Why My Sister Didn’t Let Me Hold Her Baby at First — and What I Later Discovered

I was once told I would be the best aunt ever. After years of infertility, that promise became the closest thing I had to motherhood. I poured my whole heart into my sister’s pregnancy—planning celebrations, buying tiny outfits, dreaming of bedtime stories I would never tell my own child. But when my nephew Mason was born, something felt different. While others held him freely, I was always gently kept at a distance, and the joy I expected came with a quiet ache.