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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

OW got pregnant...

273 replies

drmac · 27/07/2010 22:24

my husband had an affair with a good friend of mine. She got pregnant and had a son.

We are trying to work through this and I am having another baby - due in November.

I'd just like to hear from other people who've maybe been through this.

How are things between you now? Do you think you'll ever completely get over it?

thanks

OP posts:
ReasonableDoubt · 28/07/2010 13:55

I am astounded that your DH hasn't seen his child because 'as he's been quite ill with the effects of all this.'

Read those words back to yourself, please. What sort of man behaves like this?

I also cannot fathom that two grown up people would think that having another baby in this situation would 'help the family reconnect'.

I am sorry, honestly, I know you have come here for support and I don't want to slaughter you, but your OP just says to me that you are in complete denial about the sort of person your husband is.

cyteen · 28/07/2010 13:57

All three of you sound pretty pathetic, tbh. Forgiving your errant husband doesn't mean allowing him to duck his responsibilities for betraying you with a friend and then ignoring the child they made.

"she's even offered to show me the emails to prove this but I've chosen to stand by my husband so I guess this doesn't matter in the long run."

It does matter, unless you enjoy a life of lying to yourself.

"I really just need to know that families can get through this. The alternative is never going to be an option really."

Well, if it's never going to be an option what are you asking for? Just put up, shut up and quietly seethe your days away, that will make everything better.

Mouseface · 28/07/2010 13:57

Fantastic post WWIFN, spot on.

A baby will not make your family re-connect drmac. You must realise this deep down inside?

I get the impression that you wanted a child to make it all better or even worse, 'they' had a child so you had to have another with him.

I hope the latter is not the case.

Lulumaam · 28/07/2010 13:58

your title says it all/

'OW got pregnant'

well, actually, your husband got her pregnant, it was something they both did

she led him on?? This man has got a great deal.. he gets to have an affair, unprotected sex, make a baby, and walk away, back ot his wife, who will smooth the path and forgive him and have a baby with him to replace the one he has walked away from

FWIW, if my DH could have a baby with someone else and not want to see the child or support hte child, i would not have children with him

human life is not disposable

he has responsibilites you have vvery neatyl boxed away for him

you are enabling his behaviour and normalising it

it will backfire

he's done the ultimate betrayal and you've forgiven

there are no boundaries left now

AnyFucker · 28/07/2010 14:02

OP, these replies must be very shocking for you

I hope shocking enough, to pierce your denial

I rather doubt it though

This bloke must think he has a golden cock

everythingiseverything · 28/07/2010 14:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MorrisZapp · 28/07/2010 14:07

Yup. I know that churches can provide all sorts of help and support to people in need, but I'm not sure they're the place to turn to when cheated on by the person you married.

A lady I work with actually left her church in disgust after they advised her to not to question her husband's actions when he cheated on her, and to do god's will etc by keeping the family unit together, forgiving him etc.

I don't mean to knock religion etc but I'd be surprised if they're really giving objective advice rather than 'keep the family together at all costs'.

QueenofDreams · 28/07/2010 14:07

you sound a bit like my mum: Marriage must stick together no matter what. Divorce is a no-no, because marriage is for life. You say that anything BUT working through this is not an option. That's just dandy for your 'd' h. He has carte blanche to do whatever the bloody hell he likes because you will still stick with him.

He is disgusting. Not only did he cheat on you, but he did it without protection in FULL KNOWLEDGE of the consequences of unprotected sex. She is disgusting - she fucked a married man and let him do it without protection. he might well have chased her - but she didn't have to consent. She could have been a true friend and said no and told you what he was doing. So it's irrelevant who did the chasing - they BOTH chose to do this.

ANd who is meekly picking up all the pieces for the two vile humans who made this mess? Not them that's for sure. I think you need to wise up a bit. This would be a deal breaker for me - i would not be staying with him and I sure as hell wouldn't be having another child with him. Sorry.

Lulumaam · 28/07/2010 14:09

I hope also you've both had a full sexual health screening

Wordweaver · 28/07/2010 14:44

Sorry, this is going to be long.

