“‘I’m pregnant!’
Pause.
Shocking and exciting reaction.
‘April fools!!!!!’
I hate to admit it, but I too have done this. I remember calling my sister shortly after my husband and I were married to tell her our ‘news.’ Maybe it was funny at the time, but as the years went by and my womb remained empty, this prank became cruel and nowhere near funny.
Perhaps this was because I wanted so deeply to have a baby that it wasn’t funny to see those around me or in my social feeds pretending they were having a baby, just to get some kind of reaction, while I truly desired to be a mother.
I know over the years during my infertility I became sensitive to a lot of things: baby showers, Mother’s Day and pregnancy announcements (and rightfully so — it is only natural for those things to be difficult if you are walking through infertility). While I wanted and truly tried to celebrate these moments for the people I cared about, it was sometimes hard.
On April Fools’ Day, when people would pretend they were pregnant only to fake out their spouses, family and friends, it was more disheartening than anything.
One in eight women struggle with infertility. I guarantee you probably know someone. Before you play this kind of pregnancy joke on someone, be mindful of the one you might know who may not find this funny. Think about how it may make them feel. Think about the woman who miscarried or the woman whose baby is in heaven now.
I know this is typically just an innocent prank, but to others — those whose stories you may not even know — it might not be funny at all.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Desiree Fortin of California. You can follow her journey as a mom of triplets on Instagram.
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