When it comes to having a baby, a lot of people take one specific part very seriously: choosing their baby's name. In fact, some people insist on keeping their baby's name a secret until the baby is born. Of course, others want to share the detail as soon as they figure it out.
And truthfully, there is no wrong or right way to choose a name for your baby … unless you're flat-out stealing one from someone close to you. One expectant mother recently shared on Reddit that this exact scenario is happening to her. To make matters worse, her own sister is the thief.
She says that she and her husband shared their baby's name over 20 weeks ago.
"My husband and I are expecting our first baby, and we're due in just a few weeks," she began. "When we first announced our pregnancy to our family after the first trimester (20+ weeks ago), we also announced our baby's gender AND his name."
Her sister is also pregnant after trying for years.
"My sister and her husband have been trying to conceive their third kid for the last 5ish years, however, due to some complications in her previous pregnancy, they have had to do several rounds of IVF," she continued. "Turns out she found out she was pregnant 5 weeks after me and announced her pregnancy a little over a month after us."
For some reason, her sister flat-out decided to just take the name.
"She found out she is also expecting a baby boy and we were both excited about the idea of our kids growing up to be best friends. Everything was going pretty great until a few weeks ago. My mom decided to come to visit me to help me get the nursery ready, and mentioned that my sister had really liked the name my husband and I picked for our baby and that she had decided to take it."
Her mom assumed she would just change her baby's name.
"My mom then asked me what my husband and I would change our baby's name to since it would be too confusing to have two grandkids with the same name," the woman explained. "I told my mom that we were NOT changing the name of our baby since our hearts were set on it, and we wouldn't have announced it if we weren't sure."
Her sister says that she should get dibs.
"I then get a call from my sister, claiming that since this was their miracle baby, she would get first dibs on whatever name they wanted. I told her that she can name her baby whatever she wants, but that we're not changing our minds about our baby's name."
People are on the mom's side.
One commenter said, "She's free to name her child the same thing, but there will be consequences to that I'm sure… in the form of 'Uhh isn't your sister's kid named the same, and didn't that kid come out first?' People can do the math here. They're not stupid. Just stand your ground on the name, tell her she's free to name her child whatever she wishes… the situation will resolve itself."
One person pointed out an obvious truth.
As another commenter put it, it's clear that her sister didn't have an attachment to the name until she heard it: "There is no rational reason why you should be expected to give up the name you had already selected because she had a hard time conceiving. She only thought of it because you had picked it. If it was a name she always planned to name her kid and had deep sentimental meaning for her and her husband (like his dead father’s name, or something like that), maybe that would justify her behavior. As is, there is no reason at all you should change your kid’s name."
Ultimately, if her sister is mad, she can just ... stay mad.
A commenter noted: "Your sister decided to try to take the name you have already chosen. You are right, everyone gets to use whatever name they like. She can be as upset as she wants over her own actions."
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