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June 6, 2022 10:06 pm  #1


I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

Hello everyone,
I left an abusive relationship of six years about a year ago. We had a child together who is now two. I am not sure if I need to state a trigger warning... But yeah...

When I met my abuser I had a house, a car, my own bank account, a decent job and I wasn't even looking for a relationship. I lost all of this in the first two years of our relationship. How? Oh, manipulation and lies. Further explanation would require me to write a book full...

He was financially, emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive. I highly believe that he is an undiagnosed narcissist. He kept me prisoner, yes literally, in our home for two years. When I became pregnant he screamed at me that I was going to have an abortion. You see he had lied about his two children he already had. He told me that one of them wasn't his, this child is now seven and they have never met. He told me the other was in a different country and the mother cut off ties from him. Sure, part of that is true but she never cut ties with him, that child is now ten and he hasn't seen him since he was a year and a half old.

He never wanted to be a father. So, he spent the next few days demanding that I call an abortion clinic. I finally did just to get him to stop screaming at me. After I told him the price, I told him that I could leave. I was giving him and "out." I told him our child didn't have to carry his name, didn't have to have his name on their birth certificate, I could leave with our child and he would never have to hear a word from me again. He actually thought about it then stated some crap about the morals I had taught him wouldn't allow him to do that. No, that wasn't it. He didn't want to be alone again. This man had never been alone.

I had no idea that while he had started dating me his long term off and on partner was giving birth in a different state and was waiting for him to return. The lies upon lies... Sigh. After he said the moral comment he started threatening me. If I left he would take our child. He had money I didn't. If I called the police he would have me arrested for making false claims and take our child away.

What didn't help was the lies he told me about his military career. He used these lies to build a fear in me of the local police. He was already cheating on me with a man. He said he was his friend but would joke about being boyfriends. He didn't allow us to be in the same room alone, period.

The never ending screaming and yelling... Stomping his feet, punching the wall or table... I was always afraid. He's a foot taller than me and he's not skinny and small. He has very wide shoulders and a thick trunk.

I wasn't allowed to be pregnant. He would tell me "you don't thank the oven, you thank the chef." He would tell his friends this too while they drank in the garage. He would make me "pay," for every doctor visit. He would constantly tell me that I was useless and worthless and entitled. I tried to leave during my pregnancy but he made a missing person's report when I didn't contact him for 24 hours and he scared me into coming back. He said that I would give birth in jail for misuse of public funds.

After I gave birth, I needed to stay in the hospital. I had a very, very high risk pregnancy. I was sick after giving birth. Our child was healthy. I had to have an emergency c-section. On the sixth day my ex threatened to take out child home without me. I chose to breast feed and he hated it. He said that our child would love me more because he couldn't breast feed. I went home AMA on the 7th day because he wouldn't wait anymore.

About a week after I escaped my fear came true. He served me with court papers. He now uses the court system to continue the abuse...

A week before the first hearing he announced that he was transitioning. About a month later he started making demands that I refer to him as "mommy," when talking about him. He moved his boyfriend in a few days after I left. He told me that he had already been referring to him as "daddy," around our child. Our child has a speech delay... She has only called me "Mom," twice. Yet he is demanding that she suddenly start calling him "Mommy."

Fast forward about ten months later... We have a final hearing scheduled. He's called me delusional, states that he makes a better mother than me, says that I am not co-parenting when I won't agree to changing visitation at the drop of a hat, states that I stole his child. There's a lot more... Suffice to say that I am terrified of what may or may not happen to our daughter while she is at visitation.

He never cared for her financially or physically during our relationship. I used charities and government programs. He used my family without my knowledge.

So here I am... I've tried to talk about it with other abuse survivors but none of them have dealt with their ex transitioning. I can't go to transgender support areas because people get very angry at me. I'm told that I have to just accept it and make changes. I don't think it's fair to me or to my daughter... If it was a more natural process then maybe we could go with how things naturally progress but my ex has no patience. He wants things and wants them now.

There's so much more I could write but this is already way too long. If you make it this far, thank you...
 

