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Soon-to-be father criticised for celebrating with baseball teammates instead of girlfriend after gender reveal

‘I would be so mad’

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Tuesday 12 April 2022 17:45 BST
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People are criticising a soon-to-be father after ignoring his girlfriend during gender reveal
People are criticising a soon-to-be father after ignoring his girlfriend during gender reveal (TikTok / @hannah.j.c16)

A 19-year-old expectant father is facing criticism after his girlfriend shared a video of their gender reveal, during which he ran to hug and celebrate with his baseball teammates rather than the mother of his unborn child.

This week, Hannah Calverley, 18, who goes by the username @hannah.j.c16 on TikTok, uploaded a video of her and her boyfriend Travis Gober’s baseball-themed gender reveal, in which she could be seen standing on a baseball diamond and throwing a baseball to her boyfriend, who then hit the ball with a baseball bat to reveal blue smoke.

The clip then captured the moment that Calverley ran towards her boyfriend, a student at the University of New Orleans, to celebrate their unborn baby boy, while Gober instead ran towards a group of his baseball teammates.

As the group of cheering men jumped up and down yelling, Calverley could be seen accidentally pushed out of the way by one of her boyfriend’s friends, with the clip instead focusing on the group of celebrating teammates.

The clip concluded with Gober shaking his friends’ hands and hugging his teammates, while his girlfriend could be standing slightly off to the side.

“We’re sooo ready to meet you,” Calverley captioned the clip.

As of 12 April, the video has been viewed more than 21.6m times, with many viewers horrified by Gober’s reaction rather than moved by the gender reveal.

“Don’t forget to hug the momma,” one person wrote, with the comment liked more than 456,000 times.

Another viewer said that the video didn’t “sit right” with them, while many others described how mad they would be if they were Calverley. “I would be so mad,” one viewer said, while another wrote: “I’d be furious.”

“Every time I rewatch this I get more mad at him,” someone else said.

Others said they would have been hurt if the father of their unborn child behaved the way that Gober did, with one viewer claiming that they would “cry if my husband didn’t run to me”.

“Idk why that hurt my feelings,” one person commented, while someone else called Gober’s behaviour a “red flag”.

In response to another comment from a viewer who wrote: “Um no. What about the mother of the child?” the soon-to-be mother claimed that her boyfriend feels “super bad” about the moment.

“I’m going to need a public formal apology from the guys,” another person commented.

After the TikToker claimed that her boyfriend felt bad about the gender reveal, she defended him in a follow-up video, which she began by thanking those who defended her.

“Thank you guys for defending me. I promise I’m not upset. I’m okay,” Calverley said while sitting beside her boyfriend. “I was literally laughing, like, about how funny it was that everyone was jumping on him.”

The soon-to-be mother then acknowledged that “yes, he should have run to hug me,” and that Gober “knows that”.

“And he feels terrible,” she continued, as her boyfriend added: “Yes”.

Calverley then defended her boyfriend from the criticism, with the TikToker claiming that he’s “not a red flag, at all” and that he’s the “best boyfriend in the whole world and he’s going to be the best dad”.

“Don’t worry, I love her,” Gober interjected, with Calverley then concluding: “So it’s okay, y’all can leave him alone.”

In the caption of the video, which has been viewed more than 3.4m times, the 18 year old added: “I promise it’s okay y’all.”

Despite the couple’s assurances, many TikTok users revealed they were still upset by the way that Gober treated the mother of his unborn child.

“We’re upset for you girl,” one person commented, while another viewer said: “Respectfully, even after the jumping stopped he still DIDN’T run to you. Actions speak louder than words.”

Someone else claimed that their “intuition is telling me this isn’t going to work out too well,” while others continued to allege that the behaviour displayed by Gober was a “red flag”.

“It’s actually not okay,” one viewer wrote, while someone else said: “We’re upset for you girl. If this ain’t a red flag…”

“It’s a red flag even when you convince yourself it isn’t,” another viewer commented.

In follow-up videos, Calverley has continued to defend her boyfriend, with the TikToker stating in the caption of one video that TikTok viewers are “acting like they know what’s happened between us the last four years”.

In another video, Calverley said that she knows her boyfriend is going to be a good father because of the way he treats their various pets, with the TikToker including multiple videos of the father-to-be playing with their animals. “He really is a sweetheart,” she wrote in the caption.

While many of the responses have continued to be critical, others have expressed their support for the soon-to-be mother.

“If you’re happy, don’t let these negative comments get to you!” one viewer wrote, while another user said: “Hope you have an easy, stress-free pregnancy from here on out! All the best.”

Someone else defended Gober on the basis that his friends were “excited for him” and the “moment was overwhelming”. “It might have been a little uncomfortable but it was a mistake. His friends were excited for him and the moment was overwhelming,” they wrote.

The Independent has contacted Calverley and Gober for comment.

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