I’m Pregnant, and My MIL Posted a Scan of My Baby Without Asking

In today’s world, social media has become the go-to platform for sharing life’s big moments, often blurring the lines of privacy. One soon-to-be mom is eagerly awaiting her little one’s arrival, but amid her excitement, she faces a dilemma: her mother-in-law’s habit of oversharing. The woman feels that her mother-in-law is stealing special moments from her and has decided to seek advice online.

What happened.

«I (30F) and my fiancé (29M) have been trying to conceive for over 6 years. We are finally pregnant and could not be happier. However, I’ve noticed that my MIL is a little finger friendly and posts a lot on her social media pages.

The first happened when we actually made the pregnancy announcement to our family and close friends. I found out my MIL had made a post about being a nan again and how excited she is — me and my fiancé hadn’t even been able to make the announcement ourselves yet as we wanted to wait till our 12-week scan before posting anything.»

«I didn’t say much because she was probably just very excited, and I focused on working on being as healthy as I can for the baby. The second happened at our gender reveal we had been planning for weeks, and found out the gender of our baby, it was such a pleasant day and a lot of crying. Lots of pictures were taken, and it was just close friends and family.

The day came to a sudden stop when I had a notification that I had been tagged in a post from MIL letting everyone know the gender of our baby. I have to admit this angered me, I was hoping that my fiancé and I could make that announcement ourselves first. I expressed my concern to my fiancé, and he said he’d talk to her.»

«We’re now 30 weeks into the pregnancy and decided to get a 4D scan to see our precious baby, and sent the photos to close family before we put any posts up. And again, my MIL made the post before me or my fiancé could.

We’ve now had to sit her down and tell her that she has stolen these moments from us by making these announcements first. This is our first baby, and we can never have those moments returned to us. My MIL now become very upset and said that we are overreacting. I can’t understand why she keeps doing this. She has other grandchildren from her eldest daughter, and she never made these announcements before her daughter did.»

The pregnant woman got lots of support online.

• «She shouldn’t be upset, as she sees this as a legitimate way for people to find out about things. When she has something to say about herself she can decide how to inform people about it.» diminishingpatience / Reddit
• «She lost the right to her access when she flagrantly went against your wishes, not once, but three times.» RealUltimatePapo / Reddit

• «She will absolutely make posts all over social media the minute you give birth if you give her half a chance. She has shown that she will continue this behavior even after you have set clear boundaries about it. She prefers „likes“ to her loved ones’ wishes. And nobody likes that.» WhosMimi / Reddit
• «The saying Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me comes to mind. What your MIL is doing is not okay, but why was she given access to the 4D pictures before you and your fiancé posted it? You knew by then what she was like. You’re not in the wrong, but stop giving her news or access to pictures before you’ve told all the people who know how to keep that secret.» ChronicApathetic / Reddit

The relationship between mothers and daughters-in-law can become tense. One woman revealed that her mother-in-law criticizes her for choosing not to be a stay-at-home mom. Despite her love for her family and career, she feels hurt by the persistent belief that mothers should solely focus on homemaking.