8 Guys Left Their Significant Others Because Of How Crazy Their Families Were. Here Are The Stories.

"Every family operates at some level of dysfunction, but my girlfriend from college had family issues that not even Dr. Phil could solve..."

By Danielle Page

Updated 10 months ago, January 16, 2024

If you want to know what the woman you’re marrying is going to be like when she gets older, they say to take a look at her mom.

Apparently, taking a look at some mothers is enough to send guys packing when it comes to their family dealbreakers – even things you thought were cute quirks. Read on to see what else these 8 men had to say about the red flags that made them call things off.

Extremely Dysfunctional Dynamics
“Every family operates at some level of dysfunction, but my girlfriend from college had family issues that not even Dr. Phil could solve. I knew things weren’t going to work out after I saw her uncle put her brother into a chokehold that literally looked like he was going to suffocate him. I even had to jump in to break it up.” – Andrew, 26
Disapproving Dad
“On some level, no dad is ever going to give his blessing to the guy his daughter marries 100 percent, but my last girlfriend’s dad went out of his way to make her question all of my actions. If I didn’t invite her out with my guy friends, he would convince her that I was out cheating on her.” – Kyle, 29
The Family Business
“I was really serious about my high school girlfriend, who I dated for three years. As I was applying to colleges, her family started to insist that I didn’t need to go, because it was a tradition that we would both take over the family bakery, which had been in her family for over 50 years and two generations. That wasn’t the life that I wanted, and they couldn’t understand why. She owns it with her husband today.” – Rick, 32
Too Many Siblings
“This girl I dated had 8 siblings — she was the fifth child and was constantly doing things for shock value, but I really think they were all because she didn’t get enough attention as a kid and was always fighting for it.” – Kevin, 23
Against Marriage Equality
“I met the parents of my ex shortly after my brother and his husband had gotten married. As I was talking about my brother’s wedding to her folks, her mother asked me if my brother’s wife was a nice girl. When I told them it was a gay wedding, they told me they didn’t believe in that. Like we were talking about the Easter Bunny or something.” – Jared, 26
Daddy’s Girls
“Aside from the fact that hearing a grown woman call her father ‘daddy’ makes me cringe, girls who rely on their father for financial support and for extravagant gifts are too spoiled for me to ever be interested in.” – Joe, 34
Opposing Adoption
“My parents adopted my brother and I from China when we were toddlers, and while I plan on having kids of my own, I also want to give a better life to a kid who needs it by adopting. My girlfriend at the time seemed fine with it, until we went to dinner with her parents and the topic came up, and they told me that adoption was just too much of a bargain, because you never know what kind of troubled kid you’re going to end up with…” – Alex, 28
Like Mother, Like Daughter
“I almost married my college girlfriend. I feel like a horrible person for even admitting this, but what really made me decide to end things was her mother. It wasn’t just that her mother was a selfish, conniving woman who liked to put people down to make herself feel better — it was that after four years of college, I started seeing those same traits come to light in my girlfriend. I just didn’t want that to be my future.” – Jason, 24