Self-made millionaire parents demand to stay in their medical student daughter’s cramped tiny studio apartment, after cutting her off financially at 18, and refuse to take “no” for an answer: ‘They didn’t ask if they could stay, they told me’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
May 30, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

It's always heartwarming when self-made multimillionaire parents, who contributed to your independence by mastering the art of financial ghosting at age eighteen, suddenly remember family ties exist and expect a hero's welcome in your rent-controlled shoebox. Boundaries? That's a word for pedestrian crosswalks and international disputes, not for parents who see your adult life as an annex to their vacation itinerary. The subtlety of their approach is breathtaking: forget "May we stay, dear?"—it's "We'll be there, clear some floor space," as if you're the world's saddest Airbnb, and this visit is their God-given dividend for the privilege of technically raising you.

It's not like they're short on options. With a net worth that could probably buy the entire building and evict you for having bad taste in futons, they could treat themselves to a five-star suite and a pillow menu that doesn't include "medical student's only blanket." But no, nothing says loving family like cramming two neglectful parents into your 210-square-foot sanctum of existential dread and exam flashcards.

You've explained, as tactfully as lifelong emotional survivors are able, that not only is there no sofa bed—there's barely a bed—but your pleas are batted away like polite suggestions at a board meeting. Given their history of guilt-tripping and creative blackmail, you're left prepping for a showdown that could require either the world's most awkward hotel reservation or a restraining order starter pack.

Some grown-up children cut the cord. Others, it seems, have to change the locks.

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  • "My parents are demanding to stay with me on their next trip. They won’t take “no” for an answer."

    www "I don't have room for anyone to stay with me"
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I'm in my mid-20s and live in a different state to my parents. "Boundaries" are a foreign concept to both of them and they've always viewed me as an extension of them, rather than my own person.
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  • My parents plan on visiting the state I live in next month and are demanding to stay with me. They didn't even ask if they could stay, they told me that they're staying with me and refuse to accept otherwise.
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  • I'm a medical student, currently living in a tiny studio apartment. I don't have room for anyone to stay with me, nor do I want
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  • Cheezburger Image 10510700800
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • anyone staying here. My course load is overwhelming and I need a quiet place to study.
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  • I work part-time and pay for everything myself. Despite them being self-made multimillionaires, they have refused to help me
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  • Cheezburger Image 10510700544
    via Syda Productions

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • financially since I moved out at 18, which was a nightmare ordeal filled with years worth of guilt- trips, emotional blackmail... the works.
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  • I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, in a country where the cost of living is at a crisis point. I struggle to pay for essentials each week.
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  • Nonetheless, my parents feel entitled to stay with me for free, because they "raised me". I put that in quotation marks, because they were neglectful and largely absent throughout my childhood.
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  • I had to essentially raise myself from the age of 12 onwards, while also being heavily parentified and forced to fulfil the role of a
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  • forced to fulfil the role of a spouse to my father. I had to grow up very fast and my relationship with my parents is
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  • damaged as a result of not only this, but also the extensive ab they inflicted upon my siblings and me.
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  • I have told them that I can't have them stay with me, but they won't have it. I'm worried that they're
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  • going to turn up with their luggage and force themselves into my home. I don't want to
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  • have to call the police on them if they turn up, but I can't have them stay here. What should I do? TIA.
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family drama inheritance brother mother tradition siblings family feud favoritism wedding aunt in laws mother in law sister fiancé grandmother Father
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