A pregnant woman faced unexpected heartbreak over an answerphone message that dashed her plans for a memorable gender reveal.
Gender-reveal parties have sparked mixed feelings among Americans. A recent YouGov poll of over 1.2 million adults showed that while 25% found them enjoyable, 35% deemed them unnecessary.
Ariel Johnson, an expectant mother from Grass Valley, California, planned a cozy celebration to share the news about her baby’s gender. “My boyfriend has been building our home for three years; this was our first big moment in the new kitchen,” she reflected. “We wanted to create a cherished memory.”
The couple’s plan was straightforward: Johnson would give a sealed envelope with their baby’s gender to a local bakery. They intended to cut a cake that would reveal either a pink or blue filling—a sweet surprise for the couple.
However, their excitement turned to disappointment when Johnson received a voicemail from the bakery staff, accidentally disclosing that they had run out of the necessary blackberries. “We expected the cake to surprise us when we cut into it,” she said, emphasizing that the filling was supposed to be berries in either pink or blue hues.
In a TikTok video, Johnson shared the voicemail, which revealed the staff’s lack of awareness about the significance of the cake. Devastated, she expressed, “It felt like someone stole a moment from us. What was meant to be magical turned bittersweet.”
After receiving the heartbreaking message, she called the bakery, emotionally recounting the episode. To her dismay, they later found out that the bakery hadn’t run out of blackberries at all.
Reluctantly, Johnson informed her partner about the mishap, as he had been unaware of the answerphone message. “I hated knowing before he did,” she admitted, acknowledging that the moment wasn’t as she envisioned. Still, she and her partner have chosen to celebrate the joy of their baby-on-the-way, despite the hiccup.
The bakery provided a refund and completed the cake, although Johnson noted that carelessness was the root cause of the mix-up. The staff member who called her also attempted to justify the mistake but offered no satisfactory explanation.
Despite the unfortunate incident, Johnson decided against naming the bakery in her TikTok post, preferring not to shame them. She views this experience as just one of many moments in her pregnancy journey. “We’re thrilled about having a boy! Of course, we would have loved a girl too. Our main hope is for a healthy pregnancy,” she concluded.