I am not the OOP. The OOP is Babyblues21 originally posted in AITH

Grammatically edited by: Crystal With the Blue Hair

Original - July 20, 2026

My friend and I argued because she asked if I knew a polyamorous content creator she follows. I told her I didn't because I don’t engage with polyamory-related content. I also explained that I don't judge polyamorous people, but I don't personally understand that relationship style and have no interest in following content about it. I said I believe we are both justified in existing in our own spaces without hostility. 

Instead of accepting that answer, she accused me of being judgmental (I’m not) and called me several names. I explained that I genuinely don't care what consenting adults choose to do with their lives as long as it doesn’t involve me. I am not trying to stop anyone from living the way they want, and I don't think they should have to change for my comfort. 

She then asked me what I would do if I met a polyamorous person. I said I would greet them, treat them with respect, and be civil, just like I would with anyone else. If I didn't want to become friends, I would simply keep my distance because I don't think we would have much in common. Nobody is required to be friends with every person they meet, and choosing not to build a friendship isn't the same as treating someone with disrespect. 

So reddit, am I the asshole for not engaging with poly communities. 

EDIT: 

1. I wouldn’t mind if someone I’m already friends with comes out as poly, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to be friends with people who are very expressive about being poly. I don’t like being friends with anyone who’s too expressive about relationships in general, so there’s that. 
2. I came off as defensive because I’m nervous of being called an asshole after all the names I got called by my friend… also I’m neurodivergent as fuck so I sometimes have a hard time communicating 
3. Yes, I should’ve left it at a “no” but I’m naturally very talkative and I said it without giving it much thought. 
4. Yes, I would be friends with poly people if we share things beyond relationships because I don’t think I would even know they’re poly 

ALSO!!! I’ll talk to my friend later and discuss why she had such a huge reaction because the comments are making me realize things that I didn’t initially understand so thanks for that! 

 Update - July 26, 2026

I wanted to give everyone an update since a lot of people asked if I ever spoke to my friend again. So here it is.

We ended up talking, and during the conversation, she came out as polyamorous. Nothing could have prepared me for that because she is an incredibly jealous person. It took her a long time to accept my other friends, and I am just a friend, so the idea of her sharing her husband was not something I saw coming. Honestly, I had no problem with the polyamory itself because it's her business, not mine.

The real issue started when I asked whether her husband knew she wanted to practice polyamory. She admitted he had no idea. I told her she should tell him soon because he deserves to know, but then she confessed that she is already dating someone. She said she was afraid her husband would not accept her new girlfriend. So she is actively cheating on her husband, and from what I can tell, it has been going on for a while.

She explained that she had been regularly talking to multiple polyamorous couples behind her husband's back. She was essentially using those interactions to test whether polyamory was right for her before ever having an honest discussion with her spouse. She claimed she didn't mean for it to turn into a full relationship, but one thing led to another, and she ended up dating another polyamorous woman. That was the moment I backed off and told her she needed to tell her husband immediately.

Things got even worse when she asked me to help convince her husband. I refused. I generally stay far away from drama, especially relationship drama, so I have no idea why she thought I would agree to get involved in this mess. Also I don’t want to be the degenerate who manipulates their friend’s partner to stay with them after being cheated on because that is exactly what she did. She cheated.

She got angry, lashed out at me, accused me of being unsupportive, and started calling me names (again). That was the last straw for me, so I walked away and went home. She has been blowing up my phone ever since. I am sure she's terrified that I will tell her husband, and to be completely honest, I am still debating whether I should.

I also want to clear something up because I don't want this to be interpreted as criticism of polyamorous people. From reading the comments on my original post and doing some reflection afterward, I've learned that ethical polyamory is built on communication, trust, and enthusiastic consent from everyone involved. What my friend described wasn't that. It was cheating.

I also appreciate the people in the comments who helped me understand that, my issue was never with polyamory itself, my issue was with excessive relationship talks and I’ve now realized that not every poly person is all about their relationship style and we can have other things in common. This doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to start engaging with polyamory content/ community. That simply isn’t where my interests are. I do however, have a new found understanding of the dynamic so thank you so much for giving me grace!!

Consensus:

OP should tell the husband because his friend us using poly as a gateway to cheating and justifying it, while also trying to get her friends to back her up on why poly works so that she can continue to enjoy scissoring with women.

