For most mums, a pregnancy reveal is a special moment to be shared and cherished with loved ones. As such, it's important for the parent to be able to deliver their news when they want to - not when a meddling relative sees fit.
But one woman's complaint about her mother-in-law is more serious than most as her in-law gushed about her supposed pregnancy without her permission - having read a text over someone's shoulder.
If that's not shocking enough, she didn't confirm the news with her son or his wife, either. Had she, the mum would have realised the couple are in fact not expecting a baby but adopting a dog.
Unfortunately for them, the unsuspecting couple ended up with a right headache when the mum aired her suspicion as fact, upsetting her daughter-in-law and her family in the process.
As the furious relative explained in a now-deleted post to Reddit: "My husband and I are finally in a position where we are financially stable enough to start making long-term plans. We are not however ready to start a family."
Then, after being placed on a waitlist for people looking to re-home abandoned and surrendered pets, they were last week informed they were getting a six-month-old Akita pup.
Delighted, the soon-to-be dog owner messaged a group chat made up of her husband's siblings, the youngest of whom still lives in the family home.
"I put up in the group chat that we were going to be adding to our household soon. It was a joke amongst us. They all know we are waiting to be better established before I get pregnant," the woman outlined. "I guess my MIL was reading over her daughter's shoulder and misunderstood what I was talking about."
She continued: "Well my MIL immediately posted to Facebook that she was going to be a grandmother. People started asking which of her kids was going to have a baby and she said I was pregnant."
According to her post, the news quickly spread through their "small city" and her mum found out not long after. "I was on the group chat still when my mum called to yell at me for not telling her I was pregnant. She was p***d she had to find out on Facebook.
"I explained that I had no idea WTF she was talking about. She told me about the post so I went to check it out."
Stunned, the woman asked her mother-in-law to remove the post, which she did, but the parent offered no apology. "She is embarrassed and angry at me for tricking her. She said that I was an insensitive jerk to use a phrase like that when everyone knows it means a baby not a dog. I said that she probably shouldn't snoop into conversations she wasn't part of," the daughter-in-law outlined.
The woman added: "Pretty much everyone is on my side except her. She won't listen to reason and is trying to convince me to get pregnant because I owe it to her. Pardon my language but f**k that noise."
Shocked by the mother-in-law's behaviour, and keen to reiterate pregnancy is a woman's personal choice, commenters were quick to apologise on her behalf. One person claimed: "I'm sorry this person is a part of your life. If you end up having kids she is going to be a nightmare. I can see it now. She will always know what's best. She will defy your rules if she is watching the kid. She will criticise your parenting. Also, you don't owe her anything."
A second replied: "Haha imagine the gall, the audacity of someone telling you to get pregnant because they think you owe it to them in their delusional minds since they let everyone around them know you're pregnant without even confirming the news."
Do you have a story to share? Email amber.oconnor@reachplc.com
