Woman 'refuses' to take on terminally ill sister's kids when she dies

A woman says she 'refuses' to take on her terminally ill sister's children when she dies, despite her sister begging her to, and other people are judging her decision.

Posting to Reddit, the woman revealed that her older sister, 31, has three kids and has recently been diagnosed with a large brain tumour that will significantly shorten her life.

The woman's sister has a six-year-old, a two-year-old and a newborn baby. Despite the woman, 25, and her husband choosing to remain child-free, her sister has asked her to be the carer of her children as she doesn't have anyone else to leave them to.

READ MORE: Urgent baby formula recall due to possible contamination

READ MORE: Kim Kardashian shares her love of 'baby scrapbooking'

"We don't have family, and her ex-husband wants nothing to do with the kids since she cheated on him for years with many men and they aren't his. She doesn't know who the dad is," the woman explains.

The woman then lists the reasons why she said 'no'.

"1. Since we are both child-free it would be unfair to ask my husband to make this kind of sacrifice. We both agreed to no kids when we got married; to change something like that generally means a divorce.

2. I am an atheist. My sister wants me to raise them religiously and to "know god" and take them to church. No."

Other reasons included that the woman isn't that close to her sister. She says their six-year age difference brought distance to their relationship, and she considers her sister a "stranger". On top of that, her memories of her sister aren't so sweet.

READ MORE: Chrissy Teigen hints she may be planning another baby

"[From] the memories I do have, she was always awful to me, [and] cynical...After she moved out at 18 we haven't talked once, besides at my parents funeral. I don't even know her kids, let alone her," she writes.

Unsurprisingly, the woman's sister didn't take the news well.

"She cried and called me 'awful' but it's my life, and ultimately I get to be selfish with it...

"A child isn't an 18-year commitment; it's lifelong, and one I have decided not to take."

The woman said that since saying no, her sister's friends have bombarded her with vicious messages.

"Friends of hers whom I've never met have been reaching out to me and calling me at all hours to leave nasty voice mails.

"[They say] I need to step up as a sister, but I just feel like she's trying to use me as her ticket out to dying and not feeling guilty," she wrote.

Redditors have had mixed responses to the woman's post.

One understanding commenter wrote: "I've worked with kids for the past 20+ years and I can tell you that one of the worst things for a kid is to be with a parent who can't/doesn't want to be a parent.

"Parents who don't want to parent usually end up abusing their children either by what they do or what they don't do (abandon, leave them alone)."

A second commented: "A better thing for [you to do would be to] provide a list of all of [your sister's] wonderful supportive friends who have messaged you with the importance of stepping up for your loved ones, because surely they would jump at the chance to take the kids."

A third, more critical person wrote: "If you don't know these children at all, I don't see why your sister would want you to be their guardian. How could they possibly be comfortable with you after the loss of their mother? These so-called friends of hers would be better suited if they have an established relationship with the children."