Mother-in-Law 'Ruins' 'Gender Reveal' by Asking Mom-to-Be About Baby's Last Name

11/13/2024 02:26 PM

A Reddit user shared that her mother-in-law thinks their decision is 'irresponsible'

A mother-to-be ran into some baby naming drama with her mother-in-law.

In a Reddit post, an expecting first-time mom revealed that she and her husband recently received the results of their noninvasive prenatal testing. They were thrilled the results came back "normal" and also found out, "We are having a baby girl!"

"We call my parents first and they are excited over the phone and even went and got a bottle of wine to celebrate," the 37-year-old wrote. But the joy she felt soon crashed. "Afterwards we call my in-laws to give them the good news. We told them we were having a healthy baby girl and it became dead silent."

"We thought the connection broke so my husband asked if they were still there and finally they responded," she explained. "The next question they asked was the name. We told them the name we picked and again, silence. My husband and I are looking at one another like, can they not hear us?"

But then, they asked the "ultimate question": "What's the last name going to be?" The poster explained that when she and her husband got married in 2020, she never filed to change her name because of the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Fast forward and now I have a house in my name, two cars, a business, and a whole lot more," she said. "It would take me MONTHS to change my last name but my husband doesn't care." Still, she and her husband agreed the baby would have his last name.

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When they told his parents about that decision, things "got sour." She wrote, "My MIL then started to lecture me about how irresponsible it is to have a different last name on the birth certificate and yadda yadda. I blew up at her and started listing off my reasons why it wasn't so easy." 

She continued, "My husband ended the call early but I was already in tears. He apologized for his mom's behavior and was very upset with her for making me cry. This was supposed to be a happy evening, now I'm curled up on the couch crying."

Related: New Mom Says She Won't Discuss Baby's Name with Family Because They 'Don't Think It's a Real Name'

Some of the Reddit commenters could relate. One commenter said they were in a similar situation with their mother-in-law. "It sounds like your husband is really supportive though so that's a plus!" they wrote. "In-laws can be tough. Hopefully, she will realize she needs to be nicer and treat you with respect if she wants to spend time with her grandkids!"

The original poster replied to that comment and added, "My husband was visibly shaking at how mad he was. He told me he was going to speak with her because she made a happy moment sour. She did eventually call back and was super happy like nothing ever happened."

Another commenter wrote that they too have a different last name from their child and it's been a "nonissue." They noted, "Nobody cares, & nobody has ever even asked about it."