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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Grace Hoffman

'My mother-in-law is obsessed with the gender of our baby - it's driving me mad'

The majority of parents will agree that they have no preference for the gender of their baby - as long as they're healthy. On the other hand, there are a few people among us that have a secretly underlying preference.

Admitting that her mother-in-law is 'driving [her] mad', a pregnant woman explained that her husband's parent is 'obsessed' with the idea of the couple having a baby boy. Unfortunately, this isn't the only time that she's experienced a similar dilemma.

Taking to popular forum Mumsnet, the woman admitted that her in-law coincidentally reacted the same with her first child. While the woman gave birth to a little girl, the mum was fixated on buying boy's clothes.

She constantly refers to the unborn child as a male despite unaware of gender (stock photo) (Getty Images)

The woman explained in full: "I'm 14 weeks pregnant, we do plan to find out the sex of our baby, but my mother-in-law is driving me mad. She is absolutely obsessed with me having a boy. As soon as she found out I was pregnant she said she knows it was a boy.

"When I sent her the dating scan photo she said 'he's beautiful'. She keeps telling my daughter that mummy is growing a brother for her. It's driving me crazy.

"She also did the same with my daughter when I was pregnant with her. From the get-go was obsessed with telling me daily that I was having a boy. When we found out we were having a girl she still persisted that she thought it was wrong and we were having a boy.

"When my daughter was born she bought her clothes from the boy's section in shops (I still got some wear out of them because I’m not precious but just found it strange).

"I don't know what to do really, I know if it continues it will continue to drive me mad like it did last pregnancy. It makes me feel like she only wants grandsons the way she is behaving. I think it all stems from where she only had boys.

Seeking advice, she questioned: "Is this strange behaviour or am I just being sensitive with the pregnancy hormones?"

Flocking to the comment section, Mumsnet users sympathised with the pregnant woman - with some even sharing their own experiences.

One person shared their first-hand encounter: "Yup, my mother-in-law is the same - I think it's projection, on a level they would've liked a daughter but didn't have one so now just want other people to have boys as well."

The pregnant mum replied: "I think you're right. I did wonder if it's because she's a boy mum. I know she wanted another baby but they decided against it so I suspect she did want a girl."

Meanwhile, someone else suggested: "She wants to relive raising her son...."

Do you have a story? We want to hear it! Get in touch at grace.hoffman@reachplc.com

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