Mum sues mum-in-law for secretly filming birth and showing it to strangers
Dear gosh, there really is one born every minute. Sigh. A furious mum has popped up on Reddit to relate a jaw-dropping story of a keen mother-in-law (MIL) who took ownership of her birth in a very exposing way.
MIL from hell?
Let us first say that MOST mothers-in-law are brilliantly supportive and only want what’s best for their family. But sometimes a mum-in-law pops up who’s a bit of an anomaly. This particular MIL is the very definition of that.
This mum explains that she had a very long labour, stretching out over several days and her mother-in-law was in the delivery room as she got closer to birth. Impatient, the MIL began heckling her daughter-in-law and urging her to hurry up. Staff promptly sent her out of the room to cool down and she returned about 40 minutes later to find her daughter-in-law close to giving birth.
“I was in the middle of pushing when she ran in,” this mum explains, noting that she wasn’t exactly aware of her surroundings.
“This being my first child and being in labor for so long with no pain meds or rest or food/water I was drained! Pushing was hard as hell and I just wanted to sleep,” she recalls.
“Well the moment my daughter was born was the moment I noticed that the entire labor MIL had her cell phone out and was recording my ENTIRE birth! From my pushing to the stitching process (I tore 100 percent).”
GOSH.
The plot thickens
“I asked MIL to delete the video, and she promised she did,” the mum continues. But it doesn’t end there, sadly.
“It wasn’t until a week later when we went to visit her that I found she was showing random strangers this video and many of these strangers were men that she barely knew.”
DOUBLE GOSH.
“It took going to court to get the video deleted and after that, she wasn’t allowed near me nor my daughter,” the mum continued.
It’s a pretty awful story and a total betrayal of trust at a time when a woman is most vulnerable. Imagine having to get a court order to stop your birth video being shown to all and sundry … by a woman who should have your back.
Insane ridiculousness
Commenters on Reddit could not imagine how this mum had endured this and not lost her mind.
“Virtual hug for having to deal with such insane ridiculousness. You should not have been put in that position.”
“How super violating! I had a birth doula film me deliver against my explicit wishes. I was horrified when I figured it out. Your situation is so much worse. Really sorry it happened.”
“Some people just need to be in quarantine to protect the rest of us from their nonsense.” #truth
Wait, what?
And others could not believe strangers would even want to watch someone else’s most intimate mum moment.
“In all honesty, whenever someone’s offered to show me a video, I’ve all but yelled, ‘Hell, no!’ And then made a quick getaway because who in their right mind wants to see?”
“I was visiting my SIL when her 5-year-old daughter plopped down on the couch next to me, photo album in hand. She wanted to show me her “story,” which was (you guessed it) pics of her mom giving birth to her. Couldn’t get out of there fast enough!”
You had to sue her?!
The idea of having to take your own mother-in-law to court to protect yourself grabbed the attention of many, many commenters.
“Wait, you had to sue her to make her get rid of the video??? What the hell??”
“I’m so glad you took her to court! Damn, that’s horrible.”
And it really is. Goodness.