One photographer definitely won’t be getting hired by an Oregon mom-to-be after an insulting text message exchange that is going viral online.
The mom and photographer met by chance last month, according to NBC news affiliate WCNC. First, the photographer congratulated the mom on her pregnancy then asked if she had considered hiring a birth photographer to capture the unforgettable day when the baby arrives.
It was when the two got in contact again and the new mom revealed that she was planning to have a Caesarean section that everything changed.
“I had no idea birth photographers discriminated people for how they birth their babies but that’s good to know,” the mom wrote in a message to the photographer.
The screenshot of the message was first posted to the mom’s own Facebook profile then to popular snarky mom fan page Sanctimommy. It’s not clear what was said before that message, but the photographer responded aggressively criticizing the mom for “opting” for a C-section.
“A surgery isn’t birth, my dear,” the photographer wrote. “You aren’t giving birth. You are having a surgery to remove the baby from your abdomen. That’s not a birth no matter how you swing it and I for one don’t want to be there taking pictures of it.”
Despite her verbal onslaught, the photographer did leave the mom-to-be an option if she was still considering hiring her.
“If you decide to give motherhood a go from the get and have an actual birth, let me know and we can schedule your session,” she wrote.
That’s obviously not going to happen. But the photographer did leave mom with one more piece of advice before she went on her way.
“This motherhood job is hard,” the photographer wrote. “If I were you, I’d think twice about starting such a job by cutting corners so early in the game.”
The mom told WCNC that she posted the screenshot to her Facebook profile to start a conversation about discrimination and birth choice. Instead, she was bullied and even received a few death threats from the most vocal Internet trolls.
She did however see the conversation that the messages sparked on Sanctimommy and was much happier with the tone there, she told WCNC. Moms on the page shared their different experiences along with pictures of their children.
