‘Does my husband have a secret child?’: Woman gets government letter asking her to take in a child she’s never met. Is that normal?
After getting a letter in the mail, this wife finds out that her husband may have a 13-year-old child neither of them knew about. Viewers are at the edge of their seats, waiting to know the truth.
In a now-viral TikTok, Danielle Dewmt (@mrs.dwmt) says her husband received a letter in the mail from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) asking if he can care for a child that needs a new home. According to DCF's website for New Jersey, "the DCF and its partners are working to: increase kinship placements and family connections; prevent maltreatment and promote strong families; integrate consumer voice in all programs and services; cultivate a culture of accountability; maximize federal revenue; provide an integrated and inclusive system of care for youth; safeguard staff and promote professional satisfaction." This language varies from state to state, but generally, this is the role of the DCF.
"I'm pretty confident they don't just send these letters to just anyone," Dewmt says. "I'm pretty sure you have to be on a list or like somehow related to the child. We don't know who the child is. They provided the child's name and date of birth. So, by our calculations, the child is 13, and it would [have] made my husband 24 years old when the child was born."
"Do I have a child?" Dewmt's husband says toward the end of the video, most likely with some humor, as the camera shows his alarmed face and Dewmt's laugh.
Dewmt goes on to say in a later video that she doesn't think the child is his and that it must be some kind of relative. However, she says that after multiple calls, they still haven't heard back from DCF besides an email that a social worker forwarded to a supervisor.
The initial video has 8.9 million views and over 16,000 comments.
@mrs.dewmt ????????♂️ #secrets #dcf #parentsoftiktok #momtoks #largefamily #mystery #fyppp #storytime ♬ original sound - Danielle✨WFHM of 5
Viewers in the comments section are excited to find out more.
"It's tomorrow! Wake up we need to know," says one comment.
"Is it tomorrow yet?! I'm so invested!," notes another.
"This is wild and I NEED ANSWERS," says another.
Others in the comments are offering advice.
"I actually got a letter just like that The other day from North Carolina and when I called them they said they sent out 300 letters about one child. Any potential family member got a letter," says one comment.
"Haha. We got a letter like this years ago for the kids of a distant cousin. That's most likely the case," says another.
Finally, an updated video revealed the answers. Dewmt says her husband's uncle had an affair, and the child is actually her husband's cousin's half-sister's child. The couple says they are still waiting to hear back from DCF, but they are going to think about how to help as much as they can.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Dewmt for comment via email.
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The post ‘Does my husband have a secret child?’: Woman gets government letter asking her to take in a child she’s never met. Is that normal? appeared first on The Daily Dot.