A 23-year-old woman who is parent to a 17-year-old has opened up about the stigma she faces on a daily basis. Hunter Nelson, who lives in Kentucky, America, became her half-sister's legal guardian in 2021 after her step-mum and their shared dad passed away.
Rather than placing her sister, Gracie, into foster care, she decided to step up into a parental role, promising to keep her "safe, happy and have all her needs and wants met". She has been sharing stories about her unusual situation on TikTok - where she has now gained more than 156,000 followers. Under the username @hunterenelson, Hunter explains how she sat her entire family down at aged 21 to tell them she was adopting a 15-year-old.
In one of her recent videos, she shared the rules she sets her half-sister as well as the expectations she has for her when it comes to her home and school life.
She said: "My two rules are that she can't lie and she can't smoke, drink or vape - just because health concerns. It's not good for you as an adult but it's especially not good for you as a teenager.
"The rest of the things are just expectations I have for her. I expect she keeps her room clean and helps me clean the bathroom.
"I expect she makes good grades. I expect her to communicate with me.
"When she first came to live here, I was very strict on her. We had a cleaning schedule on a whiteboard in the hallway. She had to follow the cleaning schedule, she had to do the steps it took to clean, she had a routine.
"I do think this helped her become more functional because if you know anything about foster care, or kids who come from an unregulated environment, they need that structure to get set on track."
She went on to explain how Gracie wasn't allowed to sleepover at her friends' houses when she first moved in with Hunter - but this has now become more relaxed after working on her communication.
Hunter added: "I really like that she can do those things now because that's a really fun part of being a teenager and being in high school."
But while Gracie respects Hunter's rules and expectations, the 23-year-old struggles to be taken seriously by other parents and high school teachers.
When speaking about their relationship, Hunter said: "It's definitely not a mother-daughter bond but it's more of what a sister bond is.
"We have fun together, we love each other and we do stuff that sisters do -but I'm her only parental figure so it adds an extra element to it.
"Some days [being her guardian] is really, really hard - I feel like I'm going to pull my hair out - but some days, it's really easy and we get along so great."
While she can't escape the criticism she receives from strangers on a daily basis, she is also sent encouraging and supportive comments on her social media channels.
One user said: "You’re a legend and have taken on a responsibility millions wouldn’t consider at your age."
Another user added: "You're doing a fantastic job! You're a very mature, intelligent, beautiful young woman."
A third user said: "It’s really great you did this for your sister. It can be really tough giving up your childhood for someone else to have one."
One more user added: "I love what your doing for her she's lucky to have such an amazing big sister."
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