'Out of pocket': Gender reveal stuns internet with nephew's dark but honest remark

“The best thing you can do is laugh through grief.” Warning: Infant loss

Most gender reveals involve balloons, cake, or confetti. This one came with a dose of dark humour, courtesy of a brutally honest nephew.

Expecting mama Kel had organised a cake to share the gender of her baby with her family.

As the lid was lifted, her eldest nephew began to read the icing aloud.

"Kee’s having a baby boy in November,” he announced.

The room filled with joy, but it was her younger nephew, Henry, who delivered the real surprise.

"I hope it doesn’t die this time," he said.

Kel wasn't disheartened by the comment at all. Image: TikTok/kel_bell13

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“A true mother’s nightmare" 

The moment was caught on camera and shared to TikTok, with the now viral post raking up more than 5 million views. 

It’s the kind of comment that could catch people off guard. But for Kel, it was far from offensive. In fact, it made her laugh.

“Anyone that says or assumes I was upset from his comment has truly no idea how happy his little comment made me. As “out of pocket” as it was it made me laugh,” Kel told Kidspot. 

Kel has lived through immense loss. 

Her first pregnancy ended in heartbreak when she lost her baby girl at almost 21 weeks. 

Her daughter had Turner syndrome, a rare chromosomal condition, along with fetal hydrops, amniotic bands, and severe organ damage.

“A true mother’s nightmare, especially this being the first time I was pregnant,” she said. 

The due date for that pregnancy held extra weight. It fell on the same day Kel had been sexually assaulted in 2020. 

“It felt like the world was playing a cruel joke,” she admitted. 

“But I refused to let myself get stuck in that grief. I knew my little girl wouldn’t want that for me.” 

When she lost her daughter her sister’s children were devastated by the news about their cousin. 

“It makes me sad that now her kids have experienced it through me, but my sister says that’s life and it’s important that they know with the good comes the bad,” Kel said. 

“They of course teach their kids about death according to their age and what is appropriate for that age group.” 

“Laughter is the best medicine"

It’s not the first time the family has dealt with loss. 

“I knew about pregnancy loss from a very early age,” she said.

When she was a child she watched her mother grieve her brother, who was stillborn at 34 weeks. 

It shaped her childhood and taught her and her sister to face tragedy head-on.

It’s why Kel’s sister, Henry’s mum, responded to the viral moment by saying, “Well, there’s your Turner,” referencing their shared maiden name and that inherited sense of humour.

“We were taught our 'dark humour' from my dad’s side,” Kel said

“The best thing you can do is laugh through grief.”

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It was what got her through her own pain after losing her daughter. 

“Laughter and smiling got me through it. Yes of course allowing myself to be sad and grieve, but I didn’t allow myself to be stuck in it,” she explained. 

She knows it’s what her little girl would want. 

“I know she’s watching down on me and I just want to make her proud so I try to live everyday leading with positivity and laughter,” Kel said. 

Which is why her nephew’s comment was the best thing she could have heard at that moment. 

“I live on for her, so announcing her little brother and having her big cousin say this was perfect to me,” she explained. 

“Laughter is the best medicine when healing.”

Originally published as 'Out of pocket': Gender reveal stuns internet with nephew's dark but honest remark