My boyfriend and I started dating five years ago and I’m three months pregnant.
My boyfriend’s family history is somewhat complicated, as his mother died when he was a child, while his father emigrated and later remarried. My boyfriend was raised by his grandmother, who died two years ago. His paternal uncles and aunts are the only relatives he has left, but they aren’t too close.
We moved in together a year ago. My parents said, when they were informed of my pregnancy, that we should immediately have an engagement ceremony. My boyfriend agreed with this idea.
He told his father to return to Vietnam and attend the ceremony. However, my boyfriend’s father said that his brother, or my boyfriend’s uncle, would organize and attend the ceremony on his behalf, as he would not have time for that.
As our big day approached, my boyfriend took me to his uncle’s house to discuss the event. It was the first time I saw his uncle and I can tell he didn’t like me.
He made fun of me because I got pregnant before the wedding. He refused my suggestion to rent a 45-seater bus for my family to travel from my hometown, Ben Tre province in the Mekong Delta, to HCMC.
He said that his family would not prepare lunch for my family that day and that my family would have to pay for their meals if they wanted to stay in HCMC until the afternoon, since the ceremony would be in the morning.
I got upset after the meeting. My boyfriend comforted me by telling me he would pay for the bus and my family’s meals with his own money, but I still felt like my parents weren’t respected.