Unhinged Family Freaks Out When Daughter-In-Law’s First Born Isn’t a Boy, Goes Full ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ at the Shower

Every family has its quirks, but this redditor's story about how her in-laws reacted to the sex of her unborn child is beyond unsettling. The family nearly had a collective mental breakdown after they failed to will a baby boy into existence through various "rituals," the ultimate goal possibly being to superimpose their dead grandfather's identity onto the kid. Yikes. Sounds like something out of Rosemary's Baby or Hereditary. Jokes aside, OP's family likely just needs some serious grief counseling and a lesson on boundaries. Keep scrolling for the full story.

Posted by Mel Dawn

“AITA for walking out of the baby shower my In Laws threw for me?” —u/throwaway6779770

Red flags galore

Family freaks out when they find out the baby's sex

Things get even weirder

The comment section

Needless to say, the comment section nearly unanimously decided that OP was not the a-hole, though some wondered how OP could have brushed off so many glaring red flags leading up to the point where things got too weird to ignore.

“NTA and they sound scary. The baby shower sounds like a scene from a horror film” said u/EmoEmu2020.

“Strong Rosemary’s Baby vibes.” Agreed u/Bleu_Cerise.

While some found the similarities between OP's situation and various horror films, others urged OP to leave her husband to protect her future daughter. “So.... you already know how your daughter is going to be treated in this family. Time to take a nice hard look at how your life between now and when you die will be and what your daughters life will be like and make some hard decisions. NTA” said u/Adahla987.

“NTA please tell me you're thinking about leaving this man.” Said u/Proud Drawing5898. “You can NEVER have more children with this man especially a son the favoritism will be through the roof. Please go stay with family or friends and tell them what's happening. This family is UNSTABLE! Also you can also get a prenatal test that test the dna to prove once and for all it's a girl, it sucks that these people can be happy with any grandchild. It sounds like there were seeing your baby as a reoccurrence of the dead father that's VERY alarming!”

“NTA. You need to actually divorce this man." Urged u/Nt_A_Chnc. “And when your daughter comes maybe you will be able to get him to sign away his parental rights. This is totally sick and you are totally spot on. The way your husband is feeding into this madness raises all sorts of red flags in me. I can see this family ignoring your daughter when she gets here and making her feel like she's not enough because she is an a boy. I have seen that happen and it's sick. Congratulations on your baby girl and I hope this works out in the way that is happy and healthy for the both of you.”

Others pointed out that OP was partially at fault for disregarding red flags. “NTA But let's be clear,” said u/zelonhusk, “It is evident you are very good at ignoring red flags: They told you what to name your kid and you were fine with it? They made you practice all sorts of rituals and you just went along? Girl, you need to set your boundaries.”

“My parents wanted a boy,” shared u/BBAuS. “I never stopped hearing about it. And were disappointed that I wasn't even a pretty girl. It hard to live under that constant disappointment of being born wrong to a while family. Your dh reaction is just as screwed up. He's putting his family or origin first. Give him the choice of therapy or divorce.”

Read the original thread here.