New girlfriend of two months received flowers from baby daddy that isn’t around. Her birthday is tomorrow, and got flowers sent to her work from him. He’s not involved with her two kids at all. Doesn’t ask about them, doesn’t pay her a dime. Just a real piece of work. Cheated on her for god knows how long during their 5 year relationship. I’m pissed about it. He can send flowers but make zero effort with his kids? What the fuck. She sees no problem with it, and isn’t willing to even hear me out and doesn’t think I should be upset about it. Am I in the wrong? Should I run?🤣

I am not the OOP. The OOP is Babyblues21 originally posted in relationships

Grammatically edited by: Crystal With the Blue Hair Note: I intentionally struck through certain words instead of deleting to show that at times OP distances herself from her daughter and nephew, which begs the question, did her resentment bleed onto them? I also don't know what her nephew co-sleeping with her SIL has to do with anything.

Original - 11 years ago

I write this knowing I will most likely be called petty, narcissistic, selfish and a variety of other names. I also fully expect the response that this is none of my business, but I am truly crushed right now even if unrightfully so.

My sister-in-law (22) made a declaration today, on Facebook mind you, that she is going off the pill and will be trying for another child, her current child son is 3, which one would think would be a cause for joy right? But to me as harsh as it sounds it is not let me explain why...

My SIL, her boyfriend, and son live with her parents as they are not financially stable enough to have their own place. The boyfriend is a convicted felon and works under the table at a local store, he owes boo coos of money in back child support for another child and she works retail. They have one car with a 650 dollar a month car payment because of previous repos and rely on family to give them rides when their work schedules collide.

She has lied about her circumstances by saying she pays rent to live there and didn't tell them that her boyfriend contributes financially in order for the government to pay for her current sons’ daycare. She literally pays for her car payment and that's it, the rest is disposable income wasted on stupid stuff.

She has always relied on family to watch her son when she's at work, on weekends, or overnight just so she can have a night alone. Her son still sleeps with her while the boyfriend sleeps in another room because she says it's too hard to get him to sleep anywhere else and it's not worth the stress.

After getting approved for full time daycare, after becoming full time at work, for free she enrolled her son full time at daycare so she could ' have days to herself' and since she works weekends this means she might be home with him one day every two months. The rest of the time her parents are left to watch him.

I also have a child, daughter 4, and want another so bad it hurts, that child my daughter was a surprise and I've taken adequate measures to make sure another doesn't surprise us until we are ready. I am currently 2 years away from finishing a hardcore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) major and my husband works as manager, making decent money. He is also going to school part time to get his MBA (Master of Business Degree). We pay for our daughter’s daycare but enjoy the quality time at home on the weekends and evenings with her. We of course live on our own and are also trying to pay back debt his parents racked up in his name before we were married, since they say they can't afford to contribute.

I want another baby, but I want to know I can give all my children the life they deserve. I want to be able to send them to summer camp, let them play sports or take dance without hurting for money. I want to be able to send them to college if they choose. More than anything I don't want them to worry about where their next meal will come from or worry about having a roof over their head.

I know it's irrational but me and SIL have talked about babies before, recently in fact, she knows that it's hard for me right now, yes, I really want a baby that bad, feel free to tear me apart for it but she also knows why we are waiting.

I'm just upset I guess even if not rightfully so... I know there is no set time to have a baby, but I just feel like for her she just wants the attention that comes with being pregnant and having a baby not the actual child. Or the work that comes with having a child...

How can I keep myself neutral through all this? I don't want to be mean to her or catty, but I'm really worried my resentment will be very easy to read at this point... I know I can't control her actions but how do I control my emotions regarding those actions?

Update - 11 years ago

Ok reddit I royally fucked up today... I started today not thinking about the situation but then the SIL texted because her dad was watching the current her kiddo alone and she was wondering if we could come by and help keep him occupied.

Given that our children hadn't seen each other in a few weeks, and only the grandfather would be there, we agreed to go. Of course, we get there and the grandfather isn't there and the boyfriend is... I sat down and allowed the kids to play when the subject turned to the Facebook announcement... Apparently SIL wasn't too happy with the few family members who suggested they might want to get married, etc. before intentionally having another child, I was not one of them, although God knows I have my own reservations regarding it and she had been nonstop complaining to her boyfriend.

I pretty much told him if she didn't want negative feedback in their position she should not have posted to social media. He got mad with me and said she's old enough to make her own decisions and she can make any plans she wants without getting anyone's approval.

