Perhaps I should have told him

but he didn't want to know

Some of you will say I should have told him. Others of you will say I did right. It really doesn't matter now, as I can no longer tell him. However, I have to tell someone. So I will tell you.

It was July 4th. I had gone to visit my boyfriend because I had a few days off, as did he. We hadn't seen each other much lately, so we spent little time... ah... "catching up". We weren't having sex because I had gone off the Pill due to some complications I had while on it. We were simply doing "other" things to be close. Unfortunately, we got carried away. I'll spare you the graphic details. Suffice to say, we had sex. Unprotected.

A month later, and I was two weeks late. I didn't realize it at first, but when it did finally occur to me, I took a pregnancy test right away. I waited, pacing in the tiny bathroom. The timer went off. Positive.

SHIT!

I was going to see him in a week. I decided not to call him... this isn't the kind of information you give people over the phone. I would wait to tell him that he was going to be a daddy.

Would he be a daddy? Would I keep it? We had discussed what we would do should I get pregnant when we first began having sex. I told him I was pro-choice, and I might abort the fetus. He did not like that option, though he told me it was my body, and he would support my decision. "I can't keep it." I told him. "I'm not in any position to keep a baby. I would have to quit my job, and how would I finish school? If I have it, I'd have to give it up for adoption." "I could take it." he said, quietly. He meant it. He would be a single father. We left it there, hoping we would never have to worry about it. Now, I had to worry about it.

He called me the next day. He had spent the weekend with his brother, and we hadn't spoken in a few days. He was upset, I could tell that right off. "Something happened." he said. He had found some things out that "turned his world upside down." He didn't want to talk about it on the phone. He needed time, he said, to think things through. He would tell me everything when he came the next weekend. I told him I was there if he needed me, and I told him nothing about the baby.

"He's going to break up with me." I told my roommate. "I know him too well. Whatever has happened, he's going to break up with me. He won't be able to stay with me. I know him." They told me I was silly, but I knew better.

He came the following Sunday. We sat down, he told me what had happened. It would have messed up anyone's mind. Then, he told me, "I can't be a boyfriend right now. It wouldn't be fair to you. I need time to get my life back together, before we can be together."

"I need to tell you something." I said. "Is it bad news? Because I can't take any more bad news."

"No, it's not bad news. I love you. That's all."

We talked a while longer. We cried, we kissed. We said goodbye. I didn't tell him.

But then, I never had to. Nature took care of the problem for me. I lost the baby the next week. No choices to make, except one -- to tell him, or not to tell him.

I never did. We spent the next few months in a kind of relationship limbo. We talked for hours on the phone every night, just as we always had. He came to see me, though not as often. We were still intimate with each other in various ways -- not often, but occasionally, sex. Then, without warning, he started dating another girl. He didn't tell me about her. He lied about dating anyone, actually. I had to find out through his MySpace page.

I never told him. I wonder how things would have changed if I had. I wonder what my life would be right now if he hadn't heard the news that changed his life. I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn't lost the baby. I can never tell him, now. I'm sure I'll never speak to him again.

But I had to tell someone.
6,653 views 22 replies
Reply #1 Top

With no malice aforethought, I think it sucked.  Based upon current law and practice, men are just yanks on a string.  Condemned to suffer at the hands of women, with no input into the whole process.  You did not tell him.  Had you had the baby, he would have been in for support for 18 years.  Had you decided to abort, he would have had no say.  Damned if you do and damned if you dont.

Quite simply, until fathers get some rights (and I realize that deadbeats out number women with an agenda), you telling him or not is legal, but not ethical or moral.

But it is the law.

And it sucks.

Reply #2 Top
Yeah, Doc, it sucked. It still sucks. I wish I had told him. I honestly don't know what I would have done if I hadn't lost the baby. It didn't occur to me at the time that I was going to have to tell him eventually. I didn't think about it. I couldn't think about much, to be honest. I wasn't exactly working on all four cylinders.

Would there have been any point in telling him later, after I lost the baby and he felt that his world was "still upside down"?

I honestly thought I was doing it for his own good. I thought he could handle it later, and then there was no point later.

However, to get to legal matters and away from personal ones: In my state, a husband has to have his wife's permission to get a vasectomy, but a wife does not need her husband's permission to have an abortion. I agree that something's definitely not right here.
Reply #4 Top
SHE, sorry for my rant. Long story, and tender to me. ANd one I still suffer from today.

