17-year-old girl calls out her mom for ignoring her because she wishes her daughter had been born a boy: 'She'd talk about how she'd love to have a little boy of her own.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jul 25, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

A lot of parents experience disappointment when finding out the gender of their baby. Perhaps they've already had four girls and are now looking for one boy to complete their family. Maybe, they have bad memories of the way their brother behaved as a child, and think that boy children are more likely to be badly behaved. There's a chance they had a premonition that they were going to have a boy their entire pregnancy, and they're shocked that it didn't come true. All of these things are perfectly normal initial reactions, but if parents ruminate on them too much, it can damage their relationship with their child. If they can't deal with the fact that they had a girl when they wanted a boy or vice versa, the child will be able to tell that they're not wanted for who they are. Again, most parents can overcome gender disappointment once they actually meet their child, but there are some extreme cases that can't be ignored. 

Advertisement
  • 01

    AITA for drawing attention to my mom wishing I had been born a boy instead of a girl?

    I'm (17f) an only child and that surprised a lot of people who knew my parents, but especially mom. She was always open about wanting a big family with at least five kids and she was saying that right up until she found out I was a girl. Nobody else but dad has
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247

  • The mom in this story is a unique case. She has been nothing but dismissive of her daughter for all 17 years of her life just because she's a girl. Nobody will acknowledge or do anything to stop her poor treatment, so her daughter decided to call her out herself.

  • 02
    admitted that part. He said she had plans for more but that stopped when they had the scan that told them I was a girl. Suddenly she was one and done and told everyone she wanted no more kids.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 03
    I know the reason for this is that in my mom's family it's been all girls in her maternal for at least three generations. My grandma only had sisters, she only gave birth to daughters and my aunts all had girls only too. There were also several miscarriages and I heard it said before that maybe
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 04
    the women in our family have bodies that reject boy pregnancies. I know one of my cousins is about to have kids and she looked into it but I don't know what the results were. So I think mom didn't want to have more kids if it was just more girls like me.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 05
    When I was little my mom would get so spacey around families who had all boys. I remember times my parents took me to public park events and mom was always obsessed with the all boy families. She'd talk to the moms and more than once I heard her tell these women that they were
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 06
    so lucky with their boys and she'd talk about how she'd love to have a little boy of her own. And when she'd get questions about me she'd struggle to say anything positive. I heard a lot that girls are hard or there's just something special about baby boys that she never got to experience.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10533785856
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 08
    She doesn't like my aunt's on dad's side either because both of them had three boys. They had girls too but mom was SO jealous of the boys. She was always weirdly hostile toward my aunts and would say how lucky they were but not in the friendly way she said it to the other random families.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 09
    Mom has always sent me to dad when I need something, or want something. A few times she has spent a bit of time with me alone but it always felt forced and like it was the last place she wanted to be. What's disappointing is dad knows too and he never did anything. He's always pretended
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 10
    things are okay and when I told him it made me feel rejected he told me my mom loved me in her own way.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 11
    We were at my grandparents house over the weekend and my aunts, uncles and cousins were there and their partners too. They were talking about some kind of parent and kid getaway that they thought sounded fun. My mom was agreeing with them but also said there was zero point of her going. They asked her why when
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 12
    she has me so it's not like she's childless or child free. Mom shrugged and I told them that mom would never go with me because she wishes I had been a boy and not a girl. And she's still upset about having a daughter and not a son 17 years later.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 13
    My grandparents and aunts looked confused by what I said. My cousins not so much. But they asked why I'd say that and I told them she's always looked longingly at all boy families and considered them lucky for having boys and that she believes they're more special. My mom rolled her eyes but didn't say much. Dad
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10533786112
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    tried to make me shush but I ignored him. I was told by my grandparents and aunts that I was being harsh on mom and her not getting pregnant after me probably made her sad, that was all. I told them she chose to have no more kids after finding out I was a girl. Things got awkward and I was sent away so the adults could talk.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 16
    Later that night my mom was ped at me and told me I made things awkward with the family and they were asking questions. She told me I had set out to try and make her uncomfortable and it's manipulative. I argued that it not my problem if she doesn't want to address the truth. My dad
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 17
    came to talk to me Sunday night and he told me I did wrong too and that drawing attention to mom's preferences like that was not the right move because it was never going to make things better. I told him I couldn't go back and be born a boy so nothing could fix it.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 18
    The rest of the family has decided to ignore it going forward too. And they don't want to talk about it more. AITA?
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 19
    Cheezburger Image 10533785600
    via Daniel Leżuch

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 20
    Beginning Bet1409 You didn't make things awkward you just stopped pretending they weren't already
    via u/Beginning_Bet1409
  • 21
    Technical_Bench_8737 Nta, you didn't make your mother uncomfortable. You just told the truth. Your mother wanted boys, but decided to stop after discovering your gender. Genetics is a complicated thing. There's nothing to say she wouldn't have had a baby boy if she had tried.
    via u/Technical_Bench_8737
  • 22
    I can understand being disappointed, but blaming you and making you feel unwelcome around your own mother is a whole other thing. She should have seen a professional to deal with this, not made you feel like this. And besides, the truth always comes out at some point. She's just upset that her true colors were revealed over a gender issue.
    via u/Technical_Bench_8737
  • 23
    Glittering-Kale5247 OP I don't think my mom ever cared about how her coldness or her words would make me feel. All she cared about was what she missed out on. The fact she didn't have more kids because they could've been girls says how much she really didn't like having me. And there are times, even still, that it feels like there must be something wrong with me. But I know I can't control how I was born.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247
  • 24
    demon_king_ares NTA. Not your fault you're being emotionally neglected by your mother while your dad does nothing to help. Keep being open about it. Consequences of her own actions. Maybe it'll teach her to watch how she acts or speaks before she loses the chance at any sort of relationship with you
    via u/demon_king_ares
  • 25
    Glittering-Kale5247 OP I don't think she wants any relationship with me.
    via u/Glittering-Kale5247

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

parents of teens teens family drama teenager teenage mother teenagers bad parenting bad parents parenting raising teens family mom Parenting Fail
Scroll Down For The Next Article