How woman recounts marriage experience, says she felt like a ‘baby-making machine’

A woman, Ogechi Laura Amajuoyi, has opened up about her experience in marriage, saying she eventually felt she was treated as nothing more than a “baby-making machine” by her former husband and his family.

Amajuoyi said she met her former husband in February 2016 and became pregnant for him three months later, in May. She said she did not know his age at the time or that he had previously been married and divorced.

According to her, they got married shortly after, and she went on to have three children while still pursuing her university education.

She claimed she went through all three pregnancies with little or no support from her husband or his family.

Sharing her experience on Facebook, Amajuoyi said her first pregnancy was during her time at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), while the second came during the final months of her university education in 2018 and around her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) preparations.

She said she was mostly at home during her third pregnancy and discovered she was pregnant the morning after she had spent a night outside following a disagreement with her husband.

“Three pregnancies. No husband rubbed my feet. No husband massaged my tummy. No husband showed up for any of it,” she wrote.

Amajuoyi said that although her husband was present during the first two deliveries at Parklane Government Hospital in Enugu, he allegedly did not stay with her after childbirth and would leave to meet his friends.

She recalled seeing other men remain with their wives and newborn babies, saying she wished her husband had shown her similar support.

She also alleged that her former mother-in-law insisted on naming all three children, despite her being the one who carried the pregnancies.

Amajuoyi said she was particularly unhappy when her former mother-in-law chose the name “Ifunanya” for her last child, claiming the name was also associated with a woman her former husband had allegedly been involved with.

According to her, when she complained to her former mother-in-law about the alleged affair, she was told that the woman’s own husband had behaved similarly.

Amajuoyi said the response made her realise that some women may unknowingly help perpetuate unhealthy relationship patterns by accepting their husbands’ misconduct and later expecting their sons’ wives to tolerate similar behaviour.

She also shared her view that children do not necessarily benefit from living in a troubled two-parent household.

“There has never been a point in my life where I believed a toxic two-parent household does more for a child than a peaceful one-parent household,” she wrote.

Amajuoyi concluded by saying she no longer considers the sacrifices she made during the marriage noble, describing them instead as burdens she continues to carry.

“My name is Ogechi Amajuoyi, and this is one of the sacrifices I carry that I no longer call noble,” she stated.