Pregnant Woman Causing Stepdaughter Allergic Reaction Backed: 'Prank'

The internet has backed a pregnant woman who is being accused of negligence by her husband's ex-wife, after she accidentally gave her stepdaughter an allergic reaction when the child and her twin sister played a prank on her.

In a post shared on Reddit in December, under the username u/throwaway028939292, she explained that because the nine-year-olds, Isabelle and Maria, look exactly alike, she struggles to tell them apart, and her husband gave Isabelle a pink wristband and Maria a blue one so she can recognize them easily.

A few weeks ago, the twins decided to play a prank on their 25-year-old stepmother, who didn't even know they were in the house and they swapped wristbands. As she was sitting watching TV, "going ham" on some snickers bars, the twin she believed to be Isabelle came into the room, sat by her, and took a bite of her candy bar.

"Maria's allergy [to peanuts] is quite severe and she knows she isn't supposed to eat anything with nuts in them," she added.

According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, around 6 million children in the United States have some form of food allergy, and the most common allergies are to peanuts and milk. Peanuts are also the most likely food to cause a severe reaction, anaphylaxis and death.

After eating the snickers bar, Maria soon got a very severe reaction. Fortunately, her stepmom had an EpiPen and took her to the emergency room immediately.

Although the girls came clean about the prank, she received a call from their angry mom, who called her irresponsible for keeping products with nuts in the house, blaming her for endangering the child, and now she is now no longer allowed to look after the girls.

Even though her husband is on her side, some members of the family are siding with the ex-wife instead, blaming the pregnant woman for keeping peanut products at all.

Soula Hareas, a mental health counselor at Florida-based McNulty Counseling, told Newsweek that even though she is pregnant and has cravings, the stepmother should not have had peanut products in the house because the allergic reaction is one that could kill the little girl so as much as we all love a good snickers bar, she should sacrifice them for her new family.

"That being said, the twins did this for a reason. A silly prank is a way to be dismissive because they are kids but even nine-year-olds understand the severity of peanut allergies in this day and age. The twins are acting out and it's up to the adults involved to find out why. It could be the new stepmom or the new baby. It could be their father's choices.

"Whatever it is the three adults need to come together and learn how to co-parent because these girls will not be adults for several years so the blended family must learn to work together," she said.

Setting Boundaries

According to Hareas, there needs to be consistency with expectations and boundaries and the girls need to learn that there is no mom's side or dad's side because when they sense these things they will use them as opportunities to play the adults against each other.

She added: "The stepmom made a mistake but it's what everyone does now that will determine how successful this blended family is."

The post, originally shared on the r/AmItheA****** where users discuss their actions with strangers, has gone viral, receiving over 8,200 upvotes and 1,400 comments so far.

One user, VerendusAudeo, said: "OP, you are [Not The A******]. Not only did you already attempt to confirm which individual you were giving the candy to, but you were explicitly lied to when you did so. Maria knowingly ingested a nut product under her own volition. She is not a wild animal who can't control herself if you have nuts in the house. Honestly, are they going to keep her on a leash in the grocery store because she might be tempted by the peanut butter? 9 years old is old enough to start managing her own allergy."

And carolizzy81 said: "They deliberately tricked her. I think this was intentional." Craw__ added: "Anyone else suspects the kid's mother put them up to this "Prank" or have I just been on Reddit too long."

Another user, Environmental_Art591 wrote: "They pulled a parent trap bit on a smaller scale. While I wouldn't rule out the mum entirely, it wouldn't be my go-to on this one. I had twins for friends in kindergarten, and all of us kids could tell them apart, but none of the adults could. I did have trouble for a little while when we reconnected in high school, but that was only until I started noticing how their personalities were shown through their clothing and hairstyles."

OP is NTA, they tricked her, and she thought she was home alone, plus cravings in pregnancy usually point towards dietary deficiency so she can't exactly clear the house of something she is craving.

Newsweek reached out to u/throwaway028939292 for comment. We couldn't verify the details of the case.