Experience/advice telling family who are struggling to conceive?
I'm very freshly pregnant (7 weeks + 2 days FTM) and currently only my mum, my husband's mum, and our very closest best friends know at the moment. We're hoping to tell more people around 11-12 weeks and next on the list at that time will be our siblings and grandparents
However, we're having a hard time navigating how to tell my SIL. She has always yearned to have kids, but faced a lot of health problems as well as being single for a large portion of her adult life until recently. Her and her partner have been trying for years now, and have unfortunately not had any luck
My husband's/SIL's cousin recently told us that she was expecting, and my SIL was absolutely ecstatic for them, but I think she felt like the sentiment was tainted for her because my MIL privately asked 'are you okay', expecting my SIL to be upset about the announcement due to her struggles when in reality she was happy
I know she will be beyond happy for us as she was with her cousin, but historically she has always felt a bit insecure about my husband and his 'progress' in life because he got married first etc. I want to make sure we tell her in a gentle way to consider her struggles, but I also don't want her to feel like we expect her to be upset just because she has had issues with conceiving. I want it to feel respectful but also not condescending
Have you had a similar experience where it's been tricky to tell your family who are struggling to conceive? Or have you had that news shared with you at a time where it was hard to conceive? What would you recommend? Thank you!
Posted Jun 3, 2026, 1:35 AM UTC