This Cheating Ex and His Affair Partner Asked for “Infertility Sympathy” From the Wife They Betrayed and Honestly, the Audacity is in Orbit

We have all heard about the “audacity of men,” but one ex-husband on Reddit just took the crown, the throne, and the entire kingdom of Delusion. Imagine being cheated on for three years, having your marriage nuked while you have three tiny children, and then—years later—having the man and his mistress corner you at a school Halloween event to ask for emotional support. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when two people have absolutely zero shame, grab your popcorn, because this story is a total dumpster fire of entitlement.

The Original Poster (OP) found out her husband of several years had been stepping out with a co-worker for three entire years. She did the only logical thing: she kicked him out and filed for divorce. But the “Affair Partner” (AP) wasn’t just content with stealing a husband; she and the ex actually tried to sue for primary custody of the OP’s children, using their “two-parent household” as a weapon against the mother they betrayed. Thankfully, the court saw through that bullsh!t and settled on a 50-50 split.

Since then, the vibes have been—shocker—incredibly hostile. The ex-husband and the AP have been pressuring the kids to call the mistress “Mom” or “Mama,” a move so gross it required an actual therapist to step in and tell them to knock it off. The OP admits that in her head, she celebrates the fact that her kids don’t like the woman who helped destroy their family. And honestly? We are celebrating right along with her. You don’t get to help burn a house down and then complain that the kids don’t want to play in the ashes.

The absolute peak of the madness happened around Halloween. The ex and the AP cornered the OP at school to reveal their “tragic” secret: the mistress is infertile. They’ve been trying for four years to have a baby and it isn’t happening. Instead of dealing with this in therapy, they decided the best solution was to demand “compassion” from the OP. They literally asked her to “let go of her hate” and encourage the kids to bond with the mistress so the AP doesn’t “feel like an outsider forever.”

Let’s get this straight: they want the woman whose life they ruined to act as a PR agent for the mistress. The ex-husband actually had the gall to tell the OP that because she “got to be a mom,” she should be sympathetic to the woman who tried to take her kids away in court. It is the ultimate b!tch move to weaponize your own infertility to guilt-trip the person you traumatized. The OP’s response was short, sweet, and iconic: she asked why they were telling her their private business that has absolutely nothing to do with her.

The ex-husband went from “pleading” to “pissed” in zero seconds flat. He called her reaction “disgusting” and insisted she owed the mistress—his “co-parent”—some sympathies. Excuse me? The only thing the OP owes that woman is the distance she’s already providing. Calling a mistress a “third parent” is a level of disrespect that should be illegal. You don’t get to cheat your way into a family and then demand a seat at the emotional table.

The ex-husband has been hounding the OP ever since, even trying to bring up the AP’s infertility at a school meeting about their child. He’s “enraged” that the OP won’t play along with their “happy blended family” fantasy. But here is the thing: compassion is earned. You don’t get to spend three years lying to someone and then expect them to hold your hand through your subsequent life struggles. That is a job for a therapist, a best friend, or the husband you stole—not the ex-wife.

The OP isn’t “stopping” the kids from bonding; the kids are smart enough to see the tension and the history. Children aren’t stupid. They know when someone is a “disruptor,” and they certainly know when they are being pressured to replace their actual mother. The mistress feeling like an “outsider” is a natural consequence of her own actions. If you don’t want to feel like an outsider in a family, maybe don’t start your relationship by k!lling the marriage that created it.

The husband’s entitlement is the real star of the show here. He wants to have his cake, eat it too, and have his ex-wife frost it for him. He wants the mistress to be happy, the kids to be compliant, and the OP to be “kind” so he doesn’t have to feel the guilt of what he did. It’s not about the mistress’s infertility; it’s about his own comfort. He wants to erase the “cheater” label and replace it with “co-parent,” and he’s mad that the OP won’t give him the eraser.

So, is the OP the ahole? Not in this universe or any other. NTA. She is maintaining a boundary that is healthy for her and her kids. She doesn’t need to be “sympathetic” to the person who helped dismantle her life. Infertility is a tragedy, but it is not a “get out of jail free” card for past sh!t behavior. The OP is being civil for the kids, and that is already more than these two deserve.

We hope the OP keeps those lawyer-approved boundaries high and stays firm. If the ex-husband is “enraged,” that’s his problem to manage. Maybe he can use that energy to finally go to therapy and figure out why he thinks his ex-wife should be his mistress’s emotional support system. Until then, the OP should keep ignoring the texts and enjoying the fact that her kids know exactly who their “real” mama is.

What would you do if your ex’s affair partner asked for your sympathy? Is this the most entitled request you’ve ever heard, or is it time for everyone to “move on”? Let us know in the comments if you think the “third parent” comment was the final straw!