Aisha’s Story
The Ohio Press Network: National Single Parent Day: How My Unplanned Pregnancy Led Me to Create a Support Network for Single Moms
Article appeared in The Ohio Press Network | By: Aisha Taylor | Photo credit: The Ohio Press Network and Aisha Taylor
As I opened up the bank app on my phone, I couldn’t help but think that the small balance on the screen matched exactly how I was feeling—running near empty and getting lower with each passing day.
I felt embarrassed to be in this situation. After all, I had multiple degrees from prestigious universities. For years, I worked in corporate finance and had only recently given up a stable job, with good benefits, to pursue my passion of operating a personal finance blog for women.
I was mere months into my entrepreneurship journey when I faced an unplanned pregnancy with twins. When I told my partner about the pregnancy, he responded with the expectation I would terminate the pregnancy and he would pay for it. I turned my head to hide my tears, because in my heart, I wanted to parent my children.
For weeks, my partner pressured me to have an abortion by repeating single-mom stereotypes and confirming the fears I already harbored deep inside.
“You’ll never be a good mom,” he said.
“Single moms and their children don’t have a future.”
Eventually, I succumbed to the weight of his pressure and called a local abortion clinic to make an appointment, but no one answered the phone. When I went to church that evening, the pastor shared a timely message about how to handle the storms that arise in life. He urged us not to make permanent decisions in temporary circumstances. I decided then to parent my twins, even if that meant I would do it alone.
The Ohio Press Network: LISTEN: Empowering Single Parents More Than Right Thing, Important to Pro-Life Movement Success
Article appeared in The Ohio Press Network | By: Aisha Taylor, Jack Windsor
Friday was National Single Parent Day, created during the Reagan administration in 1984. To honor single parents’ grit and sacrifice, The Windsor Report featured an inspiring interview with Aisha Taylor, author of Navigating the Impossible: A Survival Guide for Single Moms.
Taylor chose to keep and not abort her twins despite just leaving a job in finance in pursuit of her entrepreneurial dream and seeing the father of her children walk away.
Her decision was spurred by a pastor’s sermon on avoiding permanent decisions in temporary circumstances, which was delivered the very day she scheduled her abortion. Drawing on strength from her faith, Taylor chose life. Then, she sought resources from a pregnancy health center and her community.
Taylor tells her story and delivers resources to guide other expectant and new mothers.
