Mom Praised for Demanding Son Tell His Pregnant Wife He Cheated on Her

A concerned mother-in-law has been praised for defying the wishes of her husband and demanding her son tell his heavily pregnant wife he was unfaithful.

Writing on the Reddit forum "Am I The A**hole?" the worried parent described how she has been accused of "trying to ruin" her own son's life after giving him just three days to tell his partner he cheated—warning that if he failed to, she would.

According to the post, the problems all started on New Year's Eve when her 26-year-old son Paul went out with friends, leaving his wife Julia, who is eight months pregnant, at home with his parents.

The mom makes no bones about her admiration for Julia, who she describes as a "saint" and "levelheaded" presence in her son's life. So, she was understandably upset after learning from one of Paul's friends that he didn't spend New Year's Eve with them but instead "spent the night" with his ex.

"I was flabbergasted," the mom wrote. "I felt anger and disappointment washing over me and I couldn't stand even looking Julia in the face knowing that Paul lied and most likely was unfaithful to her."

When the mom tried to confront her son about what he did, he initially "denied" it before admitting he "got drunk" and that it "just happened."

She told him he "needed to be honest with his wife" about the incident but her son "absolutely refused" to do so. The mom said that left her with "no choice but to give him three days to tell her where he was on New Year's Eve" or she would.

At that point her son "started crying" and accused her of "trying to ruin his life" as he was almost certain Julia would "never understand" and that "an innocent baby" was involved. His mother was adamant though, telling him he was "dead wrong" to think she would "condone or cover up" what he did.

Though the son "begged" her to change her mind and her own husband, Paul's dad, even told her to "stay out of it," she refused to back down, earning the praise of many across Reddit in the process.

Bearamongus19 acknowledged it was "a bad situation" but ultimately her son "made his bed and now he has to lay in it." The mom agreed, noting that her son "tried to downplay the severity of the situation by acting as if it's a minor issue and that Julia really didn't need to know given her position as soon to be mom." She said: "He claimed Julia won't be open to hear him out and blamed her hormones for that."

Sndacc25 wrote that any fallout for her son from the incident would be the "consequences of his own actions." The mom replied back that "Julia is like a daughter to her" and someone who is "more loved and respected than most original family members."

A minority were critical of her actions though. WeOwnThis2017 called her "meddling" but, once again, the mom had a response, refuting those claims. "My relationship with my daughter-in-law is strong enough for me to go out of my way and make sure she isn't treated poorly or given less than she deserves," she fired back.

The majority wholeheartedly backed her approach though. "If I were in her shoes [Julia's] I would want to know, no matter who it came from," Georgiedoggie said. EviePeanut, meanwhile, branded her "the best mother-in-law a daughter-in-law could get" as "someone who knows when their kids are in the wrong and not trying to cover for them."

Others, like CalmFront7908, also hit out at her husband's response to their son's infidelity. "Your husband needs to get over 'the old boys club' mentality immediately," they commented. "I would be asking myself some questions about him."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment.

Noel Biderman, the founder of extramarital dating website Ashley Madison, believes it is more common than most realize for people to cheat on pregnant partners. He explained to Vice that for many couples, it's a situation in which their "sex life goes from 100 miles per hour to zero."

"Like, literally, there becomes a period of abstinence," he said. "Women feel less attractive so there's an emotional side to not wanting to be sexually active for some, not all."

Biderman said this continues on into the early phase of the newborn child's life. "There's a healing period of time, and then there's a demands period of time," he added. "Having a newborn is tough. It doesn't lead to a lot of intimacy."

The post comes just a few weeks after a Bumble dating profile of a wife telling her husband to "pack his bags" went viral online.

Prior to that, a video of a woman giving her boyfriend a gift engraved with the names of all the girls he cheated on her with also racked up big numbers and much discussion on TikTok.