(Unplanned Stories) At 32 years old, Aisha took a leap of faith to leave her six-figure corporate finance job to become a full-time entrepreneur when an unplanned pregnancy wrecked her business plans. Having lost her stable income and barely living off her savings, she didn’t feel ready to be a mom to twins and felt pressured to get an abortion.
“When I told their dad I was pregnant, he told me, ‘We’re not playing for keeps.’ He said to get an abortion and he would pay for it. He was trying to tell me that it was really easy. You just gotta take this pill. It’s like nothing. But in my heart, I was afraid because I was experiencing pressure,” Aisha recalls.
PRESSURED TO ABORT
Aisha’s ex became verbally abusive toward her. With no support from him, Aisha didn’t know if she had the strength to raise two children on her own.
Her ex told her, “You’ll never make it. Your kids will never prosper. Children of single moms don’t have a future. You’re gonna lose all your hopes and dreams. No man will ever want you or love you because you have kids. Everything you’ve ever wanted and hoped for, worked for, is going to be over.”
Those words hurt Aisha deeply, shattering her self-esteem and dampening any hope she had for her future.
“There I was at the beginning of my entrepreneurial career, pregnant. Somebody who said at some point that he believed in what I was doing was now telling me that nothing will ever work and everything will fail,” Aisha says.
Feeling distraught, Aisha scheduled an ultrasound appointment when she was about 10 weeks along so she could see her twins one last time before getting an abortion.
“I wanted to say goodbye,” Aisha says. “And when I was looking at the screen, one of my twins made eye contact with me.”
She wept frantically during her ultrasound. She wanted to keep her babies, but she didn’t believe she would be able to give them a good life.
“Between their dad telling me everything that I wouldn’t be able to do and my own fear about what this would mean for my future — like I said, I just gave up my income to be a full-time entrepreneur. I was afraid of what people would say to me. I was afraid about what this would mean for my future. And I hadn’t really told my family yet … so I just felt incredibly isolated and alone,” Aisha says.
Knowing Aisha’s financial situation and entrepreneurial endeavors, the stenographer consoled her and referred her to a local pregnancy resource center.
“I know you’re a believer, but you never know what God can do with this,” the stenographer told Aisha. “Right now, you have this blog where you’re inspiring single women in corporate to manage their finances better. You never know what God can do with this — the type of impact you can have.”
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DIVINE INTERVENTION
The stenographer’s encouragement helped Aisha find hope in her unplanned pregnancy. She then visited the pregnancy resource center and received free counseling. The women at the center helped her stand up to her ex and gave her the resources she needed to navigate her situation.
“It’s like the Lord had angels on earth who were in strategic positions … at times of significant decision points where I’m like, am I going to do this? Or am I going to fall into fear? Am I going to fall into this despair?” Aisha says.
Even with her visit to the center, Aisha still leaned toward scheduling an abortion. She had planned to book an appointment when she was 12 weeks along and then go to Bible study. But God intervened that day. The abortion clinic didn’t pick up her call so she wasn’t able to schedule the abortion.
That divine intervention was exactly what Aisha needed before attending her Bible study. The Lord softened her heart as she listened to her pastor preach about navigating storms.
During his sermon, the pastor shared profound advice that helped Aisha choose life — “Never make a permanent decision in a temporary situation.”
“I’m like, this is a storm. The storm has to go away. It has to obey the voice of Jesus. This is just a storm. So when I heard the pastor say that, I’m like, wow, abortion is permanent but what I’m going through is temporary. That gave me the fortitude to choose life,” Aisha says.
MENTORING SINGLE MOMS
Aisha’s son and daughter are now 9 years old. And just like the stenographer had said, God transformed her unplanned pregnancy into something good. Her story has allowed her to minister to expectant moms and single moms as a personal finance coach through her business, FNPhenomenal.
Aisha rekindled her dream to become a full-time entrepreneur when her twins were in preschool. It took several years after her pregnancy to pursue her dream because of the shame she carried. She felt like a fraud working as a finance expert when she was struggling financially as a single mom.
Read the rest of Aisha’s story at Unplanned Stories
Editor’s Note: This story was originally written for Unplanned: Stories of Resilience, a pro-life storytelling ministry. You can learn more about Unplanned at unplannedstories.com. Follow the ministry on Instagram @unplanned_prolifestories.
