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Sister Had Abortion To Donate Part Of Liver To Brother, And He Just Discovered The Truth

Family matters can be very complicated and hard to fathom living with. u/Jayx8 has a very twisted situation on her hands involving a secret abortion, a divorce, and a liver transplant. I [22M] just learned that my sister [29F] had an abortion to be able to donate me part of her liver. It caused her divorce. I can't stop hating myself. Here is the whole story:


What really happened: I was very sick four years ago and was in need of a liver transplant. My situation was that it was very unlikely that I would get one in time. At that time my sister was pregnant. I didn't know as it was early (less than two months). My situation was getting worse and my sister decided to do an abortion and then two months later we did the transplant surgery.

I never knew about the pregnancy. All I knew was that she gave me half of her liver. My sister and her husband divorced a year later. I didn't know the truth until yesterday when my mom slipped up about an abortion that my sister had. I asked her about it and she told me everything. She told me that my sister made her promise not to tell me and she failed that promise.

My sister was very happy. My brother in law was a very decent guy. I knew they were looking forward to having children. They were great together. She always told us about how lucky she is to have found him.

Apparently at the time of their decision, my sister and her husband had great disagreement. He didn't want her to have the abortion and risk the transplant surgery and was hopeful that my situation might sort itself out without my sister's help. The chance was very small but it was there. My sister didn't agree. They couldn't convince one another and my sister did things anyway without his blessing. They tried working things out after the surgery, they went to counseling, they even tried to have another baby but they couldn't get themselves to do it. He couldn't forgive my sister and she wasn't all that apologetic so they ended up separating and eventually divorcing.

My sister isn't happy now. Hasn't been since the surgery. She never told me the real reason for her divorce. She told me that they were after different things. I just learned things from my mom. I asked my mom if my sister still thinks that she did the right thing. She said "she's not sure".

I can't stop feeling guilty. My sister saved my life but destroyed her own life doing it. She had to abort the baby she definitely loved and looked forward to and did that knowing that it will probably end her marriage as well. I was ready to go at that time. I had accepted my fate and I was at peace. She should have just let me. My brother in law should have told me so I would have talked her out of it. I'm surprised he didn't. I can't feel anything but to hate myself.

I don't know what to do. Should I talk to my sister? What should I tell her? Should I keep my mouth shut and pretend that I don't know? I'm not sure if I'll even be able to look into her eyes and not show that I know. I just don't know what the f*** I should do.

Please please help me.

Heal together

Giphy

yes you should tell her. It's a burden on you and on her. Just go and talk to her. Tell her how you feel, she'll tell you how she feels, and it will bring you both closer together. It's a very difficult situation where nobody is at fault and it's very unfortunate that her marriage ended that way. But you both can heal together.

LilaLaLina

It was a brutal choice

Your sister made an impossible choice. Either way, she was risking losing a family member. There is not outcome here that would have made everyone happy. And, despite the guilt you feel, you weren't in control of any of the decisions she made. Do you really believe you could have convinced your sister to let you die when she had the ability to save you?

Starcrossedforever

Sacrificing the most

Giphy

Damn your sister is a legend man. That's all I can say.

y0ungw0lf

Show your gratitude and let it be

Giphy

Don't hate yourself. I have two young sons who I love to the ends of the earth...but when I was less than two months pregnant I would have done the same thing to save my brother's life. I do think you should talk to her. Hug her. Tell her you're so sorry. DO NOT tell her that she shouldn't have done it. Or that you're blaming yourself. Then she'll wish your mom had kept her promise and it will make it even worse.

[deleted]


Lasting marriage is stronger than that

Giphy

I don't think you should consider it that your situation CAUSED them to divorce as if it was an inevitability.

I think my marriage would have survived this situation. I think there are many here whose marriages would have. What your situation did was bring your sister and her husband to a crossroads where they discovered some fundamental incompatibilities in their relationship. That may well have happened sooner or later anyway.

The_Bravinator

A clear choice

Giphy

Your sister did the right thing, and you should be proud of her, and feel so lucky to have a sister like her.

Put yourself in her shoes. You have a sister who is dying, with very little chance of surviving if she doesn't get the liver she needs.

You just got pregnant - hooray! But you're the only person who can save your sister's life, and it will cost you the pregnancy. Damn.

But you can get pregnant again. 75% of pregnancies end in miscarriages, most of the time without the mother even knowing, and few of those women are rendered infertile by it.

