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.
Breitbart: Exclusive—Aisha Taylor: My Local Pregnancy Center Was a Lifeline in My Darkest Days
Article appeared in Breitbart | By: Aisha Taylor
Around three months pregnant, I found myself alone, in my OBGYN’s office crying and overwhelmed. The sonographer at that appointment saw my despair and suggested I call a local pregnancy center. She told me that they had diapers, wipes, formula, and free counseling. This knowledge gave me hope that I wasn’t alone and that there was emotional and financial support available.
I took her advice and set up an appointment at my local center. I needed a miracle, and I needed someone to tell me that I could succeed as a single mom. I received both at the pregnancy center. What sticks out to me most about that first visit was the love, encouragement, and safety I felt. Very few people in my personal life, at the time, knew what I was going through, so it was important to have a place and people to cry with during one of the most difficult times of my life.
The pregnancy center helped me find the courage to continue the pregnancy I desperately wanted, despite the pressure to make a different decision. With the center’s support, I was able to tune out the pressure from my partner and finally share with my family that I was pregnant and planning to parent my twins.
