I am in a similar situation, my inlaws are Anglican and in the last few years they (thankfully!) began attending church, yet they certainly do not share our views on being open to life. Being Catholic is not good enough for them either, as they have Catholic friends who didn’t follow the Church’s teachings on birth control, therefore in their opinion there is no need for us to do so. They actually told us they believe God doesn’t approve of large families, that it is irresponsible.
When my husband told them about number seven they got angry with him, said some nasty things about the Catholic faith (like they want to populate the Church as much as possible to fill the collection plate, etc.). They told us they would not accept it if we had any more, yet here I am 18 weeks pregnant! We decided we are not going to tell them this time as we don’t want to get yelled at, so I guess it is best that they hear the news from someone else. I have been avoiding seeing them as they would probably figure out I am pregnant now, certainly not the most pleasant situation!
Even my parents are not happy with us, they are Catholic, but do not understand NFP either(they don’t seem to listen when we mention it). They have no problem with BC either, especially if a family already has a certain amount of children and have “done their duty”. My mother went on the pill after she had number six because she had more faith in her doctor than her priest, her doctor felt her body needed a rest or whatever.She gets angry about priests telling others not to practice ABC, she feels once they have a few kids, then they can tell families how to live! I personally have been put on numerous guilt trips about having another baby, I was warned my father would be angry because he has helped us financially in the past. I do appreciate the help, but I honestly never asked for it. Perhaps I need to refuse financial help from now on if the giver plans to make me feel guilty about it later on.
Thanks for listening!
