A video of a woman refusing to let her daughter’s exciting news spoil a family photo has gone viral on TikTok, amassing over 35.1 million views.
The footage, shared by Olena Perez (@olena.perez), shows the moment she tricked her family into posing for a photo—though it was actually a video meant to capture her pregnancy announcement on camera.
However, things didn’t go quite as planned, as explained in the text overlay: “my mom was not letting my pregnancy announcement ruin her photo.”
Perez, who lives in Boca Raton, Florida, told Newsweek: “In the moment, I felt sad and disappointed that I didn’t capture the cute reveal I always see on social media.”
TikTok/@olena.perez
A survey cited by the American Pregnancy Association found that 50 percent of women share news of their pregnancy with family by seven weeks. But, when it comes to announcing the news more publicly—to friends, colleagues, and wider social circles—only 1 percent feel comfortable doing so that early.
However, when the time feels right, many people choose to share their big news digitally—turning to social media to capture, announce, and memorialize the moment for friends, family, and followers.
The video, shared on June 23, was originally filmed two years ago. Perez recently came across it on her phone and found it “hilarious.”
In the clip, she reaches into her purse pretending to look for lipstick but instead pulls out a positive pregnancy test and shows her mom, who appears shocked but says nothing. She taps her daughter’s arm and points to the camera, leaving both Perez and viewers stunned.
“That would really upset me,” one user commented. Another wrote: “I would have cried and went home.”
A third commented: “Maybe Mom couldn’t truly process the news she was just told. Maybe in her mind the pic had to be taken, then she could process news second. Give people the benefit of the doubt.”
Perez told Newsweek: “We all celebrated after and everyone was very happy! It’s very much a social media vs reality moment.” So far, the clip has earned over 2.8 million likes and nearly 32,000 comments.
Perez added: “I’m overwhelmed by the love and support but, at the same time, did not expect such an intense reaction and negativity toward my mom.
“It makes me sad that people are judging our family by a 45-second clip—but my mom and I are close enough that we know we love each other and we don’t let the negativity bother us.”