AITA: Won't Let Husband Attend Birth!

The birth of our children is one of the most significant life events, for both parents (unless of course, the father does not wish to be involved).

With this in mind, it could be argued that using this event as a weapon against a partner due to a grudge is incredibly harsh - this is what one expectant mum is thinking of doing! She asked the Reddit AITA (Am I The Asshole) board if she would be the asshole if she BANNED her husband from the baby shower and birth of their baby... because of his reaction to finding out that they were expecting a boy.

Read the full post below...

"My husband (29yo) and I (28yo) have a daughter (3yo), he was happy when I told him she was a girl. We're having another and when I had my ultrasound, I was told it was another girl, again my husband was Happy. Turns out I was told wrong, and it's actually a boy we're having, ny my husband freaked out in excitement.

His reaction to us having a boy was nothing like his either of his reactions to having a girl. He was actually jumping around and yelling, he immediately called all his friends and family, he kept hugging and swinging our daughter around telling her she's getting a brother.

I confronted him about not being this excited about having girls, and he said “cause I wanted a boy ”. I got so pissed off, I don't want him at the baby shower (I guess it's not really a baby shower as we're not asking for anything, but still) or the birth.

He thought I was kidding at first, but once he realized I serious got really upset and started an argument over it. WIBTA if I didn't let him attend the baby shower or birth?"

Find the original post here on Reddit.

What was the general consensus?

Well, it's safe to say that this poster was proverbially 'handed her backside on a plate' by the comment board. She was voted the 'asshole' by over 14,000 voters, and the top comment was...

"YTA. Not wanting your husband to attend a baby shower and/or the birth of his own child because he is excited about having a son, which you interpret years-later as him having been insufficiently excited (for your personal taste) about having a daughter is, honestly, one of the most mind-numbingly dumb and asshole-ish things I've ever read in this sub.

Not only are you the asshole, you're the asshole a thousand times over."

Our verdict...

Whether people like it or not, gender preferences are a real thing, and it's ok to have that little feeling deep down that you'd love to have a son over a daughter, or a daughter over a son - this doesn't mean that ANY baby isn't going to be loved and cherished.

Daddy's reaction was one of pure joy and excitement, and that should be celebrated. The more muted but still happy reaction that daddy initially gave when incorrectly told at first that the baby was a girl doesn't mean that he's ungrateful or in any way bitter about the prospect of daughters - both his firstborn and any potential future daughters. We find the prospect of excluding dad from these events purely due to his happiness at having a son completely unfair and very irrational - as well as incredibly unhealthy for their relationship overall.

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