Absolutely not pregnant could also try asking a rude personal question right back. Or try bursting into hysterical tears,stomp around asking, "how COULD you?", when someone asks her if she is preggers. Insensitive folks will quickly warn others to leave it alone.

LW1: A friend of mine went through the same thing with her daughter. I'm not sure whether she ever voiced her reservations about the young man directly to her daughter. If she did, it was only once. But she prayed for guidance and decided to let things take their course. Eventually her daughter recognized that her bf was not the person she should spend her life with and broke up with him. My friend said she just knew that if she harped on his bad qualities, her daughter would become all the more determined to stay with him.

LW2: A woman I knew years ago had a reputation for being rather outspoken and could easily tell people to mind their own business in regard to the most innocuous topics - even to her own husband. She was putting on weight and since she was already a somewhat large lady, no one wanted to question whether she was pregnant. For all we knew, she could just be gaining weight, not baby. So none of us said anything. I was a closer friend to her sister-in-law and even she mentioned the woman's weight gain and there had been no mention of a pregnancy. Finally the woman announced that she was indeed pregnant but hadn't felt like telling anyone. Since it was getting close, she figured she might as well tell us. She gave birth less than a month later. I bet she had a great time keeping us all guessing. And yes, we all scrambled to purchase baby gifts.

To Worried Sick, I think I would have given some techniques to help her keep her mind off her daughter's life. The mother could wear a rubber band on one wrist. When she thinks of her daughter's BF and possible future husband, she could "pop" herself with the rubber band. I'd also suggest writing 25 times, "It's her life, not mine, and at her age I wouldn't have wanted my mother trying to run my life."
Yeah, it's a long sentence coz I believe punishment by writing works! LOL
To Absolutely Not Pregnant, I think I'd reply, "Did your mother raise you to ask rude questions?" and let it sink in while giving them a cool look, then walk away. Whether family or otherwise, nobody should feel free to ask nosy, personal questions like that.

I used to work in a pediatrics office, where I had to wear scrubs. Scrubs are not the most figure-flattering garments on the planet, and I do have something of a belly on me, because I have an endocrine disorder that causes weight gain the midsection. A patient's mother asked me one day when I was due. I looked at her blankly and said "Due for what?" and she was so flustered she just paid her copay and left. It's doubly ironic for me, as my disorder causes not only midsection weight gain, but infertility--I'm constantly asked about being pregnant while never actually being able to be pregnant...

Worried Sick needs to get over herself. Unless she left out other reasons she is against her daughter's relationship, the reasons she DID list are not enough to make such a harsh judgment against someone. Sharing "fat genes" with future children? How snobbish is that? Maybe this guy cannot find full-time work now, but that doesn't mean he isn't trying to and won't in the future. Is this man good to her daughter? Does he treat her right and make her happy? Do they have an equal relationship built on love, friendship, and trust?