i am one of the few who still had close contact with my jw parents. this started in 1981. i had previously resigned as a dub--10 years before. then--in jan 81 it was announced in the hall that i was regarded as apostate and to be treated the same as a d/f person. fine with me--just what i wanted.
life carried on with my parents-- i was their only offspring. some years later i was talking to dad about the shunning side--and he said he could not find any scriptural reason to shun his son. but i think it meant limited responsibilities in his congregation. ( not the same as the one i had previously attended ). so--winners all round ha ha.
years rolled by. mom passed away in 1998, dad lived on till 2016, i visited him several times a week in his care home. his jw grandchildren--and even great granchildren never went near him. he was nearly 95 when he died.
my older son--now 42 was d/f about 10 years back. his mother--a staunch born-in, totally shuns him. so she has never seen her grandson..
this shunning is an evil controll mechanism: fortunately it is interpreted differently according to each individual dubs conscience.