Mother sparks debate after surprising family with secret baby

‘I want to do this when I go into labour and just show up with the baby,’ one viewer writes on TikTok

A mother has sparked a debate after revealing that she surprised her family with a secret baby and detailed how she kept her pregnancy a secret.

In a recent video posted to TikTok, Victoria, @canadiangirl_2, could be seen walking up the porch of her family’s home, as the text reads: “When you keep your pregnancy a secret and show up with a baby.”

As she walked into the house, while holding her baby in a carrier, she said “surprise” to one of her family members. In response, the relative said: “You’re kidding?”

Victoria proceeded to walk into the house and said “surprise” once again, before it was revealed to another family member that he was being introduced to “his new granddaughter”.

The clip concluded with the grandfather talking to a group of children, as he had a confused look on his face, seemingly due to the reveal of the secret baby.

Victoria reiterated the purpose of her video in the caption, writing: “We kept our baby a secret from family and surprised them with a baby.”

In different clip, Victoria documented herself introducing her child to his grandmother, who could be seen jumping up and down, with an excited look on her face while meeting the baby.

A third video also showed Victoria’s sister-in-law being introduced to the newborn. After hilariously asking where the baby “came from,” the relative went on to congratulated the parents.

Speaking to The Independent, Victoria said she told her husband, Derek, that due her previous miscarriages, she wanted to keep her baby a secret.

“I thought it would be a fun surprise,” she said. “I was also having a few very minor issues in my pregnancy so my heart was just not ready for the possibility of another loss and having to share that with family.”

As of 18 August, the three videos have more than 7.6 views combined, with some viewers questioning Victoria for keeping her baby a secret.

“Why do people keep it a secret from their families? They want to take part in the excitement of pregnancy too. I would be upset if I were to miss that,” one wrote.

“Everybody should do what makes them happy, but I would feel betrayed, not trusted,” another added.

A third person wrote: “Congratulations on your new family member. But as a mom. I would have been upset.”

However, many viewers also praised Victoria’s decision and continued to congratulate her.

“I want to do this when I go into labour and just show up with the baby lol. This is so cute,” one wrote.

“People need to realise, a pregnancy is mum and dad’s thing to share first and foremost. They obviously enjoyed their pregnancy in peace and love,” another added.

Other viewers detailed how they chose to keep their pregnancies a secret as well, along with some of the judgement they received from family members because of it.

“I hid my pregnancy and everyone got mad like I owed them the knowledge of me being pregnant , so now they don’t get to see my baby.”

Victoria also told The Independent that her family was not hurt by her secret and were extremely happy when they met the baby.

“Tyrian is a loved little boy and a lucky one to have so many family members that get to enjoy him,” she said. “What most aren’t understanding about the reactions was that was the first 43 seconds of their reaction so they hadn’t even processes what was happening. When the camera shut off they all snuggled and loved on him. It was an amazing experience and I am so happy with their reactions.”

In a follow-up video, Victoria said that while she “wore baggy” clothes when keeping her pregnancy a secret, she didn’t “hide from [her] family”.

Regarding why she didn’t tell her family about her baby, Victoria detailed how she’d had “five miscarriages that were pretty traumatic”. She also had “four viable pregnancies that were hard on her,” which she did tell her loved ones about.

She also prefaced that she wanted “privacy” throughout her recent pregnancy and didn’t want to be “constantly messaged,” before noting that no one was “upset” when they found out about the baby.