Telling your parents any kind of unexpected and unfavorable news is naturally very difficult, because you don’t want to disappoint your parents. Telling your parents that you lost a job or decided to quit school can be difficult, but for me, telling my parents I was pregnant was harder than any other unexpected, negative news I ever had to share with them. What you will read here is one birth mother’s suggestion on how to break the news to your parents.
When you get ready to tell your parents that you are pregnant, remember that there is no right or wrong way to tell them. The truth is, it will be hard no matter how you tell them. But you will risk damaging your relationship even more if you don’t share your news with them. (In my situation, it was easy to make the choice to tell them because I spent a lot of time with both of them and there was no way I could have hid my pregnancy from them.) But I would have communicated it to them anyway. I didn’t want to live my life with regrets and / or live a lie.
After you tell your parents that you are pregnant, their responses may vary. My parents both responded differently, but with support. My dad was adamant that everything would be fine and he was excited that he would be a grandfather. My mom was scared for me, but extremely supportive in whatever decision I decided to make.
For me, when I was preparing myself emotionally to tell my parents of my pregnancy, I had to recognize that this was going to be difficult and they most likely weren’t going to be happy about it. When I met with each of them, I knew that I just needed to do it and get it over with, rather than beating around the bush.
That’s why, when I told my mom that I was pregnant, I yelled it at her, because we were having an argument about a separate issue and I knew in the grand scheme of things that the argument was not that important. After I told my parents, there was a sense of relief that the stress of telling them was over. Now all that lay ahead for me was coping with the stress of having disappointed them and building back our relationship of trust. Even though they were disappointed with my choice to have unprotected sex, I still loved them and I knew that they still loved me and they always will.
If you are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to speak with a professional about your pregnancy options, click here.
