Estranged Adult Child: Help for Parents

As a loving mother of five, the last thing I ever expected was to have an estranged adult child. When the break occurred, I was left with questions: What happened? Was it my fault? What can I do now? You may have similar questions.

Who is the website for?

Little help is available for kind, supportive parents whose adult children are estranged, The separation may occur when parents are rejected by adult children, but might also happen when parents set boundaries an adult child doesn’t respect. The lack of helpful information for loving parents whose adult children are estranged is what prompted me to develop this site.

Here, as in my award winning books, Done With The Crying and Beyond Done More Answers and Advice for Parents of Estranged Adult Children I hope to help parents who are going through what I have: denial, disbelief, hurt, and eventual healing. Feelings of abandonment, as well as anger, confusion, and sadness are common. All of these emotions and more can be a part of the grieving process when you lose an adult child through estrangement. Most parents hope for a reunion that restores the adult child’s relationship with them and the family, but even when holding out hope, parents of an estranged adult child must also accept today’s reality and move forward. Otherwise, they waste precious time, when their energy is better spent on what brings them fulfillment and joy … and helps them to grow stronger.

An Estranged Adult Child – Circumstances Vary.

Our adult child separated from our entire immediate family. Sometimes, an estranged adult maintains contact with siblings or perhaps with one parent. Sometimes there is substance abuse involved. Other times a divorce, a remarriage, or the reunion with a parent who had little contact during the child’s growing up years complicates the relationship. Adult children may only contact a parent when they need assistance, which can bring up dilemmas as to whether helping is a wise choice or sets parents up for more hurt. The situation may involve grandchildren the estranged parent rarely or never gets to see. Sometimes, even a parent is the one who must sever ties with an adult child – – at least for a time.

Regardless of the unique situation, Rejected Parents.net  exists to offer support and information to parents whose adult children are estranged. I hope you will become involved by letting me know what’s on your mind, and what topics you would like to see covered. Or leave comments to comments to the articles and interacting with other parents. Also, do subscribe to the free newsletter so that you won’t miss any updates.

About the founder of Rejected Parents.net

My name is Sheri McGregor. First and foremost, I am a mother, a wife, and your fellow citizen of planet Earth. With four adult children who remain close, and one estranged adult child, I care about other parents and want to help. Since the early 1990s, I have worked as a writer covering a variety of topics including parenting, health, wellness and psychology for national and international publications. I am also a certified life coach and have been working in that capacity for nearly two decades.  I hold a Master’s Degree in Human Behavior, and have served on the Advisory Board for the College of Letters & Sciences for National University. I am not a psychologist, and by no means does anything on the website purport to serve as therapy. If you’re clinically depressed or suicidal, do seek local help. My intention here is to use my personal experience, my research with thousands of families, and my reporting and life coaching skills to help. I have learned a lot along the way — on my own and from other estranged parents. I am conducting independent research about estrangement, and hope you will participate by taking one or more of my surveys. Perhaps my experiences and information shared here, as well as in my books and on my YouTube channel can assist other parents who suffer emotional trauma associated with an estranged adult child.

Also, if you’re looking for a safe place to share with other parents, consider joining the peer support membership area housed on this website. You can find out more about that here.

You might also find my anthology helpful. See Nature’s Healing Spirit: Real Life Stories to Nurture the Soul.

Thank you for your time and attention in reading this. You’re welcome here. I’m glad you found the site.