While there are no shortage of married people out there with grievances about their in-laws, it’s hard not to notice that these issues seem to intensify when a couple is about to have their first child.
As if it wasn’t already stressful enough to be a new parent, those in this position will find that their in-laws will either demand information they aren’t entitled to or try to exert undue control over the couple’s decisions about their baby.
Unfortunately, it’s also not unheard of for the in-laws prone to this behavior to try and demand that the couple have another child if they don’t like something about the first one, usually their gender.
But while that’s demoralizing to deal with on its own, one woman’s story has many deeply concerned about the family situation she’s found herself in.
The woman we’re about to hear from is expecting a child with her husband and her in-laws clearly have a vested interest in how this child turns out.
As the woman explained in a Reddit post , her father-in-law had passed away from cancer and they asked her to name the baby after him if the child turns out to be a boy.
And as an apparent means to influence the child’s gender, this family pressured her to attend prayer services and unspecified “rituals” before their next doctor’s appointment.
Although the woman was not comfortable with these rituals at all, she went along with them to “keep the peace.”
However, it seems that both her husband and her in-laws have only gotten worse since it’s been revealed that the baby will be a girl.
Although the woman was hardly encouraged when they all despaired at this news, she was infuriated when they would come over and start referring to her daughter-on-the-way as her son and claiming the results were false.
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This was the subject of multiple fights with these in-laws and the husband was keen to side with them no matter how unreasonable they were being.
And while this obviously led to friction within the marriage, the woman thought it was resolved when her sister-in-law apologized and arranged a baby shower.
However, when she got there, it was immediately clear that her husband’s family had learned nothing.
After she saw a room full of blue balloons and decorations bearing her father-in-law’s name, it was clear to her that they were still denying reality.
In her words, “I lost my temper and yelled at them all calling them delusionals and telling them to stop treating my daughter like she’s unwanted and act like she doesn’t exist by throwing a party for ‘their imaginary grandson.'”
This led to some immediate fallout as well as an argument with her husband, who insisted she play along with their delusions until they process she’s having a girl.
He’s now staying with his family until she apologizes to his family, but the Reddit community she reached out to are telling her not to do this.
Instead, they’ll telling her to get away from that family entirely because this neither bodes well for the woman’s relationship nor for her child’s chances of being accepted by them.
As one user put it , “You sure you want this lot in your life? I can’t imagine how they’ll act towards your daughter and the pressure you’re going to be under to have a second child.”
In the words of another person, “They are treating your child like the rebirth of their father/husband which is not only weird…but also very unhealthy. They need therapy to deal with their grief properly.”
h/t: Reddit | throwaway6779770
