The internet has branded this Florida mother a “pathetic” “monster” after she begged someone to use their photo-editing skills to remove her stepson from the family photo. The mom, whose name is Natalie, took a family photo with her husband, their two children, and her husband’s son from a previous relationship. Because Natalie did not feel the same type of connection with her stepson, she wanted someone to remove him from the image, so she had a copy of the picture with just her and “her boys.”
Natalie shared the image on Facebook and begged a stranger to help her “fix” the pic. By offering up $10 for someone to remove her young stepson from the frame, she quickly earned herself the title of an evil stepmother.
Before Natalie shared the image to the Facebook group, she contacted the professional photographer who created the image to see if she would be okay with her, hiring someone to crop out her stepson.
“Hey Dawn!” the monster mom wrote. “This picture is it. Okay, if I post it in a Photoshop group to see if my stepson can be removed? If not, I completely understand.”
The professional photographer responded, “You want him removed! Did we take shots without him? Sure, love, you can do that. I don’t mind.”
In response, Natalie wrote, “Yes, lol. I want one with just my boys. And no, we didn’t. We took them with him. Okay, thank you so much!”
Shortly after that exchange, Natalie turned to the Photoshop Fairy Connection to hire someone to remove the stepson from the image.
“Hello!” the monster stepmom wrote. “Can anyone remove the center kid? Willing to Cash app, Venmo, or Zelle $10. Photographer’s permission is included!”
Despite the internet branding her a monster, Natalie’s wild wish was granted. According to a screenshot of her social media page, the stepson has been removed and replaced with a blank space.
Nevertheless, reactions to her horrible request went viral on Twitter. People wrote responses such as:
“Imagine having a heart this small. One can only hope Step Mommy Dearest never makes her stepson feel as unwelcome as she makes it sound in these messages,” said one.
“Oh my God, this is so sad,” wrote another.
“This legit brings tears to my eyes. When you marry someone, you marry their whole family, especially the kids. My heart breaks for this kid. I don’t even know him, and I want to love him.”
Other people called Natalie “cold-blooded,” “heartless,” “truly awful,” and simply “cruel.”
“Not seeing too many defenders of this monster, but to be clear: This isn’t just her wanting one to two shots with her bio kids in the album. She chose the ‘edited’ version as her profile picture. The photo she uses to represent her world. That’s who she sees as her family.”
Another shared, “Instant tears but relieved face there are some step-parents who should not be allowed near any children, even their own. I hope this poor boy finds the kind of friends I met by accident on the way to healing from just those scars. May they show him acceptance, belonging, and love.”
What’s your reaction?
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