Fake Pregnancy Announcements Are Trending on Facebook, and It Is Not Ok
Inexplicably enough, fake pregnancy announcements are now trending on social media. Yes, you read that right: Apparently it's now a thing for people to post chain-style social media posts expressing that they've recently learned they are pregnant. The posts are generally quite lengthy, expressing "news" of the pregnancy towards the top, giving plenty of details towards the middle and finishing off with a zinger: the whole thing is just a joke. Social media users then prompt their friends to copy and paste the posts and share them on their own platforms.
Strange things happen on the Internet, and fads like these will always come and go, but for some social media users, these posts represent much more than just a harmless prank. One Facebook user posted her own reaction to the trend: "Dear social media, fake pregnancy announcements are not funny, they are not cute and it certainly is not a subject to joke about. Sincerely, every woman and man who lost a child and/or struggles with fertility."
Other women have weighed in as well, pointing out that plenty of women out there would love to post pregnancy announcements but are struggling with infertility or have lost their babies. And honestly? We absolutely see where these opinions are coming from—getting pregnant is nothing to joke about, after all.
We know these fake pregnancy announcements probably don't stem from malicious intentions, but these women clapping back raise really important points—and maybe if someone who is thinking about copying and pasting one of these posts see these opinions first, they'll realize how insensitive they can be.
