Imagine this: After years of struggling with infertility, heartbreak, and fighting to save her marriage, Jenna’s life was shattered when her husband suddenly wanted to become a dad—not to her child, but to another woman’s.
That’s the painful truth Jenna is living with.
The same man who cried with her through failed treatments and endless doctor visits now wants to legally be the father of his longtime female friend’s baby. This woman, who has always lingered in the background of their relationship, is now pregnant and single—and drawing him away from Jenna.
Here’s Jenna’s letter and story in simple words:
My husband and I have been married for 10 years. For more than 7 of those years, we tried to have a baby—doctors, treatments, and many heartbreaks—until we found out I’m infertile. I thought we faced that pain together.
Then there’s Leah (34F), his childhood best friend. She’s been in our lives the whole marriage. I never liked how close they were, but I accepted it—until now.
Leah got pregnant after a short fling, and the guy left when she told him. Now, with her due date near, she asked my husband to be her birth partner. That already made me uncomfortable, but what shocked me most was this: she wants him on the baby’s birth certificate as the father. Her reason? “He’s the closest thing to a dad the baby will have” and “he doesn’t have kids anyway, so what’s the problem?”
I was shocked. I told my husband absolutely not. That’s a huge decision that affects me, our marriage, and our future. But he said I was “selfish” and “bitter” because I can’t have kids. He told me this might be his only chance to be a dad, even if the child isn’t biologically his.
He said he already promised Leah he’d be in the delivery room, and she even listed him as her emergency contact.
I begged him to think about what this would do to us, but he just looked at me like I was the problem. He said Leah needs him—that she’s alone, scared, emotional—and that I’m being “cruel.”
Then Leah did something shocking. She sent me a voice message, crying, saying she thought I was kind and would understand. She said that I, of all people, should know how it feels to desperately want a child. Then she dropped this bomb:
“If you really love Mike, you’d let him have this—just one child. I’m not even asking for money, just his name. Later, I’ll just tell people the baby’s dad passed away.”
I was like, WHAT?! That kind of manipulation made me furious. I told her to never contact me again, and I told my husband that if he signs that birth certificate, he can pack his bags and live with her for good. Now he says I gave him an ultimatum, that I’m making him choose between “helping a helpless baby” and staying married to someone “who clearly hates motherhood.”
But I don’t hate motherhood. I hate being treated like I don’t matter—like I’m just some placeholder while he steps in to be a dad to someone else’s child, and I’m supposed to accept it.
Am I going crazy here? Because it feels like I’m being guilt-tripped into letting my husband pretend to be the father of his best friend’s baby and sign a paper that would tie him—and us—to her and this child for life.