So you know that, while it's sad, you can always try again for another baby - but if you let your sister die, you'll never have another sister again. Easy decision, right?

mwilke

Move past the guilt

Giphy

Hopefully you'll see this.

Have you ever heard of the hindsight bias? We use it colloquially in media nowadays but it has real emotional and cognitive impacts on us in real life.

Essentially what you're doing is, you're hating yourself for something you did not know and could not know 4 years ago. You are giving 4-year-ago-you the same knowledge/mindset of present-you. And present-you knows so much more than past-you. And that's not fair to hold past-you up to the same standards as present-you. Because that is impossible, that's not how time or life works. So stop beating yourself up over not being able to achieve the impossible. Because no one can achieve that. Instead, have some grace towards your past-self with the wisdom you have as your present-self.

simply__curious

It was her decision

Giphy

Look, I know you feel terrible, but your sister is an adult. The choice she made at the time was her own, and it was a very noble one. She chose to save you, her brother, whom she clearly loves very much. She knew what she was risking when she decided to donate her liver to you, accepted those consequences, and chose to do it anyway like the incredible sister she is. It's terrible that her marriage fell apart and that her husband chose to leave, but that's not on you.

block_2012

It's all love

Your sister made the choice to save your life, at whatever costs she was willing to make. She did it because she loves you and she knew there would be risks involved, especially with her marriage if they had talked about it. In saying that, this was her choice. You didn't ask her to get an abortion to donate half her liver to you. She chose to. And she did it because she loves you. You shouldn't feel guilty, her having an abortion and eventually divorcing, is in no way your fault.

IvyLush

Divorce is a multilayered beast

Giphy

Oh honey.

Please know that divorce is complicated. It's never just one thing that leads to it. We tend to hyper focus on one thing while we're in the middle of it all, but it's never just one thing. If your sister and her ex husband weren't meant to be, that had a lot less to do with you than you're thinking.

Your sister is an angel. Were it me and my sister, I would do the same thing, no question. It's a no brainer. I have a toddler and am currently pregnant, and if there was anything I could do to save my sister's life, including an abortion, I would do it.

Audacia220

Your sister isn't the only one...

Giphy

I would have done the same thing as your sister. I would have chosen the life of my immediate family members over the life of an unborn baby and over my marriage. I would hope that my husband would agree but if he did not, it would be a risk I would be willing to take.

RobotPartsCorp

Lets ask a biologist

Giphy

Fun fact: It makes more sense biologically to save your adult sibling than your unborn offspring. You share the same amount of genes with both of them but the unborn child is gonna have a lot of opportunities to die before procreating and spreading your genes further. It's like a textbook example actually. I'm a biologist.

anyway: super awful situation and I think their relationship was doomed the second he asked her to leave you to die.

birds-are-dumb

The husband doesn't sound so great

Giphy

I hope you know your sister loves you very much and she's an amazing sister and you're lucky to have her.

I think that if she didn't do the abortion to save your life and you would have died then she would have blamed herself for the rest of your life.

Maybe she would have ended up divorcing her husband anyway, if she thought that if it wasn't for him you would still be alive. Her husband doesn't sound like such a great guy if he was happy to stand idly by while you were dying.

throwy09

There's always more to the story

Giphy

I would talk to your sister. Tell her how you are feeling and tell her you wish she hadn't of kept you in the dark. Express your feelings but make sure to let her express hers, especially if she is going through a hard time. I honestly think there had to of been more to their marriage issues then the abortion.

KnowledgeInIgnorance

It's important to look at both sides

Giphy

It's not your fault. You sister was is a difficult spot. What she did for you was a great gift and I am happy for your sake that she did. As far as her marriage, what she did felt unfair to her husband. To terminate a wanted pregnancy without his consent.

I am trying to put myself in his and her shoes. People have very differing opinions of what "life" is and when it starts. For those who view it as a bundle of cells like she probably did, it's a no brainier, giving her brother a chance was the right decision. On the other hand if he already thought of it as "his baby", then it had to be very painful for him to see her terminate. I don't think BIL was a bad guy if you consider than in his eyes he was trying to protect his unborn child. I think either way the marriage was in trouble because one of them would have had resentment.

The important thing is that this is not your fault. You didn't ask to be sick or for anyone to make sacrifices. Talk to your sister be supportive and kind. Don't beat yourself over it.

XxSharperxX




People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.