How is it possible to get over gender disappointment?
I know part of this answer is to get off the internet, but the internet is also real people and real feelings. I don’t know how to be okay with having a boy after having a daughter, especially because I did IVF and could have chosen, but had an ethical existential crisis at the last minute and decided not to. Every video of moms having their fourth boys is comments saying “gender disappointment is okay, their dream of a daughter is gone, but it will be okay, etc etc”….but it’s never like that when a mom is having her fourth girl. The girl moms never wonder or feel sadness about what it’s like to have a son, they have their girl gang. There was a video about older girl and younger boy siblings being great . There was 20K plus comments saying how wrong the video is and that it’s basically horrendous. These older sisters were parentalized (in my control) or even abused by their brothers (not in my control and I’m terrified). A video about how two girl families are the happiest only garners comments of support, that they are so happy and thriving. It seems like the only universally agreeable thing among all the gender/sibling videos. I feel horrible for giving up the chance to thrive easily with my family. Moms say how wonderful little boys are…but what about when they turn 8, and never want anything to do with you for the rest of their life? Boys being cuddly for a few years isn’t enough for me to be okay with this. I know it’s up to me to raise a boy who is less likely to do the horrible things I see done by men on the news every single day, but sometimes it seems like you can do everything right and they still do terrible things.
What steps did you take to get over your gender disappointment? Especially if you’re in a girl then boy situation?
Posted Dec 4, 2025, 2:48 AM UTC