In a raw and emotional video that has gone viral, a woman publicly revealed that although she deeply loves her three children, she no longer wants them back after losing custody.
The woman, @clerichena on TikTok, explained that her decision is not because of a lack of love, but because of the deep emotional scars and the harsh realities she has faced raising them alone.
“This is going to sound crazy, but I don’t want my children back,” she begins her TikTok video. “I love them wholeheartedly… but I don’t want them back.”
Her statement may seem shocking on the surface, but as she details her experience, it becomes clear this is a story of trauma, manipulation, and the crushing burden of raising children without a support system.
A Cry for Help, Not Hate
The young mother explains that she has been completely alone in parenting. No friends, no family, no emergency contacts, and no financial or emotional safety net.
“When I take them to the doctor, I don’t even have an emergency contact,” she shares.
This isolation is one of the primary reasons she feels unable to take her children back. Her story challenges common assumptions about what motherhood looks like, exposing the emotional labor and invisible suffering that many single mothers endure in silence.
I Was Manipulated Into Motherhood
She goes on to share a painful truth: she never wanted to become a mother so young. The woman recounts how, at just 19 years old, she was manipulated into having children by a man 12 years her senior.
“I was nine months pregnant on my 21st birthday. That was never my plan,” she says. “I was supposed to finish college and go to law school.”
She alleges the children’s father, then 33, used emotional manipulation and legacy guilt, telling her he was the last one with his surname and needed children to carry it on.
At the time, she was young, traumatized, and emerging from a background of abuse. His words, she now believes, were calculated to pressure her into a life path she wasn’t ready for.
Take Care of Your Legacy
The father, she claims, has since offered no meaningful support, despite using legacy as a justification to have children.
“If you want to continue your legacy, take care of the children,” she says directly.
Her video, while heartbreaking, offers a rare and vulnerable window into the complexities of motherhood, consent, and survival after manipulation.
She expresses gratitude for the many people who’ve left messages of support, but clarifies that returning to her old life is not what healing looks like for her.
“I love raising them… but I don’t want them back—for another set of reasons,” she stressed.
A Bigger Conversation About Motherhood and Support
This story has ignited a dialogue about what mothers, particularly Black mothers, are expected to carry, and how society fails to support women who raise children in isolation.
“She’s saying what most of you’ll wish y’all could say!” someone said amid the plethora of comments criticizing the woman.
Her video calls for empathy and systemic change, not judgment.
