'Read the room': Couple slammed for upsetting sister-in-law with horrible pregnancy announcement
A man who announced his pregnancy with his wife on Christmas Day in front of his sister-in-law, who had six miscarriages, is now being shredded on the Internet and accused of "intentionally upsetting" her. The man's Reddit post, where he explained the whole situation, has gained a lot of attention and garnered 6.7K comments in three months.
The user wrote on Reddit, "My brother and his wife have been trying to get pregnant but unfortunately she's had 6 miscarriages. That sucks, I know, I'm not discounting that at all. That being said she's a center of attention kind of person, she will shit talk other people all day long and try to make herself look like the best person in the room."
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'We made t-shirts'
The user added, "If anyone else gets attention she tries to take it away from them, usually by putting them down verbally, or by getting another dog or cat. Most of the animals she has were obtained right after other people she knew got pregnant."
The user then described how they announced the pregnancy, writing, "Well, wife and I got pregnant, discussed at length with how we should approach this, keeping my SIL in mind was the main topic of conversation. We didn't want to upset her but we also didn't feel like it was right to let her dictate our actions and make it impossible to celebrate the life that we're creating. So we made t shirts, announcing the pregnancy. Not gloating it, just announcing it."
The post added, "Christmas time, we come over to my mom's place, do present exchange, then change shirts. My mother was very happy but I could see the look on my SIL face, upset. She didn't say anything and just shut herself in the bathroom, then left early later on in the day."
"Next day she sends this message to my wife," the post continued, with text that read, "To say I'm disappointed, is an understatement. We have had conversations about how hard infertility is during the holidays, and how hard/debilitating it is. (bro) and I have lost 6 babies. Six. We have six dead children, (wife). Springing you're pregnant on (bro) and I like that was uncalled for and completely ruined not only mine, but (bro) Christmas.
'Read the room'
The text further adds, "You could've sent me a heads up text about this, so we had time to process this. And if your excuse is "oh I didnt want it to ruin the surprise for mom", you're wrong. It's a completely invalid fear. Because I would never ruin a surprise like that. Not only that, but you also saw how that affected me, and you wouldn't stop talking about it. You're excited, sure. But read the room (wife). I cant tell you how much that damaged our relationship, and honestly."
'You had AN ENTIRE HOUR to do it'
The text further adds, "I dont know how many holidays I'm going to be there for now because of what you did. What you did was completely selfish and careless. It showed me you really don't care about me. And honestly, had we gotten a heads up text, I'd be happy for you. But right now? I'm not. You both ruined Christmas for us. Idk why you thought that was such a good idea. You also had AN ENTIRE HOUR to do it before we got there. I had to leave early because I couldnt stand being there for another minute in a house that I didnt feel loved in."
The user finally put forth the question if he was an "A** hole" and wrote, "The only time we talked about it was when my family was asking questions, due date, gender, etc., it's not like we were talking about it throughout the day. Am I the a**hole (are we the a**holes) for having decided to do the pregnancy announcement anyways?"
'OP sounds like the mean one'
The post quickly attracted serious attention. "And according to the text..the wife was constantly talking excitedly about the baby, yap YTA," one user said in response. Another wrote, "Yep OP does everything to discredit SIL at the start. OP sounds like the mean one. Her whole post is "I knew she would be upset, I did it anyway, she got upset, now am I the asshole for intentionally upsetting her?" Yes yes you are. YTA. The way the text from SIL reads is as if they were friends. OP talks shit about her friend and blindsides her in public. Big red flag for me and I don't keep friends like that. A little empathy goes a long way."
'They made a big production'
Another comment read, "Honestly, I think that's exactly why I am leaning towards YTA. They knew it would hurt her, they decided that she was high maintenance and they didn't want to tiptoe, and so they didn't make even a tiny attempt to mitigate her hurt. Worse than that - they made a big production with pregnancy t-shirts, and even if they didn't talk about it for long, they carried right on wearing those t-shirts!" The user further added, "If they had given her a heads-up text, and she'd still complained, then fair enough. But like...how much effort does a text take?"
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.