I Returned My MIL’s Gift & Walked out of My Own Birthday Party Right after Opening the Box

A woman and her husband were desperate to have children, but after several failed rounds of IVF, she knew she could take no more. Then, her mother-in-law gave her a birthday gift she couldn't accept.

A 35-year-old woman and her 37-year-old husband had talked about having children since their first date. The woman had always wanted a family and told her husband she was prepared to have five children if possible.

He laughed it off, but when they married, the woman knew it was her time to start trying to create the family she had always dreamed of. They began trying but had no luck with having a child.

They did several rounds of IVF, and the woman admitted it was the most terrible experience of her life. After her last failed IVF attempt, something happened that showed her she needed to let it alone.

The woman shared that after her final failed IVF attempt, her husband had cried himself to sleep nightly for weeks. She felt horrible because she felt it was her body that was letting them both down.

She knew she was done after seeing her husband's disappointment and experiencing her own. She shared, "I told my husband I was done trying, and he understood."

Although the woman's husband understood why she didn't want to do any more IVF rounds, his family was far less understanding and begged the woman to do it again in an attempt to bring another child into the family. One birthday, it all became too much for the woman.

Although the woman felt pressure from her husband's family, especially from his mother, she insisted she was done with IVF and would not be doing another round under any circumstances.

Then, the woman's birthday rolled around, and her husband's family came to a party her in-laws had thrown her to give her gifts. Each gift was something for a baby, like toys or clothes. The woman was confused by these gifts.

Finally, she opened her mother-in-law's gift and found a pair of baby socks and a check. When the woman questioned her mother-in-law on it, her mother-in-law's reasoning angered her. She said, "I asked why she was giving me money for another round of IVF after I said I was done trying."

The woman knew the check was for another round of IVF because it was the exact amount she would have had to pay for another round. Her mother-in-law said she hoped she would do it one last time as she had been praying, and God had shown her signs that it would work this time.

The woman was furious, telling her mother-in-law she didn't understand how emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing it was to endure the process of IVF, especially when it didn't work out in the end.

The woman became emotional thinking about how all her husband's family saw when they looked at her was children because she knew she was disappointing them by not being able to have any.

The woman's mother-in-law tried to argue with her, but she set the gift down and walked out of the party. The husband's family called the woman selfish and said she was making decisions that kept everyone from welcoming a new family member.

The woman's mother-in-law and the rest of the family said the woman had shattered their dreams of ever welcoming a new child because she had not even consulted them when deciding to stop IVF and had refused her mother-in-law's gift.

The woman's husband, who did not attend the party because he was out with a friend, said she should have accepted the gift instead of being disrespectful and leaving early. The woman wanted to know from netizens if she was being selfish in her reaction. Many weighed in and told her she was not.

Do you think the woman overreacted? Was she right to refuse the gift and leave the party early? Do you think she should have tolerated her mother-in-law's behavior? What would you have done in this situation?

Some Reader Comments

While this woman could not have children, another woman had three children within a matter of weeks. The woman got pregnant twice in one pregnancy. Read her full story here.