Resharing a single mothers story from the tell your story section of my initiative.

Today, with her permission, I’m sharing the story of a single mom.

She got pregnant in her late teens—young, curious, and still learning.

It was a one-time moment with a boy she had been dating for two years.

She didn’t know she was pregnant. Her body felt different, but her periods kept coming. We all know how biology can play tricks on us.

When she eventually found out, she reached out to him.

At first, he was happy. But as the reality set in, things changed.

Then her family found out.

They gave her two options:

• Terminate the pregnancy, or

• Leave the house.

She chose to keep the baby.

Her father, out of anger, disowned her and threw her out of the house.

She became the “bad example”—a cautionary tale used to scare others.

She was mocked, abused, and left to sleep in the market—7 months pregnant, alone.

One day, an old friend of her mother’s saw her and took her in.

Later, with the help of her aunt, the boy’s family finally sent for her to come to Lagos.

But they didn’t want her. They wanted to silence the shame.

You know what it feels like to walk into a home where you’re not welcome.

She was verbally abused, manipulated, and made to feel like a burden.

The boy’s mother—another woman, once a single mom herself—treated her with cruelty.

What she did was beyond heartbreaking. It could’ve been her daughter.

Then came childbirth.

They refused to bring money for surgery.

They insisted she must give birth naturally and gave her oxytocin to induce labor.

She was in labor for four days. Her water had broken for two days.

Her baby’s grandmother wouldn’t bring the money for a C-section.

She even stopped her son from seeing the pregnant girl carrying his child.

Her father—who hadn’t spoken to her for 8 months—and an old friend were the ones who raised the money.

After the surgery, that same grandmother took the newborn in her arms… and called her an ugly baby.

This was one of the most painful “tell your story” moments I’ve ever witnessed.

She cried as she spoke. I could feel her pain in every word.

It’s been 10 years. She’s now able to speak her truth.

After childbirth, she wrote JAMB.

She had no money for transport to get to the state she was meant to write the exam. Her dad was retired.

A man—Pastor Emaekop—heard her story and said:

“For the fact that you still want to go to school, I will help you.”

She went back. She graduated.

She got a job that helped her raise her child.

She told this story not for sympathy—but to finally set herself free.

Years later, the child’s father resurfaced, asking to see her.

She agreed—for the sake of their daughter.

But he only used her—as a nanny for a stepsister.

Pretending it was to bond. It was manipulation all over again.

⸻

This is her story. Ten years of silence. Ten years of survival. Ten years of strength.

Let this be a reminder:

We must listen before we judge.

We must support before we shame.

We must see the woman behind the label—Single Mom.

#Unshamed

#KubiezCareFoundation

#SingleMothersMatter