The 29-year-old woman, who wrote anonymously on Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subreddit, asked fellow Reddit users what they would do in her situation.
"I dated a guy Joe (30M) for three months before he left me to go back to his ex Kim (30F). Right after we broke up I found out I was pregnant and now I'm at 24 weeks. I let him know and he was ecstatic. Turns out his girlfriend had fertility issues and would likely never be able to get pregnant naturally and he has always wanted to be a father," she wrote.
"Getting back together was out of the question for both of us so he's still with his girlfriend.
"Joe was only allowed at the initial appointment because of Covid-19 and we found out I was having twins. According to Joe when he told Kim she had a mental breakdown about her infertility and wanted to talk to me," she continued.
The woman detailed how they met at the couple's house and "Kim stated that she wanted to be involved in [the] pregnancy because she would eventually be the children's stepmother".
"She started telling me that I needed to do a home birth, that I needed to formula feed so that they could have the babies half of the week, that she wanted one boy and one girl, and that she wanted the kids to call her Mama since they would be calling me Mummy," she wrote.
"I shut her down and said I would make the best choices for my children and my body and left."
That wasn't the end of the discussion, however.
"Kim started texting her every day about her eating habits, exercise and moaning that her job wouldn't let her take maternity leave as she wasn't the one who was pregnant.
"At the virtual genetics counselling appointment, she attended instead of Joe and took over the whole meeting trying to talk about her family history which wasn't relevant.
"When it came time for my 20-week level two scan, they allowed me one guest and Joe suggested I take Kim instead of him, which I refused to do. Joe did end up coming and he found out the gender because I wanted to keep it a surprise for me so we could throw a gender reveal party," she wrote.
The woman also revealed that Kim posted her own pregnancy announcement on social media, saying the couple were expecting twins "the non-traditional way".
"Then she threw a gender reveal party and posted it on social media. I wasn't even invited. She also announced that she's having a baby shower. I commented on her posts and told her to stop treating me like a surrogate, that the kids weren't hers, and that Joe didn't have any claim or custody of the kids until they are born," the woman recalled.
The pregnant woman informed the couple her mother would be her birthing partner and that she would not be seeing the couple until they went to family court.
"He and Kim and some of her friends and family are saying I'm an a**hole and her mother even called and insisted I give her one of my babies like this is the Parent Trap? So AITA?"
The woman's post received more than 3000 replies on Reddit, with many people horrified by Kim's behaviour and advising the pregnant woman to seek urgent legal help.
"I'm not being dramatic in any way when I say this get a lawyer now," one person said. "Keep records of everything, and whatever you do, do not allow yourself to be alone with Kim. Almost none of Kim's behaviour is okay, it's in fact disturbing. Block phone numbers, file a police report for harassment if you have to. Keep yourself and your children safe."
"OP was right when she said she wasn't being treated as a mother, but the surrogate. I would go so far as to say the twins are seen as objects as well. OP needs to lawyer up and play hardball about custody. Kim's not going to get better here, she has people enabling her behaviour," another person wrote.