But should you? If you ask me, yes. 23 of those chromozones where his. I would want to know. Even if I could do nothing.

But again, sorry I ranted. I know it was a tough decision for you. In the end, what you did is what you will live with. And I know you are suffering with the debate of it.
Reply #5 Top
San: sorry to make you frown, man.

It's ok, Doc. I understand. I really do. And he would probably feel the same way if I told him.

I would not have had an abortion without talking to him. I would not have had the baby and given it up without talking to him. Had I not lost the baby, I would have talked to him about it. It wouldn't be right otherwise. But, after I lost it, I just couldn't tell him, couldn't do it to him.

I really wish I had told him, though. Later, when things were getting better with him and he could have handled it. But then, I thought it was too late. Now, I know it's too late.

I'm sorry you had to go through something like this, Doc. I can only imagine how you feel.

Reply #6 Top
My opinion? Depends on if this man still means something to you.

You SHOULD have told him back when you were pregnant. But that's neither here nor there, and what's done is done. If you plan on a continued relationship with him, I think you ought to tell him. For some reason, I think he'll understand why you left the information out.

If he's just a ship in the night and there's no more relationship between you too, I don't see any reason to bring it up. You didn't have an abortion, the pregnancy self terminated, so bringing it up would just be opening old wounds.

That's just my two cents, though. If you ask me, ya overpaid!
Reply #7 Top
It's okay, I'm not frowning at the situation as much as you having had to go through that. I can only imagine how much that must have sucked, and I feel for you.

I don't have any solution because I don't know how I would feel. I sat here, reading your story, and imagined myself in his shoes, but I still don't know what I'd do or what I'd want you to do, even though I can easily put myself in that situation (course, I'm "celebate" these days) . . .

(((((SHE)))))
Reply #8 Top
We were going to get married. There was definitely a relationship there. Then he broke up with me before I could tell him that I was pregnant. Now, after lying to me, betraying me, and falling in love with someone else, I don't even speak to him.

So, while there was a relationship, there will be no future relationship. Telling him now is out of the question. It just won't happen. He probably wouldn't take my call anyway, and e-mail just seems to be the wrong way to do this. And, to be honest, I don't know that I would want to call him right now anyway.

Don't ask me why I felt the need to post this. I'm not sure myself anymore. Just needed to get it off my chest, I guess. Now that I have, I feel like I'm just making excuses to justify my actions.

God, I feel like a bitch.
Reply #10 Top
Just needed to get it off my chest, I guess.

Good for you that you could and did share this. You have my support and respect.
Reply #11 Top
God, I feel like a bitch.


DONT! IN the end, there is only opinions. NO facts, no packaged answers. Just opinions. Dont ever feel like that. If you are right, that is stupid to feel that way. If you are not, that is a mistake. Not a Bitch.
Reply #12 Top
Good for you that you could and did share this. You have my support and respect.


Thanks. That means a lot to me.

DONT! IN the end, there is only opinions. NO facts, no packaged answers. Just opinions. Dont ever feel like that. If you are right, that is stupid to feel that way. If you are not, that is a mistake. Not a Bitch.


I feel like a bitch because I'm making excuses. I do think he would want to know, though I think I was right to wait until he was more stable to tell him. (Though, again, I hadn't thought about what to tell him if I hadn't lost it) There was time and opportunity to tell him later, and I thought about doing it all the time. I just chickened out. That's the truth of it, I suppose. I just chickened out. I couldn't tell him because I was afraid he would be mad that I hadn't told him sooner.

Funny how I can discover things about myself while writing. Maybe I should change my screen name to "Bitch Chicken".
Reply #13 Top
Umm...I absolutely don't think you should beat yourself up about this.

You've suffered a miscarriage, which can be very traumatic for some women. It's sweet that you care so much about his feelings, but honestly I don't think you should worry about that right now (or maybe ever, since he apparently isn't all that concerned with yours).

My honest opinion is that you're spending too much time caring about the feelings and well-being of the wrong person.

Had you not lost the baby, all this other stuff might come into play. As it stands, I don't think there's anything constructive that will come from worrying with it.

*hugs*

I'm very sorry you went through all this.


PS - I had a dream about you and Michael last night. Very bizarre.
Reply #14 Top
My first thought was at least you didn't have to decide. As sad as this story is, I think making a choice (either way) about the baby, and then living with the results would bring much deeper sorrow.

