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Life

01st Apr 2021

Why you should never post about a fake pregnancy on April Fool’s Day

Jade Hayden

There are plenty of jokes you’ll expect to see on social media today.

One is that somebody has just gotten engaged except they haven’t at all.

Another is that McDonald’s or Subway or some other well-known food chain has run out of food because that’s pretty funny and hilarious and sure to piss a lot of people off.

There’s another April Fool that a lot of people tend to wheel out around this time of year too – that they’re pregnant.

And while this kind of joke may be funny to a few people, there are always the others who are unable to join in on what is supposedly funny due to their own circumstances.

One of those people is Kayla Lee Welch. A few years back, the mum shared a post detailing why April Fool’s jokes about being pregnant aren’t funny because many women, like her, have suffered miscarriages.

In the post, originally shared four years ago but still as relevant today, she wrote:

“This is why your April fools joke isn’t funny. This is why it’s not funny to lie and joke about being pregnant.
This is what it looks like to have a miscarriage.”

Kayla said that a week before sharing the post, she had started spotting and that she thought it was normal because it had happened with her other child.

“And all I can do is cry. My eyes are so swollen and dark it looks like more than just my heart is broken.

“Crying so hard that you go numb and feel nothing anymore. Being so angry and upset at everything but not being able to explain why. Trying to be happy that your baby never knew anything other than love.

“And missing someone so dearly that you never even met. It’s a pain no one can describe. Because how can you properly grieve someone you never got to meet?”

“Please think twice before you post that April Fool’s joke,” she wrote. “Because what’s funny for a second in your eyes crushes someone else’s heart for eternity.”

Kayla finished her post by saying that “pregnancy is not a joke.”

The mum was met by much support from others who had the same experience.

“It’s nothing to joke about,” said one person, “and the first time I see someone use it as an April Fool’s joke I’ll snap.”

“I lost a child too I know it’s no joke,” said another.