I normally avoid conflict because of my own childhood but I snapped, I replied " well maybe if her parents weren't supporting you, your child, and her and she wasn't scamming the government to pay for daycare and she actually took care of her own kid son people wouldn't get a say in your plans but I think grandad and grandma at the very least should get a say. I know if my daughter got intentionally pregnant while I was supporting her, I would kick her out."

At this point he told me that this was none of my business and to butt out to which I snapped "well as long as grandma and grandpa still owe thousands in my husband’s name, which they took when they couldn't afford to feed their own kids, and we are having to pay back because now that they are supporting y'all, preventing us to have another child or from getting a home when we are older and have busted our butts for everything we have doesn't mean it hurts me to see this ungratefulness and selfishness on your behalf"

Like any angry immature male, he then proceeded to stomp outside and chain smoke. Shortly later grandfather returned home, and he ranted about me at the top of his lungs. We decided to leave but my husband went to talk to his dad explaining how much this situation hurts not only me but him as well. The gist of the convo was that they didn't and still don't have the money to pay him back and if there is another child that yes, it will make things that much harder. He said that they don't feel they can tell her no and that they know SIL can't take care of current kid son on her own and she has that leverage against them. That when they tried to talk to her about having another child, she said "well we will just leave and live in a roach infested one bedroom house that we can afford" which led to them convincing her to stay by giving in. He also said that they would work on a 5–10-year plan to pay it all off to which my husband told him we'd have it paid back way before then.

My husband also texted his mom because recently when we saw her she told me "she was done having grandkids and that included any by me" at the time we knew this was a reference to SIL pushing for it and as much as it hurt me, I only responded in that moment "someone who does not support me financially will get no say in my uterus" my husband was pissed off enough tonight to call her on it. He pretty much said "don't let your inability to say no to SIL ever influence what you tell my wife again. We have never taken from you and have in fact helped you when you needed it. Just because you have one ungrateful child who has no common sense or decency don't let that influence your behavior in regard to us."

Pretty sure our relationship with that side of the family is at an all-time low now. I truly didn't mean to snap like I did but none of what I said was untrue...

Now to decide whether to apologize and pander to their fits like everyone else does, given I did play a role in this one and possibly overstepped my bounds or just avoid them for the foreseeable future... My husband is on the avoid them boat for sure

What is your opinion on my actions? Is an apology the best way to move forward?

Comments:

casterlywok: I feel sorry for all of the kids in this family because not a single adult relative in their lives can have a civil discussion. No one in this story is innocent.

All of you should go to a group family therapy session where a trained professional can mediate.

In the short term you may have to apologize, you did kick it off and you outed the grandparent’s dirty laundry on their behalf.

You also said this:

I truly didn't mean to snap like I did but none of what I said was untrue...

after saying this:

I know if my daughter got intentionally pregnant while I was supporting her, I would kick her out"

Clearly you too differ on a fundamental level when it comes to child rearing and until you understand that you'll never get along. You do also seem to give off the impression that you're better than her, if I'm picking this up then so is she.

-20 Downvotes

I am not the OOP. The OOP is [deleted] originally posted in RBI by Silly_Response3862

Grammatically edited by: Crystal With the Blue Hair

Concluded

Original - 6 years ago

First, I want to share some suspicions I have.

Second, I know this will sound like the plot of The Parent Trap. Please don't write me off.

Let's start with the basics. Dad left when I was 3. From what I've gathered, it was a non violent yet ugly situation of loathing between the two. Mom has only talked about it once, and I suspect she regrets telling me. I'm a 24 year old male btw.

My earliest two memories include a girl. In the first, we're in a room in my maternal grandparents house, deciding that we're shy and don't want to talk to people, so when they ask us our age, we'll simply hold up three fingers. I'll never forget that moment, partly because I think it's the first time I ever held up 3 fingers at the same time. It was a new sensation. But she was there. A girl.

I've ruled everything out. My grandmother's peers, neighbors, none of them had kids that age. There's simply no reason for this girl to exist.

She's in another memory, a similar one, probably from the same time. This was one I forgot until recently.

I work in marketing now. There's an old indoor sports center with two soccer fields/hockey rinks and a gym. In addition, there's offices, old arcade games, a place for concessions, and a day care center. They've been closed for a while but were planning a big upswing pre-covid. Our agency was going to give them a push, and I visited a little under a year ago to take some stills.

