A mother who expressed disappointment while discovering the sex of her unborn baby has spoken out - and viewers are divided.
Last summer, Autumn Freeman took to social media to share a video comparing gender reveals of her first and second child.
In the first half of the clip, the mother was excited when she and her husband Andy discovered that they were having a daughter - indicated by pink petals exploding from a balloon.
Following the video, taken in 2021, the professional hairstylist then shared another clip where she was visibly upset after learning their second child would also be a girl.
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Overlay text accompanied the gender-reveal video which read: “Gender Reveal 1 vs Gender Reveal 2. Trigger Warning one of these videos displays gender disappointment.”
The clip - which has accumulated over 14,500 TikTok comments - has divided users, with one viewer writing: “I don’t think people realise it is 100% okay to have gender disappointment its draining you want something so bad it just starts to feel like it will never be a reality.”
A second said: “The fact that people don’t know what digital footprints are and now her second child possibly will find this growing up.”
“I’m pregnant with my 3rd daughter and could not be more thrilled,” commented another. “Confused why parents feel upset about multiple daughters?”
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A fourth viewer typed: “I waited until birth to find out the gender of all my kids. Couldn’t have gender disappointment while holding my newborn blessing. 10/10 recommend.”
“I had gender disappointment for about 2 days,” claimed a further user. “It’s a very real thing.”
After receiving backlash from the post, the Michigan-based creator opened up about the video with People.
“In my perfect world I'd have one boy and one girl,” Autumn explained.
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“I actually wanted a boy with Violet [her first daughter], but it was my first one and I was just excited either way…Then with this one, we know it's our last baby.”
However, the travel agent - who is also a step-mum to Andy's children Lily and Grant - explained that she was only ‘bummed out’ about not having a boy for a week.
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“I just told myself the universe is giving me what I need and what I can handle…I'm just meant to be a girl mom.” she said.
Despite the slew of negative comments she received - with some she claimed even accusing her of not loving her baby - she states that the viral reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
Autumn said: "There [have] been so many positive people — maybe even more positive people than negative people — who are like, ‘I've gone through this and thank you so much for sharing it.’
She also told the publication what she plans to tell her child if she ever sees the video.
“I would tell her, ‘Yeah, you were the third girl. We thought that we wanted a boy and we found out you were a girl.
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“For a brief moment, I was sad that I wasn't ever going to experience having a little boy, but now I have you and I know you and I love you and I wouldn't trade you for the world.”
She added that her daughter may also find ‘comfort’ in her mother’s gender disappointment if she goes on to have children too.
“There's a good chance that when this baby gets pregnant, if they do someday, she could have those feelings." Autumn said.
“I could be like, ‘Hey, I felt that way when I found out I was having a girl again, and then I couldn't love you more. This too shall pass. It's okay to feel this way.’”
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@audi_eliseTopics: Parenting, Social Media, TikTok, Sex and Relationships