'Infertile' Woman Stealing the Limelight at Baby Shower Dragged

A woman has been dragged online for becoming the center of attention at another woman's baby shower.

In a post on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA****** forum, her husband, under the username u/wold-into, shared how his wife became upset with him when he suggested she should leave their friend's baby shower.

The 28-year-old said his 26-year-old wife has been trying to conceive since September, but so far she has not become pregnant.

"The doctor did say at our first appointment that it typically takes close to a year for most couples to conceive," he wrote. "She's been telling people that she's infertile—which isn't true, doctor said she isn't."

The time it takes to get pregnant can vary based on multiple factors, but research shows that just over a third of healthy couples will conceive in the first month of trying. For women under 35 and in good health, conception can take up to a year.

When the poster's wife met Mary, the wife of one of his co-workers, at a Christmas party, they became fast friends. Mary, who is expecting a baby, invited the Redditor's wife to her baby shower.

"My wife sounded excited to go. I asked her when we were alone if she thinks she'll be fine. I know my wife and I know what typically bothers her. I knew she wouldn't bask in happiness over someone else's pregnancy so I urged her to think it through," said the poster. "She said she's fine and she was excited so she went."

After dropping his wife at the event, the man went to a nearby café, where he received a call from his wife after about 40 minutes.

"She calls me and asks me to come," he said. "I find her at the entrance of the house crying and a BUNCH of women consoling her. When she saw me she came to me and pulled me to the garden to talk. She said she was dancing and looked at Mary's pregnant belly and couldn't take it anymore, started crying and ran out."

As all of the mom-to-be's friends consoled his wife, the man wrote, he suggested they go for a drive to help her feel better.

"She looked at me weird and asked why she would leave. I asked why she would stay?" he said. "She said she feels better now and can go have a good time. I sighed and said, 'Babe, you know that's not going to happen. And I doubt the attention will be on Mary after this and that's not great. It's her baby shower and she deserves to be celebrated. I can't see how people are going to shift their focus from consoling you to celebrating her if you're still there.' She rolled her eyes at me and said she was going back in and that I could leave."

Three hours later, he returned to pick up his wife. He found that Mary had left hours before and his wife was still the center of attention.

"My wife and I entered the car and I first asked her how she was feeling and we spoke about it for a few minutes. I then asked her what happened and why Mary left. She said, 'Oh crap, Mary. I forgot to say bye to her.'

"I told her Mary left ages ago," wrote the poster. "I then said, 'I know you're going through a hard time but why on earth would you and her friends do this? If they consoled you for a few minutes that's fine but the entire party? We really should've left earlier.'"

The wife was not convinced by her husband that they should have left earlier and did not speak to him for the entire drive home.

The story had over 22,000 upvotes the morning after. The poster said his wife was still not speaking to him and took to the internet to ask if he was wrong.

Florence Ann Romano, a personal growth strategist and author of the upcoming book Build Your Village: A Guide to Finding Joy and Community in Every Stage of Life, told Newsweek: "Quite simply, becoming the center of attention at someone else's celebration is inappropriate and inconsiderate. By all means, enjoy yourself. Be lively, tell stories and entertain.

"Those are all positive ways to be a party guest. However, derailing the focus from, in this case, the mother-to-be because of negative attention can quickly extinguish the festive energy of the room and breed great resentment," Romano said.

On Reddit, users agreed and rushed to slam the woman for taking all of the attention at the baby shower.

"Your wife turned someone else's celebration into her own pity party, to [the] point that the guest of honor left her own shower, and doesn't realize she did anything wrong?" asked one commenter. Another wrote: "I don't really know where to start with this. Your wife sounds like A LOT. You've only been trying to conceive since September. That's hardly any time at all."

One user wrote: "I don't blame her for the initial distress but this could've all been avoided had she just left with you when you suggested it. I can't bring myself to understand why she stayed."

Another user said: "And the fact that she didn't even realize Mary left. What a mess. I hope Mary has other friends and family she can host for celebrations going forward because your wife and the friends who were in attendance are not really Mary's friends."

Newsweek has reached out to u/wold-into for comment and was not able to verify the details of this case.