Woman Revealing to Husband His Mom Is Pregnant Backed Online: 'Felt Sick'

The internet has backed a woman after she revealed how she found out her mother-in-law was pregnant and told her husband, despite it being a secret.

Despite keeping secrets being one of the top reasons for a breakup, a 2013 study revealed that people will deceive their romantic partners about five times a week.

Some 44 percent of these interactions were reported as lies, while 18 percent were exaggerations, 17 percent were half-truths, and 10 percent were diversionary responses.

In the post on Reddit that has since received thousands of upvotes and more than 2,000 comments, the user u/Tough-Suit3171 explained: "I recently found out that my husband's mom is pregnant. She didn't tell me directly, probably wouldn't have wanted me to know as we don't get along at all, but we were on an outing for a mutual family member's birthday and I heard her whinging to an usher that they all needed to bend the rules and let her back in her seat because she is pregnant."

In shock, she said: "I immediately felt sick to my stomach. My husband and I do not keep secrets, and I felt like I had to tell him, but it also felt wrong."

Understanding how betrayed her husband would feel if she did not tell him, she pulled her mother-in-law aside to tell her that she would need to let her husband know.

"She told me she wasn't ready and then told me she had no plans of telling him, maybe until the baby was born," wrote the Redditor: "I told her I was going to have to tell him and she began to cry."

Upset, the woman's mother-in-law explained that she was worried her son would take the news badly, feeling he was being replaced.

"I said I was so sorry, but I just don't keep secrets from my husband. She called me a 'f***ing stupid b****,' and ran off crying. I told my husband and he did not take it well at all.

He called her and there was a massive fight," explained the poster: "Now my mother-in-law is telling everyone I'm evil and I betrayed her. The family is pretty split about if he had the right to know or not."

It is common for women to keep their pregnancy a secret until they have passed the first trimester, or are 12 weeks pregnant. This is because the first trimester is usually the highest risk period for pregnancy complications. But this mom-to-be is far from the first person to choose to keep their pregnancy a secret for longer.

After sharing the story online though, Reddit users headed to the comments and were divided on if the woman did the right thing, although many agreed that she was right to tell her husband.

"I wouldn't keep it from my husband either," said one reply: "I wouldn't put it on Facebook, but I would tell him."

Another Redditor said: "Usually I'd say it's the pregnant person's right to communicate a pregnancy how and when they want, however, your mother-in-law doesn't sound like a stable, balanced person."

Others though felt that it was not the woman's place to tell the secret.

One Redditor wrote: "YTA. You were listening to a conversation that had absolutely nothing to do with you. You know your husband would be angry that's why you did it, simple as that, you wanted to stir the pot."

Another agreed and said: "This is incredibly dysfunctional."

User u/Tough-Suit3171, who wished to remain anonymous for the family's privacy, told Newsweek: "I feel even worse because the opinions were so split and it seems like people can't see the other side, so I can see why my mother-in-law can't understand my perspective and thinks I'm evil."

But others continued to defend the wife's actions, with one comment that said: "NTA. Everyone saying otherwise is basically saying it's ok to keep secrets in a MARRIAGE!? Well, nope."

"She is not speaking to us but that's her norm," said u/Tough-Suit3171. "I can't remember the last time she's called just to talk. My husband has calmed down but feels like they are never going to be able to get past her hatred of me, so it actually calms him to know she's happy and won't be alone. I'm holding out some hope that the baby will soften her heart."

UPDATE 08/12/22, 10:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from the Reddit user.