The decision of whether or not to have children should always remain between a couple. When outside pressures creep in—especially from family—things can quickly become complicated.

Consider this example: a mother, desperate for grandchildren, took things so far that she risked losing her daughter entirely.

“I told her she wouldn’t be getting my inheritance.”

The mother explained: “My daughter married last year, and I’d quietly been hoping for a grandchild ever since. Then one day, she told me, ‘Mom, I’m infertile.’ I was shocked. And in my frustration, I told her, ‘You won’t be receiving my inheritance.’”

Some time later, the daughter and her husband adopted a little girl. The daughter asked her mother if that child would count as family. The mother’s response was cold: ‘No—she’s not biologically yours.’