This week on the Regretful Parents series, Erika and Kristen react to a Reddit post from a 34-year-old German father who says he never wanted kids, claims his Japanese wife lied about being on birth control, and now regrets both his marriage and his baby — while living in a completely different country from them.The post is equal parts heartbreaking and baffling.

In this episode:

A German man describes his marriage to a Japanese woman and the culture clash that followed
Why "you have to read the air" is the most iconic line of the episode
The baby was born in Japan — while he was in Germany
What you need to know about international custody laws when one parent is Japanese
Why living together before marriage matters (especially across cultures)
Our hottest take: get a vasectomy, babe

Whether you're here for the relationship drama, the cultural commentary, or just two women yelling "you're not even in the same country!" — this one's for you.

Take a trip with us!

South of France in June: https://trovatrip.com/trip/europe/france/france-with-erika-abdelatif-jun-2026

Christmas Markets trip in December: https://trovatrip.com/trip/europe/germany-and-austria/germany-with-erika-abdelatif-dec-09-2026?earlybird=true

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Tags / Keywords:regretful parents, baby regret reddit, parenting regret, reddit relationship advice, german japanese couple, international custody laws, baby trapped reddit, marriage regret, childfree reddit, reddit react podcast, parenting podcast, divorce advice, cross-cultural marriage, Japan custody laws, reddit stories reacted

Chapters:

0:00 Intro
0:27 Reading the post — "I just need a channel to let out despair"
1:21 The birth control lie
2:09 "I regret many things" (very German)
2:52 "You have to read the air" — Germany vs. Japan culture clash
5:29 Wait… she gave birth in JAPAN?
6:45 International marriage: are they even legally married?10:15 Reddit comments react
11:36 Japan's strict custody laws explained
13:21 Our verdict: snip snip, bitch
14:19 Outro + how to find us

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Regretful Parents: "I'm German. She's Japanese." | Reddit Stories