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Woman Gets Everything She Wanted, Then Accuses Friends Of Being Heartless

by Annie Nguyen
December 31, 2025
in Social Issues

Online communities can become lifelines, especially when they are built around shared pain. Over time, strangers turn into confidants, and a forum becomes more than just a place to talk.

It becomes a space where people feel understood without having to explain themselves. But what happens when the one thing that brought everyone together suddenly no longer applies to one member?

That is the dilemma facing a longtime moderator of a private forum for women who cannot have children. After years of shared grief and support, one woman announces life-changing news that shifts the entire group dynamic.

What should have been joyful quickly becomes complicated, emotional, and deeply divisive. Now, friendships are strained, loyalties are tested, and the moderator is left wondering whether protecting the group means hurting someone she once stood beside.

A forum moderator sparks outrage after asking a pregnant member to step back from an infertility support group

Woman Gets Everything She Wanted, Then Accuses Friends Of Being Heartless
not the actual photo

'AITA for asking a "pregnant" woman to get out of our forum for women who can't have children?'

I'm (f/41) the mod of a forum for women who can't have children and have been so for the past 7 years.

On this forum there's a sub-group of around 20 women (all mid 30s to mid 50s) who have been on there for over 10+ years and we are very close.

I consider all of them close personal friends, we've gone through very horrible times together, from first realizing we won't be able to

have children, to accepting this, to dealing with friends/family etc.

Three years ago one of our members died from MS and we've been even closer ever since.

So here's the deal: at the beginning of March one of our members, let's call her Mary (47) suddenly announced that she and her husband found a surrogate and that...

Now mind you Mary has been one of the longest members of the forum and has told us in detail why a surrogate wouldn't work etc.

so we were all beyond baffled. But of course, we were primarily very happy for her.

The problem new consists of the fact that I've been approached by several members telling me they are uncomfortable with Mary still being in the group

because even though she tries not to, she constantly brings up the fact that she is about to be a mother while all of us are suffering from the fact...

Of course, this is the biggest event in Mary's life and I understand why she can't stop talking about it, it's completely understandable.

We are all friends and the group has evolved over the years but its main reason for existing is still the fact

that none of us can have children and that is its main purpose, that is the main thing we talk about.

I've asked Mary to please not talk about it so much and while she seemed hurt, she promised she would tone it down. Well she hasn't.

In the last week she's talked about the pregnancy, the surrogate, all the items they've bought, how excited her family is, how her mother cried when she told her etc.

All of it makes us incredibly upset. Yesterday I told her that either she stopped talking about it or I would have to ban her from the group

and she got very angry and made a huge post in our group, accusing us all of not being happy for her, not being able to jump over own shadows...

I think she wants to keep us as friends but not have to deal with the reason why we became friends in the first place.

I personally think she doesn't really have a place in our group anymore.

The group is very divided over this and I've gotten more angry calls in the last 24 hours than I ever have in my entire life before that.

However, there are also a whole group of women agreeing with me.

I'm trying to keep the peace but at this point it doesn't seem possible. So, AITA?. ​

Edit: For anyone that cares I've not really been a part of the group anymore for the past several weeks

because the stress has been too much and I have to deal with more important things.

I made another woman in our group the new mod but from what she's told me, nothing much has changed in the group

apart from the fact that Mary has toned down her baby-talk a lot.

Apparently other women talked to her as well and she realized that what she did was really unfair to the rest of us.

Personally I've not talked to Mary since the whole deal but I suspect we'll talk again sooner rather than later since I don't have much time left on this earth.

Sometimes the most painful losses are the ones society rarely gives us permission to grieve. When a future quietly disappears, people learn to survive by leaning on those who truly understand that absence. That kind of shared pain creates bonds that are deep, fragile, and fiercely protective.

In this story, the original poster was not simply acting as a forum moderator. She was standing guard over a space that had become an emotional lifeline for women who had spent years mourning the same irreversible reality.

The group was built around infertility, not as a temporary struggle but as a permanent condition they had slowly learned to live with together.

When Mary announced her surrogacy, it introduced a fundamental shift. Her joy was real and deserved, yet it stood in sharp contrast to a community still anchored in grief.

