Do you think the American family should have welcomed and accepted or rejected them?

Question

My ex-sister in law never knew her father. The parents were divorced before she was born, the mother schizophrenic and she and her older sister were brought up by their grandmother in England. The older sister went looking for the father. He was American and returned there after the divorce. The older sister found her grandfather, a retired policeman in Detroit who did not make her welcome and warned her not to persue her father. She did and discovered that he had remarried and had about 5 children, all grown up at the time. He had never told his wife or children about the first marriage. On meeting there newly discovered half sister only one of them showed any interest, he though, was adopted. The father, who shall remain nameless had a successful career as a weather anchor man on a local TV station. I think it's mean of him that he never tried to make contact with his British daughters. He is now dead.

Answer 1

Considering that the children's mother was schizophrenic and disabled, it seems especially bad that their father just abandoned them. That just shows what kind of man he was.
However, the girls should not let this control their lives as adults. They need to make a good life for themselves now.

Answer 2

Let's give the American family some credit. They were willing to set up a meeting, and I'm guessing that they were cordial, if not overly friendly.

It's hard for the American family to accept the truth about their father's former life, especially when there are children involved. I think given time, things will change. Who knows.

Answer 3

Don't break your heart, be strong, sometimes our parents can be wierd. Your father must have been too busy with his life.. Men tend to put things behind their head and forget. He probabl just wanted to forget.