A gender reveal is an exciting moment in every parent's life. Even if they have no preference, everybody is still very excited about what to expect when they are expecting. It also helps to prepare for the baby more appropriately.
Nowadays, people tend to throw extraordinary gender reveal celebrations to share the news with their families and closest friends. And of course, it is a great excuse for a little party!
More info: Reddit
The main idea behind gender reveals is that they're surprises, so when a mother claims she doesn’t know the gender before the celebration, it's probably true
Image credits: Janet (not the actual image)
Woman questions whether it was appropriate to disclose the incorrect gender of the baby to her MIL after she incessantly requested it
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual image)
MIL had promised to keep it a secret, however, after slicing the cake and from the ensuing silence in the room, it was clear that the incorrect gender was revealed to everyone beforehand
Image credits: u/Fit_Tough1697
Woman is then asked to apologize to her MIL in order to keep the peace in the family
Recently, Reddit user “u/Fit_Tough1697” took her story to one of the subreddit communities where she asked members if it was a jerk move to say the gender, which apparently was not true, of their baby right before the gender reveal party to her MIL after she promised to keep it a secret. Just in 3 days, the story got more than 17K upvotes and almost 1.7K comments.
The mother-to-be starts the story by saying that she was not the biggest fan about the gender reveal party idea, however her husband’s family made a big deal about it so she agreed. Moreover, MIL was confident that the woman already knew the gender, despite her constantly saying the opposite, and she insisted that she reveal it to her.
For a good month, MIL kept pressuring OP for a reveal through text messages, promising not to tell a single soul. The woman finally gave up and said that it’s a girl. And as you know, she actually had no idea so she just went with 50/50 to stop these constant requests.
Now, moving forward to the gender reveal party. Once the parents-to-be had cut the cake and saw the blue color inside, there was total silence. Turns out, the promise to keep it a secret had been broken, all the guests from MIL's side “knew” that it was going to be a girl and brought gifts for a girl. Although, for a baby, I am not sure why it matters and there are plenty of things that can be gender neutral.
Right after this exposure, MIL came over and cussed the author out for embarrassing her, however, she also admitted that she never intended to keep the gender a secret and it was overheard by some family members. The author’s husband asked her to apologize to his mother in order to keep the peace in the family, but she doesn’t think it's the right move.
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual image)
The audience backed the woman up and gave her the “Not the A-hole” badge in this situation. “So his side insisted on having a gender reveal, but all of them were under the assumption that they already knew the gender because of your MIL… Like what was even the point?” one user commented. Another added: “The point was so that the MIL could be the center of attention. She had the secret information. She was the most important person. All attention was on her.” Many folks agreed with these comments stating that MIL should be the one apologizing.
Bored Panda contacted Jane Sheriff, who is the founder of Darling Celebrations, creative director, party planner and mom of three. She kindly agreed to share her insights about gender reveal party planning and tendencies.
To begin with, Jane says that it’s more common that parents choose not to know the gender of the baby so then they can fully appreciate the magic of a big gender reveal. “Often, a close friend or relative is asked to organize the finer details of the gender reveal, they are the "keeper of the gender" and the only one who knows!”
Now, speaking about the whole planning of the reveal and people responsible, the party planner says that “often a close friend, sister, or relative knows the gender and works alongside the parents-to-be to organize the gender reveal. The parents would usually pay for and organize the venue, decorations, cake, etc., but the finer details involving the actual gender are left to the relative in charge.” The common practice in the preparation is that “at the baby scan, the parents ask the sonographer to put the details of the baby's gender in a sealed envelope so the parents can't see it. This envelope is then given to the friend organizing the party.”
Finally, speaking about gifts that are suitable for any gender, you can find a whole list here. Additionally, Jane emphasized that “good ideas include something gender neutral like a baby blanket, swaddle blanket or clothes, or something funny like a cute onesie or mug. Alternatively, some kind of treat for the mom-to-be is always well accepted, like a Bump Box of pregnancy goodies.”
Don’t forget to check out the Darling Celebrations website for many party ideas and if you are planning a big gender reveal yourself - check out this post!
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual image)
Folks in the comment section argued that the author shouldn't be the person who needs to apologize