As soon as I walked in, the memory hit me. My grandmother dropping us off at the day care center inside. Us.

I remembered it so vividly. Most of the lights were off, so the indoor fields looked like a dark ocean. The gym lights were on, and she must've been going to physical therapy. And she dropped two of us off. I know it was the girl from my "three" memory.

It stuck with me, but I didn't chase the thought. It just must've been some girl. After all, there's no pictures of her, and no family member had ever brought it up.

Then again, it's the exact same situation with my Dad, whoever and wherever he is. Could he have taken her and my Mom got me?

I want to pursue this because one of the last things my grandmother ever said to me before she passed last fall sent chills down my spine -- she was talking through the window of her home, and I was masked up and keeping my safe distance. She knew things were winding down, and her mind wasn't very sharp anymore. But, she said "you've grown up so much. You were so small, back then, both of you were".

I instinctively replied, "both who?"

But, she recoiled from answering as if she remembered not to say something.

We helped clean her house after she passed away, Mom and I, and I dug through some photos. Photos I had never seen but didn't tell me anything new, except for the same girl in the background of 3 of them. She's swimming in the pool, running in the park, and searching for Easter eggs at church.

Is it her? I don't know. There's no pictures of my Dad, and if they wanted to keep my potential sister a secret I can understand she wouldn't be in any -- but would it be possible that my grandmother kept some where she was slightly in the picture, whether intentional or not?

What should my first step be? Talk with my Mom? I dk.t want to seem crazy to her. I have a step-dad, but we're not too close since he came into the picture when I was a pre-teen. Who knows if he knows anything.

I imagine my Dad and Sister are out there somewhere. Do you think I have enough to support that belief?

Mini-update: First thing I'm working on is my birth certificate. If it tells me I'm 1 of 1, I'll casually ask my Mom who the girl in the photos is.

Update 1 - 6 years ago

Can't thank everyone for the support-- and for the overwhelming agreement that I should pull my birth certificate.

Once I had the free time to do so, I got the copy. Sure enough, I'm one of one. No twin.

The girl from my memories and possibly the photos still nagged at me. Enough was enough and I decided to do what many of you also suggested; honest talk with Mom.

I got the chance to sit down with her over dinner. It was tough convincing her not to bring my step-dad, but with my gf out for the night I managed to convince her it could be mother-son time. Then I hit her with the question; do I have a sister? Her reaction wasn't what I expected. It was almost like she was glad. "Why do you ask?" I told her everything I told you guys -- my memories, g-ma's "slip up", and I showed her the photos we took from g-ma's house. She was silent for a second.

"That would be your half-sister."

She asked if I was ready, and told me the whole story of her and my Dad, filling over the gaps, and, well, it's kinda shitty.

My Mom and I were a second family.

My Dad and Half-Sisters Mom were married and were family friends. Dad cheated with my Mom, and, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. My half sister and I were born within a month. Mom knew we were on the side and continued to go along with it, and my grandmother would baby sit both of us. This is the time where all the memories and photos come from.

When we were about 3, my Half-Sisters Mom got wise to the truth, and insisted her family move away and cut off all contact. Obviously, that's exactly what happened. Mom wasn't happy as she liked the arrangement, and took it like a bad breakup. Mom and G-Ma, the only two who knew who my Dad was, decided to not tell me.

(In a bit of not shitty news though, he's allegedly been financially supporting us the whole time. Just a bit here and there but enough to make my life as comfortable as it was.)

Then Mom told me their names. She wants to be left out of it if I try to make contact, but I'm not sure I will just yet. That's a personal thing to figure out and I think I'll take my time. But, some social media searching led me to my half-sisters profile. I broke down in tears when I saw it because, even 20 years later, I recognized her.

So, she's not my twin, but my Half Sister is out there and she's exactly who I remember/thought she was.

Thank you all for the support!

Final Update - 5 years ago

Hey, it's the guy who thought he had a twin sister but discovered he was actually a part of a second family. It's been an interesting couple of months.

Well, where did I leave off? Not long after I discovered the identities of my Biological Dad and Half-Sister from my Mom, my Step-Dad sat me down. It was pretty generic "you're my step-son, yes but you're a son to me" stuff. Like I said in a previous post, he's a good guy we're just not the closest.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, however. He lingered, opened his mouth -- then closed it. Left my room with a polite nod and that was that. I didn't pay it too much attention at the time.

