Would you cut off someone that lied about having a child?

[Spenning]

In my workplace a colleague aged around 50 has lied about having an adult child. She has no children at all. Would you cut her off if she was a friend -or try and understand her behaviour and forgive her?

I’m also not sure what there would be to ‘forgive’.

My step da has been in my life since I was 13. He's always referred to me as the daughter. they've now split up but he still refers to me as the daughter. nothing strange or sinister here

As PPs have said there could be many a reason behind what she's saying. Everyone should just crack on with their lives, there’s nothing to see here

I agree

And now that I remember I know someone else who has a Mum who's not actually her mum. Mum is actually step-mum, actual Mum isn't on the scene.

I also came across someone who took her DGDs to riding, then she said 'Well I'm actual great aunt, but I have no children of my own and the girls call me Granny Jane'

When I was in my mid twenties I worked with a woman who told me that when she was a teenager she'd had a baby with one of her teachers and had it adopted and that also she was adopted herself. It turned out that it was all lies. She had never had a baby, she's not adopted, all just nonsense. I've known two similar compulsive liars in my life. It's such odd behaviour and I don't really understand it.

I feel a bit sorry for people who tell lies. Clearly something is very wrong if she’s doing this. I wouldn’t do anything about it, it wouldn’t be my business.

OP hasn’t elaborated though in terms of the extent of the lie.

If She’s just referred to her “daughter” in terms of it being a stepdaughter who she sees as her daughter then it’s just about her take.

But if she’s invented a whole life, where there’s a daughter, and they do things together and take talks about when she was pregnant etc that’s a whole other level of deception.

There isn’t enough detail to say how bad it is.

What has she said about this lie, now that she’s been found out?

Someone who makes up a whole life like that isn’t trustworthy.

We need to be careful about saying that someone must have a reason. The reality is that if someone can lie about something as fundamental as having a child, nothing they say is believable.

Depending on what job she does it could affect her employment, if she e.g. works in a position of trust then bing outed as a liar to that extent could be seen very unfavourably by an employer.

On what grounds did you decide she didn’t really have a child?

You are being deliberately obtuse, I didn't mean demand she tells her. Did you not read the rest of my post?
I thought she might, you know, try to show her some kindness and understanding rather than cut her dead.