Every mention of baby purchases or family celebrations unintentionally reminded others of what they would never experience, reopening wounds they had learned to manage only within carefully defined boundaries.

What makes this situation more complex is that neither side was acting out of selfishness. Mary sought connection from the people who had walked beside her during her darkest moments. The group, however, was trying to preserve the one environment where they did not have to pretend they were okay.

Psychologically, this is what happens when a shared identity fractures. One person moves into a new life chapter, while others remain in the same unresolved emotional space. The resulting tension often feels personal, even when it is structural.

There is also a gendered and social dimension worth noting. Women are often conditioned to prioritize emotional inclusion and harmony, even at the expense of their own mental well-being. This can make setting boundaries feel cruel, when in reality it is an act of self-preservation. The poster’s request was not a rejection of Mary as a person but an attempt to protect a collective coping mechanism that had taken years to form.

Psychological research helps explain why this conflict felt so intense. According to Psychology Today, infertility often leads to what is known as disenfranchised grief, a form of grief that is not openly acknowledged or socially validated.

Because there is no funeral or clear end point, the emotional pain can linger for years, resurfacing when others achieve milestones that feel permanently out of reach

Understanding this reframes the situation. The group’s reaction was not about bitterness or lack of support. It was about safeguarding a space where grief could exist without apology.

Mary’s eventual realization and decision to tone down her baby talk suggest that, once the emotional dynamics were made visible, empathy could flow in both directions.

In the end, this story is less about exclusion and more about timing and boundaries. Not every relationship can survive every life transition in the same form. Sometimes the healthiest choice is allowing people to step into new chapters separately, without forcing joy and grief to share the same room.

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

These commenters backed OP, prioritizing group mental health and boundaries

Docnevyn − NTA. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. She is destroying a safe space for all of you and she needs leave.

I get you consider her a friend and feel bad about it, but you have to do your job as mod here.

CyborgsRHere − NTA I am a childless woman. From that I say ban her.

She can start her own group chat, it feels like she’s rubbing it in and it’s a very disgraceful way to act.

It’s hurtful and shame on her for her very narcissistic attitude.

Because her actions speak that this is ALL ABOUT HER the other women be damned she wants attention and doesn’t care about others and is just rubbing it in their...

In your group since you are the mod I’d post something along the lines (after she’s banned and moderate new members please)

I decided that while we are all thrilled that X is having a child it is not in the best interest of this forum for her to be here.

This is a triggering factor for many of our members and we are thrilled for her soon to be motherhood, this is a place where the childless

(however you all refer to yourselves) hang and chat with all the love and caring we give each other. We are extremely excited for X to be a mother.

We also believe in protecting the mental health of our members in this forum. Thank you, OP.

hmg07 − NTA. It's interesting that she said you guys can't jump over your own shadows when that can be said of her as well. It's ok to have boundaries.

This won't stop once the baby is born, so if you're going to remove her, I would do it now before the baby pictures and stories about the baby start

nerdandknit − NTA - Mary may not even realise how much she is hurting you all.

She wants her friends to be excited for her, but she isn't truly looking at how much this is hurting all of you.

You've told her how you feel and warned her of the consequences, so you haven't done anything wrong.

This group suggested compromise, separation of spaces, and empathy for both sides

bossyjudge − NAH. She has been in that group for a very long time, so I think she considers you all as friends.

People generally want to share their good news and details of their lives with friends. However, she does need to be considerate of the group’s feelings.

I think she should find another group that she can talk to about those things, while taking a bit of a step back from your group.

outloud230 − NAH Start a new group of the close friends to talk about her upcoming child/ off-topic things and keep the main group for what it’s purpose is.

These users felt both sides failed, citing poor communication and hurt feelings

[Reddit User] − NTA, but it might be best to approach her proactively instead of reacting to her latest post.

Set aside a time to talk to her about your friendship, how you met, how the group has evolved over the years, her exciting news, etc.

Then let her know that while you still care about her, she's outgrown the support group.

It's a good thing, and you're happy for her! But now, her friendship will just have to take place outside of this group, because it's for people

who are dealing with the inability to have a child, and as people make piece with that or find other ways to grow their families, it's natural for them to...

Quickdraw10 − ESH. You communicated to her that you wanted it toned down and she didn't.

