A woman was blasted online after making a cruel and insensitive comment when her friend announced that she was finally pregnant.
In a Reddit post shared on July 12, user u/Suspicious-Hair-8165 said that her friend, Alice, 32, recently shared that she’s 12 weeks pregnant, after three years of trying for a baby. However, rather than offering her congratulations, the poster chose that moment to make a comment about terminating the pregnancy instead.
“On Friday, Alice, a couple other friends and I went out to lunch and Alice told us that she was three months pregnant. I jokingly said, ‘I’m so sorry, let me know if you need a ride to the clinic.’ Alice flipped out and called me an insensitive b****. I told her that I was joking but she wouldn’t hear it, and she ended up leaving.”
The Redditor contextualized her shocking comment by explaining that she had always been able to joke about her different views regarding children with Alice.
Stock image of a woman looking unhappy during a heated discussion. A Redditor disclosed the awkward encounter she had when her longtime friend announced her pregnancy, leading to an insensitive comment.
Estradaanton/Getty Images
“We would often joke about this difference, with me telling her stuff like she’ll miss all the disposable income when she has kids, and her comparing my dog to a human kid,” she wrote. “Neither of us got offended with this joking and it was all in good fun.”
The poster said that Alice has been ignoring her messages and calls, and their other friends “are staying out of it.”
This has left u/Suspicious-Hair-8165 feeling conflicted, as they add that they know the “comment would come off as rude,” but that’s just how she and Alice had always joked with each other in the past.
Psychiatrist and author, Dr. Carole Lieberman said the poster’s comment might have come from a place of jealousy.
“Awkward encounters like this often happen when one or both of the people involved aren’t aware of their own deeper feelings towards a situation, so it comes out wrong,” Lieberman told Newsweek.
“In this case, the poster states that she and her friend have had running banter about the friend wanting a baby, and the poster being happy with her dog. But perhaps the problem is that the poster does want a baby—if not right now, then in the future.
“When the friend announced her pregnancy, the poster wasn’t expecting it to happen. Her feelings of jealousy overcome her and she said something hurtful.”
Regardless of why she said it, Liberman encourages the poster to apologize profusely for being insensitive, and for tarnishing her friend’s joyous moment.
Many Reddit users were outraged by the comment, and the post has received over 9,900 votes and more than 4,200 comments at the time of writing. Most of the reactions suggest that the poster was in the wrong and that she needs to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
One horrified Redditor commented: “Not everything is a joke. She has tried for a baby for years, and you couldn’t give her a moment of earnest support and congratulations?”
Another person replied to the poster: “I understand that not everyone likes and/or wants kids, but this is a very bad joke to make to someone who wants kids, and has been trying for multiple years to have them.”
Newsweek reached out to u/Suspicious-Hair-8165 via Reddit for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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