Family Christmas Card

[peaches]

I wouldn’t say it’s rude to send an ultrasound photo as a Christmas card. I’m not sure anyone here is saying that. 

I believe some people, like me, are saying this is something I wouldn’t do. I consider it too personal, unnecessary, a little off-putting – that’s not the same thing as being rude, at least not to me. I think “rude” is too strong a word for this.

In deciding what to put into or on a Christmas card, I’d be asking myself “Is this something others would enjoy?” The sonogram wouldn’t pass that test for me.

[bonyk]

I was one of the posters who said I don't like ultrasound pics, but I certainly don't think they're rude.  They just seem a bit TMI for a card to me.  However, I fully realize that many people do not feel that way.

[oceanus]

Ultrasounds, dental x-rays, colonoscopies, mammograms - I have no desire to see anything like that on a Christmas card.

[veryfluffy]

For those who think it is okay or charming to send an ultrasound as a holiday card, would you limit who should get this card? That is, just close family, family and close friends, neighbours and acquaintances? Do you see them as equivalent to sending a family portrait or is it more personal?

[sparksals]

It's an xray - no blood and guts are shown.  If you don't like it, throw it away.  They're not trying to be offensive or rude, but I think it is rude to see offense in a small gesture.

I have no problem with ultrasounds, but if someone tells me that A or B squicks them out, then it squicks them out. I don't think they're being rude by feeling awkward. I don't think they're looking for offense. If someone feels uncomfortable by something, they just do. How can the posters here be rude just because they feel weird about something?

One should not have to state it squicks them out.   I  would be shocked and horrified to receive someone's Xray/innards/ultrasound.   I would never send my vaginal u/s to anyone, why would anyone send any other type without first asking if they want to receive. 

I can see it now... Hey Jane, do you want to see my vaginal ultrasound of my fibroids?  I see it no different.  A baby is not the same as fibroids, but it IS the same as seeing someone's innards... which I don't want to see without warning and asking if I want to see.

Before one sends or displays an ultrasound, they should check first if the recipient is willing and wanting to see it.

[sparksals]

You see no difference? I consider a vagina a sensitive and private area of the body. I consider the tummy more neutral. Particularly if there is a person in there.

An expectant mother can have a perspective on who that person is long before they arrive. And while that may or may not be real for others, it doesn't make it less significant for the expectant couple. While that perspective may or may not be important to the expectant parents' loved ones, I hardly think a small amount of indulgence ever hurt anyone, particularly when it comes to an expected human being.

Exactly.  A vagina is a sensitive and private part of the body.   A Vagina ultrasound displays the places where a baby grows... uterus, ovaries etc., even if no baby is there.   It is not just the vagina.  Hence why I find the display of the ultrasounds without asking to be offensive.  Don't force it on anyone.  ASK before someone wants to see it. 

It may be significant for the expectant couple, but that doesn't mean everyone or anyone else wants to see it.

[KenveeB]

Like so many other things, if it's not to your taste, just throw it out. It's possible that my card with pictures of my dogs will horrify and upset people who are afraid of dogs. Maybe your picture of your (born) children will upset someone trying to conceive or who just lost a child. Your holiday letter about the good things in your life might upset someone who's just suffered a death in the family, lost their job, or had their house foreclosed on. It's impossible to send anything that doesn't have the potential of upsetting somebody. I think expecting someone to call up everyone on their Christmas card list to ask, "Hey, are you okay with pictures of ultrasounds/babies/dogs for my card this year?" I think the onus is on the person receiving it to quietly dispose of whatever they don't care for.

[citadelle]

Good advice, Kenveeb. An ultrasound can be both so obscured as to be a boring picture of nothingness and simultaneously a graphic picture of someone's vagina. Or a picture of a growing baby.

If you don't like it, toss it.