Sista Clinik

“I am responsible, but I’m not ready to be a father.” I felt nauseous immediately – again.  How could he say such a thing to my family? I felt dejected. I saw the disappointed look on my mom’s face. I was her only child and she wouldn't have it. My family obviously did not agree to commit such an atrocious act, but the harm was already done…the shame.   During the ultra-scan, the obstetrician looked at the motion picture on the screen; a smile worked at the corner of his lip.  “They’re twins” He said. I felt a twinge of joy which was clouded with pain and confusion.  “Are you sure?”. It was too good to be happening at that point in my life as far as my situation was concerned. To me it was divine, but their father did not want them.  “I’m a sonographer and I know what I’m talking about... congratulations.”    “Thank you” I managed to say. Days passed and yet the man still insisted he was not ready to be a father. ...

Women hold up half the sky. -           Chinese Proverb This proverb goes to tell how important women are in the development of the world, and this write up is an attempt to look at the extent to which deeply entrenched pronatalist thinking robs us of the potential of a large number of women; potential that would have served to develop humans and economies. Pronatalism is an attitude or policy that is pro-birth, that encourages reproduction and exalts the role of parenthood above a number of things, thus making being a parent a measure of value, especially for women. What I’d like to make clear before moving on is that this does not mean that a non-pronatalist society is against reproduction and parenthood, but that they do not see those as markers of success, wealth, or value, of humans. Coming home to Ghana, women carry the weight of a pronatalist-minded society and have been suffering under it for years, bringing alo...