'Joking' about pregnancy

Every so often, someone 'jokes' about being pregnant. I'm mentioning this today so that we can acknowledge it, and to remind you that THEY are the problem, not you or your feelings.

This year, on April Fool’s Day, a company selling pregnancy tests posted:

"You’re pregnant… jk, but you should double check.”

This feels yucky on so many levels.

Even if you assume that their target market for this message was 'women who don't want to be pregnant right now', then essentially they have set up a scare tactic to sow seeds of doubt in a woman's mind about her body and her whole future. As if they've forgotten that women are acutely aware of their cycle from the very time that we start menstruating, and even more so once we become sexually active.

We don't need an external reminder to "double check".

Next, what about women who have been sexually assaulted in the past month. Maybe they have googled pregnancy tests recently and now their targeted ads have served this up - on top of everything they are going through.

Then we have the pain caused to those who have miscarried or lost a baby for any number of reasons. If someone chose this brand to confirm their pregnancy, then chances are they are still seeing some level of marketing from them.

And then, obviously, we have the hurt caused to those who are Trying to get pregnant because of the flippant way pregnancy was used as the 'punchline' of the joke.

You would assume that women who are Trying to Conceive are the most loyal customers of a pregnancy test company - certainly the ones who stand to find the most joy in a positive test (and keeping it, or a photo of it).

This campaign has rightly been called out on many platforms. I've seen a post from Fertility Action offering them free training around infertility awareness, though it's anyone's guess as to whether this message will get through.

So if you saw that April Fool's Day post, or any others like it, please know that it's not your fault that it ignited some feelings for you. This was an ad campaign that dropped the ball when it comes to caring for the women their product is supposed to serve. You're allowed to be angry, and disgusted, and to vote with your spending power if you choose to.

But please don't absorb any sort of 'fault' for your sensitivity around this. You don't have to laugh it off. It's not just 'banter'.

Your life, your feelings and your journey are important and deserve to be respected.

My hope for you is that you can surround yourself with people who support you and ensure you feel loved - whatever the result on a pregnancy test.