The couple, who have been married for five years, have been struggling to start a family together – making the husband’s ‘joke’ all the more upsetting for his wife
A woman has spoken of her devastation after her husband made a joke about her infertility in front of their friends.
In a now-deleted post on Reddit , the 29-year-old revealed that she and her husband of five years had been trying to have a baby together for some time – but that she was struggling to conceive.
She took to Reddit to explain what had happened and reach out for advice. It comes after a woman claimed ‘I regret marrying an older man, one part of our history has given me the ick’.
The wife wrote: “Last weekend, I organised a small birthday dinner for him with close friends and family. Everything was going well until someone asked when we were planning to start a family. Before I could even respond, my husband laughed and said, ‘Well, if her ovaries ever wake up from their nap, maybe next year.’
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“Everyone laughed. I didn’t. I just sat there frozen and then excused myself to the restroom,” she continued. “I ended up texting my sister to pick me up and went home. He came home a couple of hours later furious that I ‘ruined his birthday’ and was ’embarrassing him in front of his friends.'” He also told her that she “needs to learn how to take a joke and stop making everything about me”.
The woman said his joke had “cut deep,” especially “since he knows how hard this journey has been for me”. And the Reddit community were quick to show their support.
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“How is a joke about your ovaries and your fertility not about you? Instead of saying sorry. Instead of acknowledging he hurt you. He chose to blame you? Good thing is, your ovaries are napping and you are not pregnant. So take this time to see if this man is who you really want to procreate with,” one member told her, via People.
A second wrote: “It was a terribly insensitive comment that he made in front of an audience at the expense of someone he is supposed to love. This is a clear indication that he doesn’t respect you.
“It would be very difficult for me to imagine risking my health, sanity, and a 20 year connection to a man like that by having his child. Maybe some marriage counseling first. You should always pay attention to things said in jokes, anger, or drunk. It will tell you exactly what someone really thinks.”
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It comes after a woman reached out for advice after discovering her husband had been making inappropriate jokes to a female colleague.
In a post on Mumsnet , the woman fumed: “My husband has a female friend at work that he is close to. They call on Zoom, often text outside of work, and meet up for lunch (only during work hours apparently). She is also married with kids and is very attractive.
“I have seen some messages and they seem flirty. He’s bragged about his baggage size and joked about her fancying him although she’s never said she has. I told him it was bang out of order and he said it was harmless, but that he would create more boundaries with her. This was a while back now.
“Recently, she’s been off sick for a while and he messages her regularly and calls her up at least once a week, and their conversations last over an hour sometimes. He’s telling me to relax and that he’s doing nothing wrong, that they’re good friends and as I also have male friends, I should be more understanding.”
The woman asked for advice from other Mumsnet users as she said she felt as though her husband was “gaslighting” her and denying that he “has feelings for this woman”.
Commenters on the post were quick to side with her. One person said: “It’s very disrespectful behaviour, there is no need for him to carry this on knowing it’s bothering you. Tell him to stop this friendship or lose his wife.”