Annie Nolan had a right to mock strangers’ questions about her twins

MELBOURNE mum Annie Nolan had every right to mock the endless questions fired at her by strangers by making a funny Instagram post.

MELBOURNE mum Annie Nolan had every right to mock the endless questions fired at her by strangers.

As the mother of very cute blonde twin girls, Delphine and Cheska, she is often stopped in the street and asked a string of quite personal questions.

“Are they twins?”

“Are they both girls?”

“Are they identical?”

“Do you have IVF?”

“Did you have a natural birth or C-section?”

“Do twins run in your family?”

And so she made a funny Instagram post about it.

It went viral — and not in a good way.

One day Ms Nolan was just another mum taking her kids to the shops and the park, and the next she was defending herself from attacks on Perez Hilton.

Ms Nolan soon discovered people who don’t know her didn’t see that it was a joke, and went on the attack. Women (yes, mostly they are women) on the other side of the world felt free to call her a “b*tch”.

Annie Nolan responds on Sunrise.

They called her “ungracious” and “vacuous”. They accused her of having “15 minutes of fame” and of using her daughters to boost her social profile.

One wrote: “Human connection is a Godsend. Imagine how you would feel if you and your girls were in trouble and nobody cared. You find your grace in gratitude.”

There’s an irony in someone writing something that nasty online — clearly they don’t practice what they preach.

It’s incredibly sad that a woman who was just trying to have a laugh and make a funny point ended up being mocked so mercilessly.

When I first read about her pram signs, I laughed. I knew exactly what she was trying to say.

I’ve never had twins but I have had the same experience when I was pregnant. The same questions come over and over.

“Oh, so you are having a baby!”

“How many weeks?”

“What’s your due date?”

“Any morning sickness?”

“You are very small/big for xx weeks.”

“Is it your first?”

“Are you going to have a Caesar or natural birth?”

“Are you ready to stop now/ going to buy a TV?”

Complete strangers felt completely free to ask intrusive and personal questions.

But I never cared because I was excited to be pregnant — even with my third when I had a stomach the size of a bean bag (and an arse that matched).

I knew they were just being nice.

As much as Ms Nolan gets sick of the endless questions about her lovely twins, I’ll bet she knows this too.

I am sure she knows that, although it can be frustrating and time-consuming, people always mean well.

That’s why Ms Nolan only put the bits of paper up for an Instagram post designed to be read by her friends. She didn’t actually go into town with them on the pram.

Sadly, the online world is not so nice. There’s little room for humour and subtlety.

And once things go viral, you lose any control over them. You can’t just take an Instagram post down like you can remove signs on a pram.

Give me a lonely old lady sitting next to me on the tram who just wants a chat over online trolls any day.

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