A woman has been slammed as ‘cruel and manipulative’ after revealing she will tell loved ones she is infertile just so they’ll stop asking when she plans to have kids.
But not everyone was disgusted with the 28-year-old’s way around the awkward line of questioning with many admitting they’d do anything to avoid the conversation.
The woman explained she and her partner of seven years have no plans to have kids – something they discussed early on in their relationship.
But while they are happy with this decision their family ‘can’t let it go’ and since their engagement have become ‘obsessed’ with knowing when to expect babies.
A woman has been slammed as ‘cruel and manipulative’ after revealing she will tell loved ones she is infertile just so they’ll stop asking when she plans to have kids
‘We don’t tell them all the reasons, some are quite personal, but we have several reasons for not wanting kids, and I know we shouldn’t need to explain or defend ourselves, it’s our decision,’ she said.
So to end the conversation for good they have decided to tell their loved ones they have struggled with infertility.
‘I’m considering next time someone is pestering me, just telling them we have fertility issues. As far as I’m aware, this isn’t true, but you know, since we’re not planning to have kids, it’s not really something we’ve checked out,’ she wrote.
The woman explained all of this on a ‘throw away’ Reddit thread, hoping to gauge people’s opinions on lying about such a sensitive issue.
‘It might seem like I’m making light of people with such issues, however, my hope would be that the initial shock of the comment might stop them asking and get them to actually consider what they’re doing, as I’m sure they probably do this to other people,’ she said.
In fact she thinks it could be beneficial for people with fertility issues.
‘Being asked stuff like this as often would be an annoyance and upsetting to them,’ she said.
She said people asking if she has kids or if she’s planning on having kids is fine – but constant lines of questioning is inappropriate.
And while some people were disgusted with the tactic – branding the couple ‘cruel, manipulative and selfish’ most appeared to be on board.
‘It is none of anyone’s business why you don’t want kids – I hate that question as well,’ one woman said.
‘Family units come in all shapes and sizes – you and your partner don’t need to have a kid to be complete, how ridiculous,’ one woman wrote.
Others revealed they had also lied about fertility in the past.
‘I did this to a lady once who strangely kept pestering me about the subject at a bar. She kept telling me that I’d ‘never know what real love is’ until I had children of my own. This went on for upwards of five minutes. A total stranger,’ one woman complained.
The woman revealed she and her partner have never wanted children but can’t convince loved ones of that
She then explained when the woman asked her again she simply touched her stomach and said ‘I can’t’.
And people with kids have also used the lie.
‘I had one kid, and was told for years I needed to give him a sibling. I finally used the line, ‘It’s not so easy or natural for everyone,’ and lo and behold questions stopped,’ one mum said.
Others offered lie-free lines the woman could use instead, insisting the same shock value would keep loved ones from following up on the line of questioning.
‘Because I have the maternal instinct of an ironing board and if we had a baby I’d probably eat it,’ one person wrote.
‘I tell them I am allergic to storks, they either laugh of they look confused but it is a win either way,’ laughed another.
Another woman warned ‘the invasive questions never stop’.
‘I used to think they would once I got passed child-bearing age. Now people ask me if I regret not having kids instead, it is gross,’ she said.
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