I am sorry you had to go through this. Now I'm putting on my mom hat...Please don't have unprotected sex SHE. Come on. You are way to smart for that.

I do understand now WHY this relationship meant so much to you. Your first pregnancy, well you'll never forget this guy. But thank God you aren't saddled with him as a husband or the father of your child for the rest of your life. Chances are he'd still be right where he is(with another woman)...if not right away, eventually.

You may think this is horrible and your heart is his...but from the outside looking in...whew..girl, you got out of this one by the skin of your teeth.

RUN!



Reply #15 Top
Tex: Thanks. Maybe you're right. Actually, I know you're right about part of it. All the worrying and wondering isn't doing me any good. It's part of my personality to worry about things I can't control. I should really stop that.

*hugs*

I'm very sorry you went through all this.


Thanks.

PS - I had a dream about you and Michael last night. Very bizarre.


That is strange... were there flying monkeys? When I dream of my brother, there are always flying monkeys.
Reply #16 Top
My first thought was at least you didn't have to decide. As sad as this story is, I think making a choice (either way) about the baby, and then living with the results would bring much deeper sorrow.


You are too right. I feel very lucky whenever I think about how my life could have been. I may be pro-choice, but I don't know if I could have gone through it, or lived with myself afterwards.

Please don't have unprotected sex SHE. Come on. You are way to smart for that.


*hanging head in shame* I know. We were sooooo stupid. It wasn't a regular practice with us, and I always thought people were full of crap when they complained that "it just happened". Now that I have learned my lesson, I promise to never be such an idiot again.

I do understand now WHY this relationship meant so much to you. Your first pregnancy, well you'll never forget this guy. But thank God you aren't saddled with him as a husband or the father of your child for the rest of your life. Chances are he'd still be right where he is(with another woman)...if not right away, eventually.

You may think this is horrible and your heart is his...but from the outside looking in...whew..girl, you got out of this one by the skin of your teeth.

RUN!


I finally realized that I didn't love him, I loved who I thought he was. That man, the man who left me a rose and a card on my windshield, the one who said he wanted to be my husband, was not the same man that got up and went to work every day. I was in love with the dream of who I thought he was, not who he really was. I also doubt that he ever knew me. I don't think he's an evil person or anything, he just isn't who he made himself out to be. (or who I made myself believe he was)

My heart is whole, and is mine. It's taken some time, but don't all wounds? And, being Queen of the Klutz People, I know a thing or two about healing wounds. I am so glad that we didn't keep fooling ourselves and end up married. It would have been awful. I learned from him, I learned from the mistakes and the good things. But you're right, I got lucky this time. And there won't be a next time, I've promised myself that. Sure, part of me will always love him, but not as I once did. And I'm finally ok with that.
Reply #17 Top
And I'm finally ok with that.


You are so together for a college student. Wow.
Reply #18 Top
You are so together for a college student. Wow.


I should be. I graduate in May.
Reply #19 Top
I don't have much to add, because it's all been said already...but I wanted to iriterate, I'm sorry you had to experience this. Hugs!
Reply #20 Top
I don't have much to add, because it's all been said already...but I wanted to iriterate, I'm sorry you had to experience this. Hugs!


Thanks. I'm doing fine with just me. It just bothered me that I never told him, and I felt like I had to tell someone.

It's been helpful to get both sides on this. I appreciate all of you for commenting. And I do mean all of you.
Reply #21 Top
First of all, this is a terrible thing to go through, regardless of the circumstances...

While I understand what Doc was saying and where it was coming from, I don't necessarily agree with his take. Given whatever your ex was going through to have him want to take a break from his relationship with you, and it sounded very serious, telling him may have only added to the stress he was already suffering. I think you made the right decision not telling him. What good would it do him knowing anyway?

Reply #22 Top
Given whatever your ex was going through to have him want to take a break from his relationship with you, and it sounded very serious, telling him may have only added to the stress he was already suffering.


That's what I thought at the time. I just didn't think he needed one more serious thing in his life at the moment. I thought he needed me to be a drama-free zone. I was his escape. It seemed cruel to take that away from him, even though it may be just as wrong to keep the information from him.

First of all, this is a terrible thing to go through, regardless of the circumstances...


Yeah, though it could have been worse. I was lucky... most women aren't.