A 23-year-old has shared her heartache after her dad gave his new daughter her exact same name – making her feel like he is trying to replace her in favour of his new family
A woman has been left heartbroken after her dad gave his new daughter her exact same name – making her feel like she has been replaced. The 23-year-old explained how it’s a tradition in her family to pass down the grandmother’s name to the firstborn daughter.
So, at birth, she was given her grandmother’s name as her middle name and her parents opted for a ‘new’ name to use as her first. She said on Reddit: “I was the only daughter for 23 years so it was given to me as my middle name as expected.
“My baby half sister was born two weeks ago and he gave her my grandmothers name as her first name. This is just one of a long line of things my father has done that have been hurtful and vindictive. He’s a narcissist and is self serving.
“He’s always downplayed my hardships and has said and done things to bring me down. It felt like a knife to the gut.” While she’s delighted to have a new sister, she can’t help but feel like her dad is trying to replace her in favour of his new family.
“She is the second child to be born through his new marriage (which was a whole other situation entirely) but I love both my half siblings with my whole heart because they did not ask for any of this and they’re innocent children.
“It bothers me but I keep quiet to keep the peace. But it has really ruined what outlook I had left on my father and has brought up a lot of things I had long since healed from and I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Commenting on her post, one user said: “Your father is a narcissist, as you said, so ignore him. He only gets energised by your reaction. Starve him of any emotional response.” Another user added: “Don’t stew quietly, embrace it. Rejoice in her name. Say how much it means to you that you share a name with her and that your dad honoured both you and your grandmother by naming her after the two of you.
“This is easier to say than to do, but he only has the power to hurt you that you give him, and if you stop letting his actions affect you, recognise that his actions reflect on how broken he is, and not on you, he loses all power over you and you can easily, with love, good humour, and positivity, shine brighter than him.
“He wins if you get hurt and try to fight him in the muck. But if you take every jab of his in stride and with joy, he becomes totally impotent. Never let him beat you down. Everything he does, just smile and be joyous. It will crush him.” A third user said: “The only thing you can do is cut contact with him. Or go very very low contact. I know you love your siblings – and I’ll bet he has no problem using that against you.”
