My Husband’s Colleague Insinuated That Our Baby Wasn’t His, I Gave Him a Lesson to Remember

Did you know that a baby’s skin tone is a work in progress? That is because its pigment levels change as an infant grows. In fact, during the first few days, your baby’s color will be reddish or purple regardless of the race and ethnicity. However, not all people know this information and make harmful assumptions that lead to unpleasant situations.

The co-worker that made a horrible mistake

[edited] A few months ago, after many years of trying to conceive, me (33F) and my husband (32M) had a gorgeous, healthy baby boy. We were over the moon, and family, friends, and coworkers were also excited for us. Right after I delivered, my husband emailed a birth announcement with a photo of our son to everyone in his office.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and my husband came home fuming after his first day back at work. One of his coworkers informed him that another guy in the office, a new young employee my husband barely knew, had been telling everyone willing to listen that my husband couldn’t be our son’s father because “That baby looks nothing like him.”

This guy proceeded to tell everyone what a fool my husband was and that his excitement over finally becoming a dad was blinding him to the reality that he had been cheated on, and his wife impregnated by another man.

Side note for anyone who’s still unaware in 2025: babies, in general, are fairly pale as newborns, and their skin tone changes over the first few weeks. Hair changes are usually gradual as well. Our son was no exception and is now my husband’s mini me.

My husband said he had immediately confronted and questioned the guy, who completely denied saying anything inappropriate and claimed he only said, as a joke, that the baby was too cute to be my husband’s. But others in the office confirmed the first coworker’s account. Not only that, the guy had tried to parlay his superior perception skills into some weird form of workplace clout.

Fortunately, the guy got moved to a different shift that same week, so my husband didn’t have to see him again. That is, until a company event this past weekend. Families were invited, and we took our son. And who should come and insert himself into our group as we were chatting with the boss but Brown Noser McMouth. He interrupted our conversation and introduced himself to the boss, shaking his hand.

[edited] When we finally met, and I realized who he was, my anger came flooding back, and I said, “I don’t believe we’ve met, but aren’t you the guy who went around telling everyone in the office I must have cheated on my husband, and this couldn’t be his son?” The guy went red and silent. Boss said to him, “See me in my office first thing Monday,” and walked away.

I think someone’s fired. My husband said I went too far because it was already over and done with. I said it wasn’t done for me until I’d had my say, and I was the one being defamed, not him.

Supportive Redditors came to the woman’s defense.

• You were slandered in a way that could have negatively impacted your marriage. And you had no real recourse, aside from a lawsuit, to publicly defend yourself against the accusation made against you. An opportunity presented itself in this man’s continued pompousness.
  You took it. You made it clear, with your baby now looking just like your husband, that 1. He was obviously wrong, and 2. That you were hurt by the accusation. Behavior has consequences. @star_tyger / Reddit
• I’m really surprised that your husband didn’t immediately go to HR and file a formal complaint. The coworker’s egregious comments certainly warranted it. I think that your husband should be the one to handle this. @Complete-Culture8749 / Reddit
• You prevented further harassment of other people at the office. Unlikely, the dude only targeted you and your hubby. Well done. @TatraPoodle / Reddit
• Words have power. And he just witnessed how it can work both ways. All that person had to do was say absolutely nothing. He inserted himself and ended up getting his foot inserted into his behind.
  Everyone isn’t going to let things slide. She did not come to play around with someone who would say that and let them get away with it. Good for YOU!! @Lucky_Log2212 / Reddit

It seems that requests for paternity tests are quite popular. For instance, this mother-in-law demanded that her son do a test to see whether his kid was actually his. Her daughter-in-law gave her a lesson that will be hard to forget.