Women on TikTok are standing in for adult children without supportive parents
Sometimes you just need a mom’s support.

Women on TikTok are standing in for adult children without supportive parents.
When people get married they generally imagine their family being present. Dads walking them down the aisle, moms crying in the front row, pictures of their parents beaming with pride in official wedding photos. You know, the whole shebang. Sadly, not everyone gets to experience that. But don't worry as social media is helping adult children have a stand-in parent there for their big day.
Several creators on TikTok have offered to be stand-in parents for people who were disowned by their parents or whose parents had passed away. Everyone's favorite mom Mama Tot recently stood in for one of her tater tots' weddings, making the drive from her home state of Alabama up to North Carolina.
Another creator on TikTok is currently making plans to attend her now social media "adopted" son's wedding after meeting them for the first time recently. Upworthy caught up with Rosie, whose TikTok handle is north_omaha_cat_lady, to find out what spurred such a kind gesture.
Rosie spends most of her time working with children, but when she's not working she's creating content on TikTok supporting marginalized communities. The creator said that she's had an uptick in people reaching out to her telling her that their parents don't approve of their "lifestyle choices" and have disowned them. She said, "I don’t have kids and I just don’t understand how anyone could throw away a child."
Rosie went on to explain that, "even Jeffery Dahmer's father came to every hearing so I don't understand this." Seeing someone hurting isn't something Rosie could just ignore, so when she came across Noah's video saying their mom wasn't going to come to their wedding, she stepped up. Noah posted a video explaining that their mom wasn't coming to their wedding as their mother would, "move mountains for everyone but me...the black sheep. The gay disgrace...."
Amazingly, Rosie reached out to Noah via video and said that she would happily stand-in as their mother for their wedding day. I'd say the rest was history, but the two hadn't met at the time of the offer. Turns out Noah and Rosie live in the same city and in just a few short videos and over a bite to eat, Noah gained a mom and Rosie gained a son.
In the comments of Noah's original video, there were multiple women offering to stand-in as their mother for the big day, including Mama Tot. But it was Rosie who was able to meet with Noah and their fiancee to discuss plans. Rosie told Upworthy that a wedding photographer from South Africa also reached out offering free services to the couple.
The internet always gets such a bad reputation for a lot of things that are wrong in the world, but this part of the internet is beautiful. People coming together to fill voids in other people's lives, all to make a stranger's special day better.
Rosie's one piece of advice she hopes people take away from this situation is, "Family is not defined by blood, family is who loves you. If your family disowns you, find a new family. There are people out there that do want to connect and do want to support people."
Take it from Rosie, people do want to support you. Sometimes the family we choose is the family that matters most.
- Daughter exposes MAGA parents' hypocrisy by saying her new boyfriend is 'just like Trump' ›
- Sweet student with massive crush on trans girl turns to Reddit for ... ›
- Teen kicked out by her parents for political activism outs them as violent Capitol rioters ›
- Mom couldn't find show for kids with delays so she made one - Upworthy ›
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."