Woman Was ‘Blindsided’ When Daughter Cut Her Off, So She Created a Community for Other Estranged Parents

Laura Wellington never expected her life to pivot so sharply in her 30s.

In 1998, the mother of four learned her husband had cancer. A few years later, he died. Suddenly, Wellington — now 59 — was raising their children on her own. She says they remained a close family, and she made it a priority to keep communication open.

“I always wanted to create this strong unit and give them the tools to become their father’s legacy in the best possible way,” she says. “That was so incredibly important to me. I put my heart and soul into every moment of it.”

After college, Wellington’s daughter moved from the tri-state area to Australia, where she met a man and fell in love. Not long after, she called her mother to share the news: they were getting married. Wellington says she gave the couple her blessing.

A week later, everything changed. Wellington says she was told she was no longer invited to the wedding. She messaged her daughter’s fiancé to take back her blessing, though she also believed the couple would likely move forward anyway. Even then, she says, she wished them well.

Soon after, her daughter reached out asking for help with wedding paperwork. Wellington says she told her daughter she needed space after being uninvited. After that, she claims, her daughter cut off contact with the entire family.

Wellington says the estrangement began in June 2024 — about six months before the wedding — and that her daughter has not spoken to any family members since. Her daughter did not respond to a request for comment.

Though Wellington says she remains close with her other children, she describes the situation as shocking and deeply painful. Looking for a way to cope, she began sharing her experience online, hoping to find other parents navigating similar family ruptures.

“That’s why I sought to find other people like me,” she says. “I couldn’t even fathom, one, this happened to me — two, that I was alone in this. But no one was speaking about it. I couldn’t find anybody.”

She posted a video describing herself as an “emotional doormat” for her estranged child. The clip went viral, and she says her inbox quickly filled with messages from parents trying to understand what had happened in their own families.

That response inspired her to create a Facebook group: Doormat Mom No More — a space she says is meant to give estranged parents a place to talk to people who understand.

“They were all so grateful because they had felt so alone,” she says. “There’s such an embarrassment that comes from being estranged from your child. Everybody always says that if you’re estranged, you did something.”

She says many parents in the group share a similar frustration: that they’ve reflected, acknowledged mistakes, and apologized — yet still feel shut out.

To better understand what drives estrangement, Wellington says she reads entries closely and notices patterns — but no single explanation.

“You have social media situations where they’re feeding off each other,” she says. “You have religious differences, political differences, cultural and moral differences. Everything and anything that can get in the way is getting in the way, and it’s causing division.”

Wellington says she would welcome a conversation with her estranged daughter, but she also believes reconnecting would require time and rebuilding trust.

“It would take me learning to trust her again,” she says. “It would take conversation and working on the relationship. It would take a lot. But for me, there’s always a path forward with my children.”

Her broader goal, she says, is to help estranged parents find local support too — not just online — so they can build friendships and community in real life.

At the same time, Wellington acknowledges that not every story fits the same mold. After hearing from so many people, she says she understands there are situations where estrangement is necessary.

“When a child that’s hurting asks me, ‘Is there ever a time when a child has a right to say no more to the parent?’” she says. “There are. There are some terrible parents out there who do not deserve the decision of whether or not they see their kid. That’s that child’s right.”

Still, she believes many cases fall into a more complicated middle — where both sides are imperfect, but not beyond repair.

“I think there’s no grace anymore,” she says. “There’s no understanding anymore of just human foibles. The lever comes down so hard so quickly.”

Ultimately, Wellington says her aim is to encourage conversation — and to make space for both perspectives.

“It wasn’t to drive hate,” she says. “It was to wake people up. It cannot be good for estranged adult kids either.”

She points to the ripple effects: lost relationships with parents, missed connections with grandparents, and family history that fades when contact disappears.

“You lose the stories, your history, the good moments,” she says.

As the group has grown, Wellington says she feels a deep responsibility to protect the space and keep it supportive. She says she and her team carefully review requests and activity to keep the community functioning safely and thoughtfully.

“It’s not just one person’s story that I’m telling,” she says. “It’s a responsibility. It’s its own force.”

She also notes that the group includes fathers as well as mothers — all looking for help, understanding, and a way forward.

Her hope, she says, is to “give voices to both sides” by creating room for honest dialogue — not just blame.

“I want to help people,” she says. “This can’t go on. Parents are suffering. Kids are suffering.”