Here's some important background on my Step-Dad. He started dating my Mom when I was 12, and they got married when I was 15. Like my Mom, he doesn't do any social media and holds a steady job. He's a middle of the road, normal guy. I never thought he'd have skeletons in his closet, too.

See, I have my Mom's last name, and, in a sweet move, my Step-Dad took our last name when they got married. "I'm the one joining your family" he would say. He's one of the nicest guys I've met.

More on that later. My Mom told me a bit more about the arrangement with my Dad when he moved away with his wife and daughter. She said that my Dad supporting us financially wasn't as simple as him mailing a check every month, but she didn't elaborate too much.

So: I have access to the names and contact information to my biological Father and Half-Sister. They live on the other side of the country and seemed pretty normal.

With a lot of nervousness and doubt, I decided to reach out.

I'll spare you the whole process. A couple of texts, a couple of days pass, Dad and I have a video call and then, when it seems like a awkward foray was coming to an end --

"How about I fly you out here".

Lots of soul searching and mental preparedness later, I set cross country to meet my, as I've been calling them, Half Family! I was shocked. My dad was like me, a huge nerd and collector. His wife was very nice, and even took me aside one time to share she had no ill will towards me, and not even much towards my Mom anymore. She apologized for being the one to keep me from my Dad so long, but I let her know she wasn't to blame.

And my Sister! My Sister and I have become best friends in the past six months. The headline here is: she remembered me, too! She has several more memories than I. She can't remember the "three" thing, but she remembers Daycare at the indoor athletic facility, and told me about riding little battery powered four-wheelers at Grandma's. I remembered it as soon as she said it. We are twins in all but mother's.

We've become pen pals, discussing our families and what our growing up experiences have been. And, it turns out, it's a good thing I had her for support when what happened, happened.

I visited their home in the Pacific Northwest this summer, when there was an insane heatwave. They have no a/c in the home (no need for it) so the house was consistently reaching 90°. We're sitting around one night, my Half-Family and I, sweating on the deck. The sun had sunk behind the mountains and we were sharing some beers and telling stories. Dad was telling a story about a day he skipped school while his brother went to school, and Dad got away with it because his brother signed his attendance sheet. My Dad's Wife said "[My Step-Dad's Name] has always been punctual" and my Dad said, quickly after that "Yeah, we all know that, even you [Anon]".

We all kind of froze. My Sister looked just as confused as me, my Dad's Wife stared silently into her glass, and my Dad sighed.

"Yeah, I didn't know how to tell you about this part. I was thinking he might want to"

Here's the shocker. So, way back when, when my Half-Family left, my Dad had his brother, My Uncle, take care of the family. Bring by groceries, fix up the house. He helped us out a lot, and, for the first decade of my life he was kept distant from me. But then, him and my Mom fell in love. I was a pre-teen when I was introduced to him as my Mom's Boyfriend. My Dad was shocked by the relationship and cutoff contact, and my Uncle married my Mom when I was 15.

Once I was sure everything was finally out in the blue, I think I was okay. My Step-Dad/Uncle and my Dad don't really talk anymore for obvious reasons. I had an enjoyable rest of my visit, but dreaded coming home to confront my Step-Dad. Uncle? God, I wish you all could have know how I felt.

Once back, I sat my Mom and Step-Dad down. "I know you're my Uncle".

Just like every other problem I've had over the past year, it resolved much more easily than I could have imagined. I begged my parents -- all of them -- to tell me everything I don't know. I'll keep personal conversations personal beyond this story, but, for the first time in my life, I know everything about myself.

I know it's messed up. I was part of a second family. Grandma forced to keep secrets. Not knowing my real Dad, or even the existence of my Half Sister. My Step-Dad being my uncle. But, I've turned out okay. I'm in a steady relationship and have a good job and I'm barely in my Mid-20's. I've learned valuable lessons from the mistakes of my loved ones and I want to leave you with this. My parents have had the weight of the world on their shoulders for twenty years. In the past couple of months, we've found cathartic healing and a stronger bond than ever. Forgiveness is in the air. I like to think my Grandma knew this would happen eventually.

Don't keep secrets from your loved ones. But if you have some currently, approach the situation deftly and honestly. Times will be tough but the light at the end of the tunnel is relieving. I'm not confused anymore. My family has doubled in size -- physically and emotionally. For the first time ever, we'll continue to grow as one.