She sucks there undoubtedly. But you and those other women also do.

I'd understand the group-concept-matters-most mentality if there was a significant turnover in the group and

you were trying to create a general safe space for women who can't have kids.

But if this conflict is strictly within a group of people that have ALL known each other for 10+ years, saying that the original thing matters more than the friendship...

She feels understandably betrayed here that people she probably considered friends beyond the initial "bonded because no kids"

thing have now just ditched 10 years of friendship because they're salty about her happiness. You guys sound like bad friends frankly.

KirriLidian − ESH. She is being insensitive yes, but you have basically told her that you were only friends with her because she couldn't carry a child.

She was excited, she could have made the effort to tone it down for sure, but I doubt you would keep her around even if she did anyway.

These commenters criticized OP, framing the ban as betrayal of friendship

tla07412 − You’ve been friends for 10+ years yet you guys Are upset when she finally finds the light at the end of her tunnel and wants to share

it with the people who are closest to her and have walked through this long gut wrenching journey with her?

I guess misery needs company. You’re the a__hole.

LaurieQueenOfSingle − YTA. I really am sorry for you and your friends, believe me, but if you were friends with Mary

then you'd at least try to be happy for her, and I don't see any of that here.

Equally, I agree that she could be more sensitive, but the reason you became friends doesn't have to be the reason you lose touch either.

Kellogz27 − YTA for me. Kinda surprised by the people saying you are not TA here.

It seems to me that Mary actually saw you as friends instead of just people sharing the same thing: that they can't get pregnant.

While it has started with one thing in common, she saw you as her friends. You also keep calling all the people in the group your friends.

But friends don't shun someone for being happy about this. This is a big deal for her.

I don't think you are TA for not wanting her in the group if she keeps talking about this.

I think you and the others are assholes for keeping up a charade that you're ''all so good friends '' instead of being very clear that is people online

talking about asomething they sadly have in common and being very clear that this is the only reason you hang out.

Her getting the wrong idea what this relationship is comes purely from the entire group.

[Reddit User] − YTA - Someone finally has great news and you're all banishing her. Misery does love company.

Question If the surrogate has a late term miscarriage then does Mary still get to come back into the group?

This user questioned excluding hope and warned against punishing pregnancy in support spaces

RoxyMcfly − She was in there cause she couldn't have kids.

Basically none of you know how to separate the feelings you have about not having a kid in order to be supportive of another friend.

As someone who has serious fertility issues, I can see not wanting to see posts about it,

but it is really crappy that you want to cut her off cause she is having a kid and you are not.

Also as someone who was told that she wouldnt have a baby, and had one, it is perfectly reasonable to be excited and try to give others hope.

Are you going to ban anyone who gets pregnant? It's a support group, and who knows something could happen with the pregnancy and she will need support.

NTA because Your the mod and you can do what you want but think about it, how would you feel if it was done to you?

This commenter focused on clarifying the group’s purpose before judging anyone’s actions

ejmci − INFO - what is the purpose of the group? I'm assuming its fertility issues stopping people carrying

their own child, surrogacy and adoption wouldn't stop the fragility issues.

This story sits in that uncomfortable gray zone where no one is entirely wrong and no one walks away unscathed. A space built on shared loss struggled when hope finally knocked on the door, and not everyone was ready to answer.

Was the moderator protecting a necessary boundary, or did the group confuse shared pain with permanent identity? And when friendships grow out of grief, do they have to end when grief loosens its grip?

What do you think? Should Mary have stepped back on her own, or was the group right to draw the line? Drop your thoughts below.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS STORY?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS STORY?

OP Is Not The AH (NTA) 11/13 votes | 85%
OP Is Definitely The AH (YTA) 1/13 votes | 8%
No One Is The AH Here (NAH) 0/13 votes | 0%
Everybody Sucks Here (ESH) 1/13 votes | 8%
Need More INFO (INFO) 0/13 votes | 0%

Annie Nguyen

Annie Nguyen

Hi, I'm Annie Nguyen. I'm a freelance writer and editor for Daily Highlight with experience across lifestyle, wellness, and personal growth publications. Living in San Francisco gives me endless inspiration, from cozy coffee shop corners to weekend hikes along the coast. Thanks for reading!

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