pregnancy

'I never predicted my mum's reaction when I told her my wife and I can't have kids.'

 

Finding out you and your partner can’t have children is impossibly hard all on its own, without your mother’s unnecessary negative input.

Unfortunately, that’s the precarious situation one Reddit commenter now finds himself in.

“I have been married to my wife for about four years now and her and my mum have always gotten along well,” the anonymous husband begins.

“However, she has recently been badgering us both about giving her grandkids, which is probably pretty normal.”

Heartbreakingly, the man explains that he and his wife, Claire, found out earlier this year that they’re unable to have kids because of a health complication she has. While it shocked them both, deciding to keep the news a secret helped them both heal.

LISTEN: Meshel Laurie’s journey to getting pregnant was rocky. (Post continues…)

However, things took an ugly turn when the pair went out to dinner with his parents months later.

“My mum [started to] bring up the grandkids thing again. I try to change the subject as it’s clearly upsetting my wife but my mum just kept going on and on about how the best part of life is having kids of your own.

“…It was seriously like she knew my wife couldn’t have kids and was trying to f*ck with her, it was insane. I could tell my wife was on the verge of bursting into tears so I decided to inform my parents of our situation.”

To his dismay, instead of comforting her daughter-in-law and apologising for her behaviour, his mother responded to the news in an unimaginable way.

“She looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘marriage is about having children and raising a family, if Claire can’t give you that then maybe you should be exploring your options’.

“We all just sat there in silence for a second. My wife, dad, and myself were all completely stunned. I have never heard my mom say something so insensitive and cruel before.”

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"I have never heard my mum say something so insensitive and cruel before." (Image: iStock)

Within moments, the husband says his wife began sobbing and ran out of the restaurant. Seeing the pain she was feeling, he writes, was "100 times worse than finding out we couldn't have kids".

"My wife loved my mum and she basically just spat in her face."

Since, the writer's mother has offered "an incredibly unsympathetic and forced apology", making the relationship only more fractured.

"I am really worried about my wife," he concluded, adding: "She is depressed and has been clinging to me since we left the restaurant because she's scared what my mom said is true.

"I would never leave her, but I hate to see her like this. But I also don't know how to deal with my mom and get through to her. I really need some help."

What advice would you give to the husband? Let us know in the comments below...