AITA for revealing my brother is actually my cousin to my girlfriend?

In a recent Reddit thread, a user shared a dilemma about revealing to their girlfriend that their brother is actually their legally adopted cousin. The user explained the family dynamics, detailing how their parents adopted their cousin at a young age due to family circumstances.

The issue arose when the girlfriend inadvertently referred to the brother as a cousin in a social setting, causing the brother to feel hurt and question the user's perception of their relationship. The user's response to the brother's feelings sparked a debate on whether they were in the wrong for dismissing his emotions.

The top comments from Reddit users highlighted the importance of acknowledging the brother's feelings and the impact of the user's actions on his sense of identity. Many commenters criticized the user for downplaying the brother's emotions and urged them to have a heartfelt conversation to address the hurt caused.

The consensus leaned towards the user being at fault for not showing empathy towards their brother's perspective and failing to validate his feelings. The thread delves into the complexities of family dynamics, perceptions of sibling relationships, and the significance of acknowledging and respecting each other's emotions within a family unit.

The discussion underscores the importance of open communication, empathy, and understanding in navigating sensitive family matters.

Original Post

My (25M) parents legally adopted my cousin (23M) when he was 6. He is the son of my father’s sister, and his bio dad was never in the picture and my aunt was in and out of jail for drug charges and now lives in a different state.

Anyway, he calls our parents ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, I always called him my brother and think of him as such, this has never been an issue. Here's the thing.

I’m dating this girl and we were talking about family and I told her I had a brother who was actually my cousin, just for context. (We were talking about family, she was telling me about how she had half-siblings and step-siblings etc.) A few days later we were out and bumped into him, so I introduced him by name and she said something like “oh, that’s your cousin?”, and I quickly corrected her “my brother”, but I didn’t think much of it.

Anyway, we had a quick interaction with him (we were going to the movies), but later that day he texted me and asked me why would I have told her he’s my cousin. I could sense he was upset, but I told him I was just talking to her about my life.

And suddenly he started bringing up some stuff back from our childhood, and how I’d always say to my friends in school he was my cousin and some other instances where it seemed to him I do not really think of him as my brother. I had no idea he felt this way, so I said he should have talked to me sooner or maybe that’s his own insecurity and has nothing to do with me.

He just reacted to my message with a thumbs up and haven’t said anything since. AITA for this?

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What would you do in this situation? Share your opinion in the comments.