign to turn us all into 1 big happy Brady bunch but I'm having none of it.

Took me two years of telling said parent that "X,Y&Z are not my fucking nephews and niece" for that subject to be dropped..

FakeColinCaterpillar · 23/07/2021 20:42

I have a much older sister who would have virtually nothing to do with me growing up. I was desperate for her attention and she was well aware what my home life was like.
Suddenly when I turned 21 she wanted to be my best mate. But we were virtual strangers and had nothing in common. I didn’t want to go clubbing in town clubs (I was a goth) with a nearly 40 year old or go on holiday with her.
She also wanted me to pay for all this as I’ve always worked and she never have. She still wants to be super close sisters but it’s too little too late, we have no shared history and so very little in common.
You can’t force a relationship.