A woman who was invited to her boyfriend's uncle's wedding more than a year ago has since had to bow out, for a completely understandable reason.
Since receiving her invitation, she's found out she's pregnant, with her son due just nine days before the big day.
As her baby will be just a few days old, the mum-to-be doesn't feel comfortable leaving him behind with her parents while she attends the ceremony, which will be held a good three hours away from home.
She also doesn't want to take her newborn to a wedding, where he will of course be coming into contact with "100 strangers and their germs".
Unfortunately, her boyfriend's family hasn't exactly been supportive when it comes to her reservations, with his mother claiming that she's just not being "fair".
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Taking to Reddit, the expectant mum explained that, although she's been friends with her boyfriend for a decade, they've only been together 16 months.
Due to the pandemic, and what she perceives as a lack of interest in them as a couple, she doesn't really know any of her boyfriend's family members aside from his mother. Sadly, she couldn't count on her support.
The poster - who goes by the username u/imperfect_mk - recalled: "So, I’m 38 weeks pregnant and my mother-in-law told us that she paid for our dinner anyway so, if we feel differently then, we could go.
"I told her that it was nice of her but I don’t think this is realistic and exposed all my arguments when she insisted. She told me that it’s just not fair that my baby won’t have the same access to his two sides of family because I just don’t want to go."
She added: "To be clear, I wouldn’t go either if the wedding was on my side. As I said, I haven’t met any of my boyfriend’s family, not because I don’t want to, but because nobody ever showed interest in seeing us.
"We’ve been to a lot of gatherings and birthday parties in my family because we’re close and they care to invite us. I don’t think it’s fair of my mother-in-law to make me feel like I’m in the wrong only because she won’t be able to show off her days-old grandson to her family right after he’s born.
"There will be more occasions, and they can always come to see us at home if they want to."
Her boyfriend is on her side, but, after his mum's outburst, the poster has begun wondering whether she is in fact somehow in the wrong.
One fellow Reddit user wrote: "A baby is not a prop for grandma to wave around at a wedding. Never mind that the wedding is probably not supposed to be about someone else's baby anyway.
"I'm sure the baby will get over not having met the entire extended family nine days after being born."
Another said: "I guarantee that you will absolutely not want to go, no matter what. In my first marriage, my (now ex-) husband dragged me and my eight-day-old to Disneyworld.
"I spent almost the entire day, miserable, in the nursing mother center. To this day, I wonder why I didn't stand up for myself, but that's a whole other post in and of itself. Absolutely do not cave on this. You will hate yourself, and them."
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