Parents Are Being Cut Off by Their Children in Growing Family Epidemic

Brooklyn Beckham’s recent social media post about his ongoing family feud has pushed a difficult topic back into the spotlight — parent-child estrangement. But long before celebrity families were making headlines, experts say these painful rifts were already becoming more common.

A study from Cornell University found that more than a quarter of Americans — an estimated 67 million people — report being estranged from at least one family member. One of them is Laura Wellington, a Connecticut mother known online as “Doormat Mom.”

Unlike many estrangements that unfold slowly, Wellington says hers came out of nowhere.

She told Fox News Digital that she had been actively involved in planning her daughter’s wedding before suddenly being told she would not be invited. When she questioned the decision, both her daughter and her daughter’s fiancée blocked her from all communication in 2024.

“I was completely blindsided,” Wellington said. “The pain of being cut off — it’s a pain you can’t describe unless you feel it.”

Widowed and a mother of four, Wellington turned to TikTok to share her experience. In one early video, she spoke bluntly about the heartbreak without naming her daughter.

“I just said what was on my mind,” she explained. “I came out heavy-handed and said something like, ‘Were you a really good parent, and you raised an ungrateful little…?’”

The response was overwhelming.

Wellington says parents from across the U.S. — and from countries like Germany, the U.K., and Australia — flooded her comments and messages, sharing similar stories.

“They needed to talk. They needed support,” she said.

Since posting her first video in August 2024, Wellington has built a following of nearly 150,000 across TikTok and Instagram. Her audience includes parents navigating estrangement, critics who disagree with her views, and even some young adults trying to repair broken relationships.

She says many parents who reach out describe deep grief, isolation, and even suicidal thoughts after being cut off by their adult children.

“They’re ashamed to talk about it,” Wellington said. “Because the first question they expect is, ‘Well, what did you do?’”

Wellington believes estrangement has increasingly become a socially acceptable solution to family conflict — even when there is no abuse or neglect involved. She blames political division, cultural shifts, and what she calls harmful societal narratives.

“Cutting off your parent has become the first option, not the last,” she said. “There’s a loss of traditional family values, a loss of faith, a loss of grounding.”

She added, “What’s the point of saving a nation if you don’t have cohesive families to save it for?”

In December 2024, on the same weekend as her daughter’s wedding, Wellington released a self-published book titled Doormat Mom, No More!

“It stopped being just my story,” she said. “It became a story of many.”

Not everyone she hears from is a parent. Wellington says some young adults contact her because they genuinely want to repair damaged relationships.

“There are wonderful young people who want answers and want healing,” she said.

She acknowledges that estrangement can be necessary in cases involving abuse or neglect — but says those situations are not always present.

Jonathan Alpert, a New York City psychotherapist, told Fox News Digital that he’s seeing parent-child estrangement more frequently in his practice, with politics often playing a major role.

“I work with families where estrangement isn’t about abuse,” Alpert said. “It’s about who someone voted for, what news they watch, or the views they express.”

“What used to be disagreement is now framed as moral injury,” he added.

Alpert says estrangement is increasingly treated as a form of emotional wellness, even though the emotional consequences can be severe.

“Parents experience grief, confusion, and shame,” he said. “Adult children may feel empowered at first, but later struggle with unresolved anger and rigidity that spills into other relationships.”

He also stressed the difference between boundaries and estrangement.

“Boundaries allow a relationship to continue with limits,” Alpert explained. “Estrangement ends the relationship entirely.”

For parents facing estrangement, Wellington warns against chasing reconciliation.

“You can’t force someone into a relationship with you,” she said. “Once you start running after them, you give up your autonomy.”

Instead, she encourages parents to focus on rebuilding their own lives.

“Create a life you’re proud of. Find happiness,” she said. “If they come back, they’ll see you’re thriving.”

Despite everything, Wellington says she still holds onto hope that one day she and her daughter may reconnect.

“I hope she sees me as a strong woman,” Wellington said. “The same woman who wanted to hold this family together is the same woman helping others survive this pain.”

Alpert agrees reconciliation is possible — but says it becomes harder when estrangement is reinforced by online validation or political identity.

“Repair requires a shared belief that relationships can survive disagreement,” he said.

For millions of families, that belief may be the hardest thing to rebuild.