I’ve got a bit of a gut. Should I happen to wear the right (or, perhaps we should say wrong) shirt and forget not to slouch, it’s quite possible I could be mistaken for pregnant.
For years I’ve considered myself lucky never to have been asked when I wasn’t actually expecting, but after reading a Reddit thread I’m second-guessing if that’s true. Could it be I’ve been asked and didn’t even realize?
The eye-opening thought came when I read this “life pro tip” headline: LPT: Need to know if a woman is just big or pregnant? Just ask,” Do you have any kids?” This has given me the answer 95% of the time.
Say what? I’m sure I would fall for it. Perhaps I already have.
The poster elaborated, “If she’s pregnant the answer will always almost be along the lines of ‘Oh not yet, but I’m expecting’…’I already have x kids and another one one the way.’ If she just answers no then don’t ever bring it up.”
Although not all commenters agreed this technique was advisable, it certainly got the conversation going.
On a slightly different note, one shared this funny tale:
So I was at a farmers market, woman was obviously, but obviously pregnant. She was even doing the whole holding her baby belly thing.
I said “So when are you expecting?”
She looked at me a bit oddly and said, “Expecting what?”
As a look of horror spread over my face, she burst out laughing. She told me she’d wanted to do that for so long. For some reason she chose me to pull it on.
Since then I’ve learned it’s probably not a good idea to ask a woman if they’re pregnant no matter what.
I concur it’s not a good idea to straight-out ask, but I have been in a situation where I was curious to know if there was news to celebrate and I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Unfortunately, this instance was with a neighbor I hadn’t seen all winter — would have been pretty awkward to ask if she had kids knowing full well they’re at my house all summer!
Do you endorse this sneaky way to find out if someone is pregnant?
Tell usPhotos: MorgueFile
BabyCenter members show off their full-term bumps:
Photo submitted to the BabyCenter 9 month baby bumps photo contest by community member: akbs
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