Mom glad she did not abort baby

Twenty-two years ago, Jane Doe* almost made the biggest mistake of her life when she found out she was pregnant. She revealed that she was going to abort the child because she was impregnated by a man she hardly knew.

"A one month me and him did a talk and when me tell him, him did frighten. Plus, me and him family never deh pan good terms," she said.

Doe, who at that time had four children, said that shortly after her boyfriend found out that she was pregnant, he turned his back on her. She then consulted with a friend who told her she knew a place where she could go and abort the baby.

"One a me friend told me that she a go carry me to a place where me can dash it weh, but when me talk to me other friend she tell me not to do it because me can dead. So me just seh all right and keep the baby," she said.

Now 50, Jane said she has no regrets about keeping her child, adding that one out of her five children, the son she nearly aborted, is the only one who is helping to take care of her.

"Me can call pan him for anything. While the others deh a dem yaad nah do nothing, him a try a thing and work," she said.

OVERJOYED

She said her son was shining bright from high school and that she is overjoyed she kept her son, not only because he is helping her but also because he is the only one who is doing something with his life.

Her son was on PATH (Programme of Advancement through Health and Education) because she could hardly afford to provide for him. According to Doe, he buried himself in his school "because right now him full a trophy and certificate."

"Him a gwane do him likkle juggling now but he has dreams of going into the army and me a push him to do it because mi know that he can do it. I am just extremely proud that I didn't make that mistake back then," she said.

*Name changed