A man has confessed he is considering divorcing his wife after he learned she had tried to name their baby boy after her first husband.
The upset father posted to Reddit’s Am I The A***ole forum to ask if he had overreacted after he told his wife he was considering refusing to sign the birth certificate after the shocking reveal.
In his post, the man revealed that his wife had lost her first husband James eight years ago when she was pregnant with a baby girl and that she miscarried soon after his death.
The anonymous man said she was now pregnant with a baby boy and was determined to name him after James. The husband wrote: “I told her that’s just too weird for me and while it’s a nice name, I don’t want to name my son after her ex.”
After arguing over the name, the wife soon agreed to drop it but suggested the name Oliver instead. The man said he absolutely “loved” the name but later learned at a family dinner that the name was still connected to his wife’s late husband.
The man wrote: “Three days ago her family was over for dinner and I told them about the name we’ve chosen.
“Her sister then said: ‘Oh, so like James?’ and I was confused, so sister said ‘Well that was James’ middle name, wasn’t it?’”.
This caused dinner to become awkward and the family soon left, which led to the man having another argument in which he refused to name their child after her former husband.
The man wrote: “I told my wife I’ve had it with her trying to push her ex into our lives like this. She said we already agreed on Oliver. “I told her I’m not signing the birth certificate if she names him after her ex.”
The man wrote that his wife was now accusing him of being “insensitive” and told her family about the incident. Her mother asked him to “let it go” because it was just a middle name, but his wife’s sister said it was a very “weird situation” to name the baby after the late husband.
The man said he was feeling very “uncomfortable” over the middle name and asked the internet for their thoughts on the situation.
In the forum comment section, people were shocked by the situation. One user wrote: “She’s a widow and I understand that she probably loved her first husband dearly and that they were going to start a family. However, if you are going to move on and build a life with someone new, then you need to commit to that.”
Another person wrote: “She is being completely disrespectful and unreasonable. A child’s name is something both parents should agree and be happy with.”
Someone else commented: “I’m all about understanding but this is asking too much. If you were cool with it fine but you clearly are not and it’s really underhanded for her to try and trick you. This is a hill I would die on.”