 

June 7, 2022 6:56 am  #2


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

This man does not deserve you. He has treated you badly.

 

June 7, 2022 11:28 am  #3


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

I'm so sorry you've gone through all this.  Can I ask, how old is your baby now?  Do you have custody?

 

June 7, 2022 1:47 pm  #4


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

Thank you both... Our daughter is just 28 months old now. I have primary custody which means a few things... But he has visitation. One of the first things he did was to order a geographic restriction. Meaning my daughter and I can't leave the county let alone the state. We have no support system here. He is the only family our daughter has here... I want to move back home and we're legally stuck. Hoping that at the final hearing the judge will lift that geographic restriction.
Thank you both for your replies. This has been very hard on my daughter and I and continues to cause all kinds of problems.
 

     Thread Starter
 

June 7, 2022 3:47 pm  #5


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

Sorry to read your all too familiar story.  I hope you have help from family, friends.  I thought I should give this link   https://www.transwidowsvoices.org/  This is one of a few places where I read stories like yours and mine.  What you wrote here is already very comprehensive and well-written.  

 

June 7, 2022 3:49 pm  #6


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

The reason I asked, is that when babies are learnng to speak, they are able to say "Daddy" well before they are able to say "Mommy".  The consonants are just easier, it's not any kind of reaction to you.  

I'm glad you have custody, and I really hope you can get that geographical restriction loosened.  

 

June 7, 2022 6:04 pm  #7


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

Wow. That is very intense and I don't have any advice for you but to keep fighting for your child. And Prayers. Lots and lots of prayers sent your way, Momma. I don't know how I would handle or feel in this situation so I cannot offer up advice. And I'm sorry that other groups have treated you that way. More than that, I'm sorry that you have gone through all of this. 

 

June 7, 2022 7:13 pm  #8


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

I truly hope your lawyer can get the restriction dropped totally. I hope you can move as far away from that pos as possible. 

 

January 19, 2023 11:17 pm  #9


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

***UPDATE***

Our final was delayed. My ex lost his attorney due to communication issues. Honestly, I think he withdrew because he realized what he was dealing with. My attorney managed to push him into settling. Why? Money. Basically, if ex didn't settle he would have paid about eight grand. 

I've been talking to a ton of survivors of domestic abuse. I know I am dealing with a psycho narcissist. The pattern, the behavior it all fits. The geographic restriction was lifted and I moved with our child over a thousand miles away. I'm still trying to tell my experiences but he and his friends have been stalking me and my social media accounts. I don't know how they found me, I don't use video, FB is private, I don't use identifying details. The only way ex could have figured it out is to hear the details of the abuse at his hands and recognize it. 

I ended up getting help for our child. She went through two different types of speech therapy for awhile. When we moved here in September she suddenly started talking, a lot, and I love it. She's still very confused about gender. She's almost three and has no idea what a boy is or a girl is. I wouldn't expect her to know that yet. She's an only child, she's not even three yet... 

Ex has sent over three welfare checks. His language is now straight out insulting me and threatening me. Before he would elude to wanting to have sole custody now he says, "I don't want my child around you." I am in the process of filing a restraining order. It's difficult because I have to rehash all of the abuse and the harassment all over again... Hearing his voice makes my stomach turn... 

Ex has now convinced our child that she has "two momma's." Even though she picked the titles "Mom, Mommy," for me. He took her for Christmas vacation and I thought I might not get her back. During this time I asked for a video chat. He obliged but it was terrible,
"Hi mommy!" Says our daughter, then she puts her hands up in the air and says, "Where's Mommy?" Ex's reaction was to interrupt and say, "I'm momma, I'm right here." Then he made sure to talk about all the gifts she got and that she's just really tired. No, you confused her she didn't want to participate afterward.

I was part of a support group for SA survivors. Because... Ex did, several times. This was my third time attending and I thought I was safe enough to mention the issues of his transition. Nope. I get an email the next day asking if I could talk to the person running it. She says, "I don't have to respect him but I have to respect his pronouns or it could trigger someone." Whut!? Seriously!? This man did so much to me is trying to replace me as her mother and you want me to what? No. I was nice about it and said I was ending the call. I will not be going back. 

