'Doormat Mom' cut off by daughter amid estrangement trend: ‘Completely blindsided’

While Brooklyn Beckham’s recent social media post about his bitter family feud thrust the topic of parent-child estrangement into the headlines, surveys suggest that these types of rifts have been on the rise for years.

One study from Cornell University found that more than a quarter of Americans — roughly 67 million people — report being estranged from a family member. One of those is Laura Wellington in Connecticut, known on social media as "Doormat Mom."

While research has shown that many estrangements are gradual...