Dad Tells Wife It's 'Bad Parenting' To Let Daughter Watch Her Take A Pregnancy Test

Nov 24, 2021 by apost team

Finding out you’re going to have a baby is pretty exciting for many parents. It’s a fun and heartwarming moment that many parents choose to share with their family members and friends after confirming the news. Some even want their loved ones there when the news is first announced.

For one mother, she decided that she wanted her daughter to be there with her when she found out she was pregnant. She had previously gotten a faint positive from another test but wanted her daughter to be there with her to find out the actual results. 

This experience helped the young girl learn more about health education and the reproductive system, as well as the many changes women’s bodies go through throughout their lives. It was a great moment for them to share together, and they both got to celebrate the fact that the mother was going to have another baby.

However, the woman’s husband was not happy knowing that his wife allowed their daughter to watch her take the test. He didn’t think it was an age-appropriate moment for his child to experience, and he criticized his wife for inviting their daughter to watch. He even told her that it was "bad parenting" on her end. The dad was also upset that he wasn’t told about it beforehand.

The parents continued to argue over whether it was appropriate for their daughter to be there. The father decided to go to Reddit in August 2020 to ask users for their opinions and advice and was met with some shocking comments.

Starting off his Reddit post, the original poster (OP) wrote, “My wife had already taken one test and gotten a faint positive. She was fairly sure she was pregnant because of that and the symptoms she’d been experiencing, so when she tested a few days later she asked our daughter if she wanted to do it with her.”

The pair took the test together, but the OP didn’t find out until later when his wife confirmed that she was pregnant. “I let my wife know that I thought this was bad parenting,” he said. “Our daughter (10) is still too young to be exposed to things like that and certainly up close. There was no reason or justification for it.”

The OP reasoned that he had never heard of a mother-daughter duo doing this together and didn’t think it was appropriate anyway. He was also upset that his wife didn’t run this by him first. “I don’t think this decision should have been made unilaterally,” he said. “All of this makes it a really poor decision, in my opinion.”

However, his wife disagreed. The OP explained:

“She felt it was a ‘bonding’ experience and an opportunity for her and our daughter to talk more about their bodies and educate her more on pregnancy and the reproductive system. She thinks I owe her an apology for saying she acted like a bad parent in that situation. I disagree.”

Since then, the OP has wondered if either or both of them were wrong for how they went about the situation and reacted to it.

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Much to the OP’s surprise, Redditors were quick to call him out for his wrong stance in this situation. Many pointed out how great it was that his wife was trying to help teach their daughter more about her body and the reproductive system, especially since she was still learning and growing, and that it was nothing he should be upset about.

One user said, “You do realize your daughter could start her period any day now? Or any time in the next two years? And all your wife did was pee on a stick and talk about hormones and fertility cycles (I’m betting).” Another said, “I’m not sure any man, even the father, should try to criticize a mother for teaching her daughter about things related to reproduction.”

Another user commented:

“Mom wanted to include daughter in the addition of a sibling to the family and further talk to her about pregnancy and the kinds of things she can expect when she becomes of age. As long as the discussion was age-appropriate I’m not quite sure what your beef is. I could see being upset if it was complete news to you and you wanted to know first, but otherwise I’m not sure what you think is ‘wrong’ about the situation.”

Despite the several comments criticizing him, it seemed like the OP stood by what he believed in. In an edit of his post, he said, “I can’t read all of these comments, and I’m not going to try. Most aren’t even worth responding to since they’re downright nasty and rude.”

Whose side are you on regarding this situation? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family members and friends, too.