‘I was an intruder’: what it’s like to be your parents’ least favourite child

Many mothers and fathers admit to having a preferred child - and experts say that being a sidelined sibling can cause serious problems

Diya says she was never in any doubt her mother had a favourite child - and that it was not her. Now, with three young children of her own, the 27-year-old thinks it is because she looks like her father, who left when she and her sister were very young.

"I remember my dad coming to my defence once when I was about 12, telling my mum that she couldn't choose to love one daughter more than the other. That was the last time my mum let him in the house," she says.