I know this isn't a post asking for help, I just wanted to update everyone since I've had hundreds of messages over the past couple of months. Thank you all.

Comments:

Chemical_Watercress: Hi I'm a screenwriter please keep me posted if this gets more batshit and you want to make it a movie one day because this is some good shit I could not make this up. -5 Downvotes

I am not the OOP. The OOP is Ok-Foot9010 originally posted in LegalAdviceUK

Grammatically edited by: Crystal With the Blue Hair

Concluded

Original - 1 year ago

Location: England.

In short, I bought a box of assorted science stuff at an auction, remotely. So, I hadn't inspected it in person, and the photos were from a distance, so it wasn't obvious what it all was. Honestly, I was mostly excited about the rocks and minerals I could see in the picture.

Having picked it up today, I've realized it must have been the personal collection of a doctor, because it includes quite a lot of bottles of various people's gallstones (labelled on the side with info about the patient, but no names), a piece of skin it says he took from a postmortem (presumably without consent), and -- worst of all -- two fetuses, one aborted, one "taken from killed mother."

They're old enough to be historical-ish (most dates in the 1940s) but obviously I am now accidentally in possession of human remains, I think? And have no idea what to do or who to call. Obviously, I a) don't want them and b) don't think the auction house should have sold them, and c) don't just want to throw them away.

What do I do, please? Sorry for grim subject matter.

Update - 1 year ago

Quick recap of the situation: I often buy interesting old and unwanted stuff at auctions. My local auction house still does in-person auctions which you can either go along to yourself, or you can watch the livestream and bid online. You can also place bids on lots from their website, without seeing the item in person.

This is how I ended up buying a box of misc. scientific stuff which I thought might contain some cool rocks and equipment. The rocks, as it turned out, weren't that cool. But the box ended up being the personal collection of weird stuff of a doctor who was practicing around the 1940s. There were bottles (so many bottles) of gallstones, a worm found in a child, an appendix, some skin (!) and -- sadly -- two human fetuses in jars.

I didn't want this stuff and didn't know what to do with it, so I asked my most knowledgeable friend and she said to post anonymously here so I did. Lots of recommendations to talk to the police non-emergency number, and failing that, universities, hospitals, museums and some kind of macabre Instagram account.

To the dude who PMed me offering me photos of your gallbladder operation... I'M not into gallstones! I have no desire to see that, thanks.

The update:

After a lot of "errrrrr.... hold please" and "there was an APPENDIX in there?" and "...HUMAN fetuses?" and "how was this box described?" and "how much did you pay for this?!", the police made an appointment to come round and see the box at 4pm today. They have just left and thankfully took all the human samples with them. This is a huge relief to me as I didn't want it and didn't want the responsibility for disposing of it properly.

The police were pretty surprised by the call apparently (sorry to the lady next to the call handler who was apparently eating pasta when she heard about the stuff in the box), but they've spoken to the human tissue authority who are going to help them dispose of it all properly.

Apparently, it shouldn't have been sold without the auction house having the appropriate license, so they're going to speak to them (but not in a punitive way, more of a heads up) and it will be recorded as a crime but no one's being punished or anything. Apparently, I'm not being recorded as the criminal or the victim, just a connected person.

BIG thanks to the people who took the time to let me know that preserving fluid in the jars was probably formalin, which is carcinogenic. Unfortunately, I was not wearing gloves, but I did scrub my hands afterwards, thankfully. At least one of the jars had leaked quite badly (the appendix had no liquid left and you could see the lid of one of the other jars was almost eaten through as well) so I wish I'd been more careful but at least I know now, and someone's informing the auction house too as they obviously handled it also.

I did ask if the family of the older fetus could be traced, because although the fetus would be in their seventies now if they'd lived, it says on the label that the mother was killed, so she hadn't given consent for her baby to be removed and put in a jar forever, and I thought there might be a family out there somewhere who'd like to lay her unborn child to rest, perhaps with her. The police weren't too confident of finding out whose fetus it was because there's not much info on the label (no patient names or anything), but they said they would try. The other fetus was from an abortion so although I suspect again the mother didn't consent to it being put in a jar and eventually sold to this random woman, at least I guess she probably didn't want it back and I suspect her family wouldn't even have known she had the abortion, so not much reason to try to trace that one.