I know this isn't exactly the perspective you were asking for, but I want to speak from the point of view of the baby in this situation.

My parents had only been going out with each other a short while before my mother got pregnant unplanned.

My father announced that he was willing to keep seeing my mother up to the point that the baby was born, after which he wanted no contact with her or the child.

Unsurprisingly my mother said that their relationship was over.

True to his word, my father refused to have anything to do with me, despite my mother making it crystal clear that he was welcome to be a part of my life.

While my mother was pregnant he got together with another lady who eventually became his wife. They didn't have children together.

I wrote to him when I was six, got no reply.

I wrote when I was fourteen, telling him a bit about myself, asking for a photo (my mother had never had one of him to show me). I didn't ask to meet him. He replied to my mother, requesting that she 'discourage any further communication'. Oh, and no photo.

Make no mistake, I had an immensely happy, safe and loving childhood, and I could not have imagined a better one. My mother was always open and reasonable about what had happened and supportive of me in how I dealt with my feelings. In most practical ways his absence was not an issue.

BUT. The fact that my father wanted nothing to do with me has caused me terrible terrible unhappiness at times. I grew up with a void where my paternal background should have been. No information about my father's family history. No stories about the past. No sense of what he was really like as a person. No roots on that side.

I don't know how to convey eloquently enough how much it hurt.

Those who grow up knowing their parents can only try to imagine what's like to have a great big yawning hole where one of them should be.

It's not the same as having a parent who died. His decision to reject me made all the difference. It has partly shaped who I am, and the way I approach life. It has wrung me out. I know some of the things that will tear that little one up when he or she is old enough to understand, and I feel so sorry for the child.

It has been one of the greatest challenges of my life to find a way to live alongside it and be at peace with it, and I am happy to say that at last I have. It took the best part of thirty years. I have had to work hard at it, just as I am sure you have had to work hard at forgiving him.

Now, some may (and do) say that they don't understand feeling like that - it's silly when he's obviously not worth it, etc etc. Fair enough, you don't have to understand it. You just have to believe me when I say that's how it is.

Whatever the OW did, whoever's to blame for it, that baby is as much of an innocent victim as you are. And believe me - he/she will have to suffer because of what's happened, just like you have.

Are you going to tell your children that they have a half-sibling?

What happens when this child grows up and knocks on your door looking for some answers?

Obviously, I have no idea what my father's life was like or what his marriage was like. All I know (without going into how I know as it will make this twice as long!) is that they had no children and that she has a great deal of resentment towards me.

I honestly from the depths of my being do not think it is fair, right, wise or kind for your DH not to have contact with his child.

I also don't believe that it's the right thing for him, you or your relationship, but I guess I could be biased . . .

TartanKnickers · 28/07/2010 14:49

My ExH had an affair and got the OW pregnant. That's why he is now the ex - he doesn't see any of his children now.

He's a selfish arse.

runnybottom · 28/07/2010 14:50

I could probably get over my DH having an affair.
I might be able to get over his producing a child with another woman.
Not ever would I be able to get over him being such a selfish, irresponsible, twattish knobhead who abandons his own child.

You are supporting his twattish behaviour. That child is your childrens sibling. Have you no shame?

Mouseface · 28/07/2010 15:03

Wordweaver

I hope that drmac reads your post and talks to her husband about this. How very well put.

FWIW - I get it. I've been there and my father's wife still resents me and I have never understood why, given that I never see him and live hunderds of miles from them.

gettingeasier · 28/07/2010 15:51

wordweaver and mouseface

drmac wake up for heavens sake

Gonesouth · 28/07/2010 16:20

In answer to your question at the beginning - do you think you'll even completely get over it?

The genie is out of the bottle. All the players in this story will have to live with what has happened for the rest of their lives. It will always form part of it.

You seem to be providing some kind of fantasy sanctuary for your DH where he gets to play the injured party and abandon his own child because its all a bit tricky. Then he gets to 'mend' his marriage with another child! .