There is a massive difference between someone with an actual mental illness/condition and someone who is using it for drama, clout, and attention. Give him a year or so and he'll be talking about his "de-transition." It's been almost two years and he says he started taking blockers three months after I left. What a lie. Nothing physical has changed at all. He still looked like a man in bad drag with a deep throaty voice. Often he doesn't even try to pass. 
I asked him if he would be paying any of his child support responsibilities and he told me, "I am a stay at home wife now. My name has changed. You only got child support from the good graces of my husband. My husband won't be sending you child support until I see my child on video at least once a week. No, I didn't remind him why I stopped doing video. I didn't remind him that it's not in our final. I did remind him of his right to use a visitation every month and he hasn't. His response was that it was economically feasible. 

I then asked him if he had legally changed his name and he said, "You don't need to know." Yes, yes I do. Specially, if he intends to pick up our child for spring break. 

To be honest, if it didn't impact our child if he just went away after we escaped... I wouldn't give one fig about him claiming to be transgender. 

I feel alone... I feel lost. He's allowed to call me all sorts of names and to treat me like I am somehow a surrogate rather than her mother... He constantly says that I am keeping her from him and I'm not. He constantly reminds me that he is now a woman and I don't freaking care! Go, be a "woman," just leave me and our child out of it because you can't do it in a healthy way. 

I'm ranting, I know. I'm tired of all of this. I'm tired of not being able to tell my experiences, not live peacefully, I am tired of being called transphobic for not respecting an abusive man's pronouns. I'm tired of the anxiety attacks, the nightmares, the PTSD, dealing with a corrupt court system that doesn't give a rats a** about domestic violence victims. He doesn't care what he does or that it will impact our child for the rest of her life. 

If you've made it this far... Thanks for reading...

     Thread Starter
 

January 20, 2023 12:34 am  #10


Re: I feel like I suffered enough, now? Now, he wants to be mommy.

*hugs* You have been through the ringer!

I do not have a trans ex, my ex just (according to him) woke up one day and decided he was gay. I had absolutely no idea. Instead of working as a team, and coming to a decision that considered both of us and the fact we had been married for almost 2 decades....he chose to lie to me, manipulate me, gaslight me, turn me into an anxious, broken mess and a shell of a person.....and the only notice I got was when he sat down beside me on the couch and said "I'm gay, I'm divorcing you".

And I am right there with you. I said in a group one time that I don't think it's possible to not know you're gay. I mean, everyone screams about how you're born that way, nothing can change it, and all the other BS that is spewed.....you can't tell me that someone goes through half their life and then it's like a comet out of the blue that just strikes them one day,...ooohhhhh that's what's been missing in my life, I just didn't realize I was gay! This is the claim from my gay husband. That he had no idea until 2 weeks before he told me *eye roll*

When I said this, I was accused of being homophobic. That it was my roll (as his loyal spouse *barf*) to support him and allow him to live as his true self. And that I should be happy for him, as now he doesn't have to live a lie.....so, then what was I for those 20 years?

Absolutely burns me. I feel like the whole LGBTQ thing is the flavor of the month now. It's the in thing to do and everyone's just jumping on board with some abhorrent behavior. 

Apparently my gay husband, who willingly chose to propose to me, got legally married to me, and promised to spend his life with me (and proceeded to waste 20 years of my life)......was actually super repressed by his loving, open family, non-religious background and his sibling that is bi and in a polyamorous marriage. All the love and support he received when he finally braved his way out of the torture that was his loyal, loving, gave him everything wife that he was married to....sure showed just how difficult it has been *eye roll*

Meanwhile, I'm seen as the homophobic harpie who prevented him from living his true self. Ironically, I never had any ill will towards anyone, let alone the LGBTQ community.....now, I'm not so sure sometimes....after what I have experienced, seen, and met other people in similar situations....

 

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