Ugly Secret

“Madam, your son just suffered a crisis. It is expected of a child with sickle cell”. Those were the doctor’s words to me that hot Friday afternoon after I had received a distress call from the school which made me rush down as soon as I could. I broke down in tears because my ugly secret had eventually caught up with me and there was nothing I could do about it. How will I explain to my husband that his only son whom he had been nurturing for 7 years is not actually his son?

Daniel and I got married 10 years ago and we are blessed with three children; a boy and 2 girls. The unfortunate thing is that my husband is the father of the 2 girls while the only boy, Jerry belonged to my ex. I had my first daughter almost a year after our wedding and instead of my husband to be excited, he blatantly told me he wanted a son as his first. His attitude, coupled with that of his family didn’t go down well with me and we quarrelled at the slightest opportunity. After nursing my baby, I decided to get a job at least to keep my mind off the stress at the home front. It was in the process of job hunting that I ran into my ex-boyfriend with whom we had parted ways after our graduation from the university. His genotype and mine was ‘AS’ so we both knew it wasn’t best for us to get married since our children would be at the risk of being born with sickle cell.

My ex-boyfriend was like an angel sent to me at that time because he got me a very decent and lucrative job, which not only took my mind off the pressure from home but also got me more affection from him. I had no intention of cheating on my husband but one thing led to the other and I found myself in bed with my ex. I felt so ashamed of myself and vowed never to have a repeat but unfortunately for me, that ‘once’ got me pregnant!

One Saturday morning, I fainted in the bedroom and my husband had to rush me to the hospital. After being attended to and series of tests carried out, the doctor broke the news to my husband and I that I was six weeks gone. My husband just looked at me and said ‘I hope it will be a boy this time around’. I looked at him and managed to smile but I suspected the pregnancy was not his. I gave birth to my son some months after and my husband became more caring and loving, Since nothing seemed wrong I pretended as if nothing happened and continued to enjoy his affection while cutting off all links with my ex….

Here I am, 10 years into my marriage and my ugly secret decided to surface. The doctor had told me the result of the blood test and my husband is already on his way to the hospital. I know my husband is ‘AA’ while I am ‘AS’, how do I explain to him that our son is ‘SS’? How will I tell him that the boy he loved so much is not his son? Is this not the end of my marriage?…………….

It is popularly said that ‘only a woman can tell the paternity of her children’. It could be disheartening for a man if he discovers he had been nurturing another man’s child in ignorance, no matter the circumstance. Truth be told, it is not ideal for a woman to transfer the ownership of a pregnancy/child to another man for whatever reason. Also, keeping mute after committing an atrocity is not in the interest of anyone. It is better to open up and face the consequences of our actions than to conceal the matter. Sooner or later, the truth will be revealed, by then, it will be more devastating. Furthermore, blaming one’s spouse for the sex of a child or preferring one sex to another is not in the best interest of the family; it creates a vacuum between the couple, thereby paving way for future heartache. May God help us to always treat our spouses right.

Thank you for your time, please drop your comments and share with others too. Till I come your way next week, make your marriage work!