You seem to suggest that you have a faith and are guided by it. If that is the case, I am not aware of any religion which condones having no contact with an innocent child. Unless you are choosing to select which parties come under that particular umbrella.

I agree with what some others are saying that you should wake up and focus on the children in this mess. They are the ones who will pay the price for the infidelity, not the adults.

lalalonglegs · 28/07/2010 16:26

We don't know the full facts of this, while I agree the OP's husband has behaved very badly, it is possible that he has had some sort of nervous breakdown that would make seeing the OW and/or the baby very difficult. drmac doesn't really need to be told she's being weak/stupid/a doormat - she's looking for people with similar experiences.

Pancakeflipper · 28/07/2010 16:36

I feel for you OP but your Hubby, you and OW need to sort this out. You need to put in sensible reasonable plans for now and especially the future. OH is being an ostrich but there is a child out there that is his and related to your children and it has to cared for and be comfortable with their family.

Your OH needs a kick up the pants. He had some fun now he needs to deal with the results.

It won't be pleasing but you make it as easy or as difficult as you like.

Wordweaver · 28/07/2010 16:37

I agree that we don't know the full facts, lalalonglegs, and of course he may be genuinely poorly. Nobody is all bad or all good.

But drmac was asking for people with similar experiences to give some guidance as to how to get through this, and I think the overwhelming response is that enabling her husband to continue down this path may not be the best way to get through this. She's obviously not happy, and things are not resolved to the satisfaction of anyone in the situation.

She has been through a terrible time and I hope that I haven't implied I think she is weak/stupid/a doormat. But people on here are not going to say 'carry on as you have been doing' if they don't think it's going to help her in the long run.

ReasonableDoubt · 28/07/2010 16:38

She isn't weak or stupid, I don't think, but her husband obviously thinks she is.

cyteen · 28/07/2010 16:39

Well, she's got people with similar experiences. All telling her it's not acceptable for her husband to dodge his responsibilities.

What she's looking for, at least IMO, is reassurance that everything will be fine if they just bury their heads in the sand.

ValiumSingleton · 28/07/2010 16:42

Wow, poor you what a nightmare.

Have you been made to feel that if you don't forgive and forget you will be the one who is responsible for breaking up the family? You say your husband has been ill with the stress all of this has caused! . While he's been indisposed with stress, you've been soldiering on regardless, stiff upper lip and looking after a young child.......

I think you should go to counselling on your own. Please do that.

countingto10 · 28/07/2010 16:47

Everyone is getting at the OP a bit. It is a very traumatic time for her and if I was in her position I would want (and my DH would want) contact with the child but not the OW anymore than necessary (we did discuss pregnancy as a possible outcome of his affair and how we would deal with it). If she feels better dealing with the OW in the first instance then that is OK. I am assuming her H is paying maintenance.

Drmac, please get yourself some counselling (other than via the church) to deal with your feelings about everything, you must have so many mixed emotions with regards to doing the "right thing" etc. It is OK to be extremely angry with both of them. If it was me I would also want contact/maintenance on a legal footing too so the OW understands there is absolutely no emotion left as far as the affair is concerned other than that for the child. I know my DH was horrified by the thought that the OW might be pregnant (it is amazing how reckless people can be when they are soooooo in love ).

You really do need to tackle your H too, into being more proactive and not burying his head in the sand. Again some indepth counselling for him alone would be advised.

Good luck.

ReasonableDoubt · 28/07/2010 16:50

I just think the idea that the OP should 'tackle' this spineless arsehole of a man into taking responsibility for his own child galling in the extreme, sorry.

harassedinhants · 28/07/2010 16:53

Wow......... I feel very sorry for op at the moment!! She came her to ask if anybody had any experience of ow getting preg and has been condemned for trying to make her marriage work. Last time I checked marriage was something you entered into for life, and I accept that that isn't always the case, I'm divorced and re-married myself, but marriage and family isn't something to be thrown away and as such op shouldn't be harangued for trying to make a go of her marriage.

saintlydamemrsturnip · 28/07/2010 16:56

I don't think you can move on until you both stop pretending that this is nothing to do with your dh.

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