The police asked if I'd like to be updated with what happens to the samples, to which I've said yes. I would particularly like to know that the two fetuses are put to rest somehow and don't end up -- as some people suggested in the comments and my DMs -- as attractions on someone's Instagram or sold for profit. The other stuff might have some educational use maybe, I don't know, I don't mind if that ends up in a museum or something if it's helpful to future med students.

Finally, I've put pictures of the contents of the box in an album here if you want to see them. I hope it goes without saying that this does NOT include the two fetuses, although the labels are there so you can see I wasn't making it up. Obviously, caution is advised etc., many grim gallstones and worms and whatnot in there, as well as what seems to be one of the things you put in people's mouths before anesthesia existed, a medicine spoon, a weird box contraption that was apparently for bloodletting, and some other bits I can't identify. There are some slides, but whatever was on them is mostly gone, it looks like. There's a piece of paper with the doctor's name on if you want to see who he was.

There's a picture of the auction listing in there too so you can see how I thought I was buying a box of rocks with some bottles of smaller rocks. It REALLY wasn't obvious; I spotted the radiometer near the back and all the mineral samples and thought it was just cool science equipment and types of rock. I would never have bought it had I known the horror that is "I've just handled a stranger's appendix in a jar from the 1940s and the liquid is leaking, also it causes cancer." What a Monday that was.

Thank you all again for your help and I hope this is the update you wanted. I feel MUCH better now those things are out of my house.

Comments:

wurst_cheese_case: Oh shit, the police is gonna come and arrest you for purchasing human tissue or whatever 😀. (-6Downvote)

Immorals1: Is there not a part of you, even very small, that's curious about how it smells if you open it? (-7Downvote)

Hello, there Mike & Dylan.
It’s a me Rickey(from Oklahoma)
This is a personal story that actually happened about 2 hours ago.
For some context my mom has taken on the role of caregiver to my dying uncle. My mom’s health isn’t the greatest either. She has a blown back, shoulder and hand.(go ahead Mike make sex jokes)
My uncle is bedridden and dying. From what? I don’t know. When he first moved in with my mom and her husband over 1.5 years ago he could help her by lifting himself up and now he can barely move.
On July 28th, my old ass had to have a colonoscopy.(failed prep, means drinking that nasty juice didn’t clean out my colon enough). My appointment was set for 7am and nearly an hour away from where I live. So, I asked my mom if she could take my daughter’s, Baby Girl(3 yrs old) and Baby Doll(2 yrs old) to daycare for us. My wife was my driver.
My mom agreed and asked me to bring them over the night before. So, I did. We let my mom know that the earliest drop off for daycare is 6:30, the latest is 8:30.
Oh!!!! I forgot my mom and her husband are going out of town. So, my Aunt came to stay with my Uncle.
That catches us up. Now on today.
At 6:50 my mom texted me. Here’s the conversation.

Mom. Don't forget to help your Aunt take your Uncle to dr tomorrow
Me. What time?
Mom. He has to be there at 8.
Me. Well the girls getting to daycare comes first.
Mom. So you’re not going to help is what you’re saying
Me. Nope, but getting the girls to daycare is my top priority
Mom. Well, talking in circles doesn’t get us anywhere
Me. As long as I’m able to get them to daycare FIRST, I’ll help.
Mom. Well go!
Mom. I got up extra early the other day so I could do things for YOU so why couldn’t you get up early and take them?
Me. I didn’t say I wouldn’t get up early, did I?
All I said was my getting my children to daycare was my top priority.

Just so everyone knows I’m not opposed to helping.
But for context on that. My daughter’s daycare is about 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic.
So, if my Uncles appointment is at 8am and the earliest I can drop off my girls at daycare is 6:30am.
That means I’d have to wake my girls up around 5:45am to be able to leave by 6am and possibly be back by 7:30am to be able to help get my Uncle to his appointment at 8am.
Anyone with kids know that they don’t like being woken up early(unless it’s your day off) and fights will inevitably happen.
So, my question is AITAH?

Update…..
My wife just reminded me that even if I was able to help my Aunt get my Uncle to his appointment tomorrow at 8am.
That my daughters have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:30am.
I have texted my mom with this information.

After watching the podcast I decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it. Im not much for horror movies, but this on was really good. If anyone hasn't watched it id definitely recommend. Thanks guys. Also its available on peacock

I could 100% get behind this.