Bride's Sister-in-Law Demands Possession of Heirloom Engagement Ring After She Learns She's Pregnant With a Girl

While some brides know exactly what they want their engagement ring to look like, others want it to be a complete surprise. However, regardless of how much knowledge you have of your diamond prior to your proposal, once your partner pops the question, the jewel is officially yours—even if the sparkler was inherited from a family member. Yet that wasn’t necessarily the case for one bride, whose future brother-in-law’s wife demanded she return the heirloom engagement ring to the couple after learning that they were expecting a girl. 

In a post on Reddit’s “Am I the A______” subreddit, the bride posted about the unexpected tension between her and the woman over the ring. “I, 29 female, am engaged to Jake, 32 male,” the bride wrote. “We have been engaged for 2 years. He has an older brother, Sam 38. When Jake and I got engaged, Jake wanted me to have his grandmother's engagement ring. Jake talked to Sam and Sam said since he doesn’t plan to get married or have children that Jake should use the ring.” Ultimately, Jake decided to pop the question to the original poster with the jewel. “I love that ring and love the sentimental meaning behind it,” the OP wrote. 

However, recently, the question of who is the rightful owner of the heirloom piece came back into focus. “Sam met a wonderful woman, Hannah, within the past year and they are expecting a child,” the bride wrote. “Once they found out it would be a girl, Hannah told Sam she wants him to get the ring back for their daughter. Jake has already told Sam no.” Yet the expecting couple wasn’t able to let their desire go. “During Sunday dinner last weekend at my mother-in-law's house, Hannah brought up the ring and how it should be given to their daughter since she would [be] a great-grandchild, and I am not related by blood,” the OP wrote. “It became an intense discussion. Luckily my mother-in-law also agrees with my fiancé and I.” However, Hannah didn’t drop the conversation and quickly asked whether the Redditor would  be willing to edit her will to say that Hannah’s soon-to-be-born child would inherit the ring upon the OP’s passing. This request didn’t sit well with the bride: “I said no because it will either be given to our son or our future daughter. I told Hannah to take up her problem with Sam since he’s the one who let Jake have the ring to give to me.” Hannah ultimately left the house crying, the poster wrote. 

Even though Hannah might have been unsatisfied with the bride’s decision, her fellow Redditors sided with the poster. “That's your engagement ring,” one person wrote. “Sam had his chance at the ring, but he passed it to Jake. It became your engagement ring. Him trying to somehow retroactively claim the engagement ring because his one-year relationship wants it is crazy. It's even crazier that she wants it for an unborn baby.” Others echoed that the issue was the OP’s future brother-in-law’s to deal with—not hers: “I’ve seen so many titles similar to yours and was glad that this is a completely different context to that. This is all on Sam. He’s the one who should be dealing with the fallout from the wonderful Hannah. Seems weird that Hannah’s eyeing the ring already.”