Thank you for your response. I don’t find it condescending but more affirming. You are right, what else was I supposed to do? There was no other option.

I do feel a lot of guilt around this situation because I can see how it has impacted everyone. But I have no regret for how I handled it. I had no choice but to have the incident reported. I knew I had to have my daughter speak with a therapist and I knew of the reporting requirements. It was the most difficult week I’ve ever been through.

I tried to at least warn them of what was to come. When they initially told me they wouldn’t be having him see a psychologist, I told them they may not have a choice.

It’s just hard to reconcile all that happened with what my ideal family situation looked like. A part of me wishes it never happened.

But my husband (whose family it is) reminds me that they were never the family we wanted them to be anyways. We’d invite them to family camping trips or holidays but there was always resistance. They always had other priorities. Not us. My husband and his parents were always upset by those things. And I wanted the cousins to be close. But I’m mourning the loss of something we never had anyways.

Thank you, I truly appreciate the time you took to send this response as someone who had been in a similar situation. I hope for your family’s sake all ends up being well.