April Fools’ Day & the problem with fake pregnancy announcements

Years ago, when we were not yet trying to conceive, my partner posted an April Fools day prank on Facebook. He grabbed a picture of a positive pregnancy test from Google images, posted it and waited to see if our loved ones would take the bait.

Fast forward a few years to when we were trying and I was definitely not in the mood to see my partner or anyone else joking about pregnancy on Facebook.

Related: The 5 stages of grief after a miscarriage

In recent years there’s been a real push to end the trend of fake pregnancy announcements on social media on April 1, as mothers who have experienced pregnancy loss or infertility are speaking out about how painful the Facebook feed can be on April 1.

Kayla Lee Welch went viral after she posted her miscarriage story in 2017 and urged her Facebook friends to “Please think twice before you post that April Fools joke. Because what’s funny for a second in your eyes crushes someone else’s heart for eternity.”

Welch is hardly alone in her pain. Pregnancy loss is so common, it happens in anywhere from 10% to 20% of known pregnancies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infertility is also painfully common, impacting about 6.1 million women in the United States.

Related: Carrie Underwood reveals she had 3 miscarriages before baby #2 in emotional interview

That’s why you might be seeing a wave of Facebook posts asking people to refrain from making jokes about pregnancy this April Fools’ Day.

For some people, sharing a post like the one below is a way of letting friends and family know that fake pregnancy announcements hurt.

As one mama wrote who shared the above post wrote: “By me sharing this on my Facebook I have let my friends know doing something like this is hurtful to me…if you have had a loss and it doesn’t bother you that great but please be respectful and have the back of us who isn’t quite there yet.”

Related: James Van Der Beek shares powerful message about miscarriages

By being more creative with our April Fools’ Day jokes we’re also being respectful of the fact that the road to parenthood isn’t always easy.

A version of this story was originally published on March 31, 2019. It has been updated.