Recently, a frustrated woman shared an incident she had with her mother-in-law who keeps pushing her and her husband to have kids. “My husband and I don’t want kids,” Childfreeusername starts the story, which amassed 27.3k upvotes, with a loud and clear statement.
Meanwhile, the author’s MIL does everything to negate their choice. On multiple occasions, she kept pushing the idea to her son and his wife, pressuring them to change their mind and telling them how without kids, they’re not “an official family.”
“So this weekend we were all at their home enjoying some BBQ and drinks and everything. When I get up to grab a beer, my MIL asks me if maybe I should drink water instead, because wink wink nudge nudge, you never know,” the author recounted.
The tension grew as MIL kept commenting on having kids until the point Childfreeusername just snapped. What happened after is a full-on family conflict where MIL was so upset she demanded a refund for her contribution to their wedding she gave them earlier.
A woman shared how her mother-in-law demanded a refund for her contribution to her and her husband’s wedding because they decided not to have children
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
Image credits: childfreeusername
Bored Panda reached out to Isabel, Kristen, and LeNora, three childfree women who run the project Childfree Girls, a podcast and web series for the childfree community to find out what’s their advice a person who keeps being pushed into having children by their relatives.
“Set strong boundaries, which we also say in our episode ‘Hey, Mom—I’m Childfree!’ Next time they bring up the subject, you can just smile and swiftly change the subject, or you could excuse yourself and take 5 in another room,” they said and added that “Hopefully they will eventually understand that you don’t want to have this conversation again.”
Moreover, if you’re comfortable having the conversation, Childfree girls argue, “tell them deciding to be a parent is a hugely personal and life-changing decision that shouldn’t be entered into under coercion, make clear that no unsolicited outside opinions are welcome, remind them that it’s selfish to demand another person take on a life-changing responsibility, and tell them you’re sure they would agree that a child should, at the very least, be passionately wanted by its parents.”
Childfree Girls remind everyone that “whether you’re thinking about having children later in life or not having any, it’s your prerogative and you should not be pushed by anyone to make a decision either way.”
Many people expressed their support for the author in the comments
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